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New rule prioritizes conservation on US public lands

News Feed
Friday, April 19, 2024

A new rule introduced by the Biden administration aims to balance conservation with economic activities on America's public lands, enhancing protections and sustainable use. Catrin Einhorn reports for The New York Times.In short:The rule impacts 245 million acres, promoting ecological restoration and compensating for environmental damage.Conservation will now be considered as significant as grazing, mining, and other land uses.The measure responds to the increasing environmental pressures such as climate-induced wildfires and droughts.Key quote: "As stewards of America's public lands, the Interior Department takes seriously our role in helping bolster landscape resilience in the face of worsening climate impacts." — Deb Haaland, U.S. Secretary of the Interior.Why this matters: This policy represents a strategic shift in how public lands are managed, intertwining ecological health with national economic and security interests, and addressing the urgent challenges posed by climate change. Read more from EHN's newsroom: Public lands are not neutral. We must grapple with their racist roots.

A new rule introduced by the Biden administration aims to balance conservation with economic activities on America's public lands, enhancing protections and sustainable use. Catrin Einhorn reports for The New York Times.In short:The rule impacts 245 million acres, promoting ecological restoration and compensating for environmental damage.Conservation will now be considered as significant as grazing, mining, and other land uses.The measure responds to the increasing environmental pressures such as climate-induced wildfires and droughts.Key quote: "As stewards of America's public lands, the Interior Department takes seriously our role in helping bolster landscape resilience in the face of worsening climate impacts." — Deb Haaland, U.S. Secretary of the Interior.Why this matters: This policy represents a strategic shift in how public lands are managed, intertwining ecological health with national economic and security interests, and addressing the urgent challenges posed by climate change. Read more from EHN's newsroom: Public lands are not neutral. We must grapple with their racist roots.



A new rule introduced by the Biden administration aims to balance conservation with economic activities on America's public lands, enhancing protections and sustainable use.

Catrin Einhorn reports for The New York Times.

In short:

  • The rule impacts 245 million acres, promoting ecological restoration and compensating for environmental damage.
  • Conservation will now be considered as significant as grazing, mining, and other land uses.
  • The measure responds to the increasing environmental pressures such as climate-induced wildfires and droughts.

Key quote:

"As stewards of America's public lands, the Interior Department takes seriously our role in helping bolster landscape resilience in the face of worsening climate impacts."

— Deb Haaland, U.S. Secretary of the Interior.

Why this matters:

This policy represents a strategic shift in how public lands are managed, intertwining ecological health with national economic and security interests, and addressing the urgent challenges posed by climate change. Read more from EHN's newsroom: Public lands are not neutral. We must grapple with their racist roots.

Read the full story here.
Photos courtesy of

Related News

Bulldozers in Darwin begin destroying habitat of hundreds of bird species as Lee Point/Binybara construction begins

Crossbench MPs and conservationists say clearing exemplifies failed environmental reform as endangered species like Gouldian finch face habitat destructionGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastThe destruction of woodland habitat for hundreds of bird species, including the endangered Gouldian finch, has commenced at a popular Darwin site, prompting conservationists, crossbench MPs and residents to condemn the federal government’s failure to protect the area from a defence housing development.As bulldozers moved into Lee Point/Binybara, which has been the focus of a long community campaign, independent and Greens MPs said the clearing was an example of Australia’s failed environmental protections and the need for urgent reform.Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup Continue reading...

The destruction of woodland habitat for hundreds of bird species, including the endangered Gouldian finch, has commenced at a popular Darwin site, prompting conservationists, crossbench MPs and residents to condemn the federal government’s failure to protect the area from a defence housing development.As bulldozers moved into Lee Point/Binybara, which has been the focus of a long community campaign, independent and Greens MPs said the clearing was an example of Australia’s failed environmental protections and the need for urgent reform.Darwin community members who arrived at Lee Point/Binybara on Tuesday morning were met by police and security guards.Footage released by the Environment Centre of the Northern Territory showed bulldozers knocking down trees at the much-loved site.Defence Housing Australia was given the green light to start its construction work a month ago. It had voluntarily paused work for several months while the environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, considered an emergency application by Larrakia traditional owners for protection of the site on cultural grounds.Plibersek notified the applicants in late March that after considering the evidence she was not satisfied that the specific area that would be developed met the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Act requirements for a “significant Aboriginal area in accordance with Aboriginal tradition”.Jess Black, a community representative for the Binybara camp, said Darwin residents who arrived at Lee Point on Tuesday were “devastated”.“They have been kept in the dark for months by Defence Housing Australia and now we have seen centuries-old trees bulldozed with very, very concerned community members looking on,” she said.Black said community members would continue to fight to protect the site.The clearing commenced two weeks after the Albanese government delayed a broad package of environment legislation to fix what an independent review found was the unsustainable decline of the country’s ecosystems and species.Legislation will be introduced for a new national environment protection agency in coming weeks but the government has given no guarantee that a larger suite of reforms will be introduced in this term of government.The Greens environment spokesperson, Sarah Hanson-Young, called on Plibersek to urgently protect the site, which was a habitat for significant species such as the critically endangered eastern curlew.“The minister recently made a big splash about saving eastern curlew habitat in Toondah [Harbour] in Queensland, but that same critically endangered bird deserves protection in Lee Point Darwin as well,” she said.skip past newsletter promotionOur Australian morning briefing breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what’s happening and why it mattersPrivacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.after newsletter promotion“People expect the environment minister to protect the environment, not approve destruction.”In a tweet, the independent senator David Pocock said the scenes at Lee Point/Binybara were an example of Australia’s “broken” federal nature laws.“Labor promised to fix these laws, but have delayed reform indefinitely,” he said.“If Labor is serious about building trust in the community, it must act swiftly to make good on promises to halt extinctions and fix our broken federal environmental laws in this term of government.”A spokesperson for Plibersek said the government had approved the development “with a range of better protections for threatened species, including the Gouldian finch”.“The minister determined the original approval conditions for the Lee Point project must be changed to better protect nature. Defence Housing Australia agreed to redesign the plan to incorporate a 50 [metre] buffer around nearby Gouldian Finch habitat,” they said.They said changes were also made to clear invasive gamba grass and replace it with native species and to move access points to Casuarina beach to avoid disturbing migratory birds.Comment was sought from Defence Housing Australia.

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Constitutional Court Upholds Cocos Island National Park Expansion

The Ministry of Environment and Energy (MINAE) and the National System of Conservation Areas (SINAC-MINAE) annouced the Constitutional Court rejected the action filed by several fishermen associations against the expansion of the boundaries of Cocos Island National Park established through Executive Decree No. 43368-MINAE. The constitutional judges unanimously considered that the aforementioned decree does not […] The post Constitutional Court Upholds Cocos Island National Park Expansion appeared first on The Tico Times | Costa Rica News | Travel | Real Estate.

The Ministry of Environment and Energy (MINAE) and the National System of Conservation Areas (SINAC-MINAE) annouced the Constitutional Court rejected the action filed by several fishermen associations against the expansion of the boundaries of Cocos Island National Park established through Executive Decree No. 43368-MINAE. The constitutional judges unanimously considered that the aforementioned decree does not violate constitutional rights. “A consultation process was carried out prior to the issuance of the challenged decree in which the fishing sector was given ample participation and in which it was able to raise issues, doubts, request additional hearings and provide evidence,” the Constitutional Court declared. The plaintiffs claimed that the Decree was contrary to Articles 11, 28, 33, 34, 45, 46, and 50 of the Political Constitution, and that it violated the constitutional principles of regulatory power, legal reserve, free enterprise, right to work, innocence, legality, reasonableness, legitimate trust, and pro homine. The judges also pointed out that there are technical studies that demonstrated the viability of issuing the decree, in order to provide greater protection to the Cocos Island National Park and the Bicentennial Marine Area. “The permits, concessions, and authorizations of the fishermen have not been modified or affected, and the scope of the decree seeks to provide greater protection to the marine resource, so that neither legal certainty nor legitimate trust is harmed,” the Chamber said. The process of expanding the area was based on technical-scientific studies prepared by academia and researchers, a model for defining sites of conservation importance, and various other sources. Prior to the publication of the Executive Decree, MINAE-SINAC had carried out a series of participatory roundtables with key stakeholders, such as academia, non-governmental organizations, public institutions, the tourism, and fishing productive sector, among other stakeholders involved in the process. Because of its category, Cocos Island National Park is a protected area that limits its uses to ecotourism, research, and environmental education. “With the expansion, the country meets the international commitments made to conserve 30% of the marine territory by 2030, through the High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People initiative,” commented Franz Tattenbach, Minister of Environment and Energy. Gina Cuza, Regional Director of the Cocos Marine Conservation Area, also noted that this expansion aligns with similar regional efforts by countries like Ecuador, Colombia, and Panama. These efforts are aimed at achieving greater connectivity in the Eastern Tropical Pacific region and safeguarding a marine area that is home to highly migratory, threatened, and vulnerable species. The post Constitutional Court Upholds Cocos Island National Park Expansion appeared first on The Tico Times | Costa Rica News | Travel | Real Estate.

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A Major Sea Turtle Nesting Site, on Bijagos Islands, Is Worlds Away From Crowds

Green sea turtles swim hundreds of miles to nest on a spectacular West African archipelago. Getting there is quite a journey for humans, too.

Sign up for the Travel Dispatch newsletter.  Essential news on the changing travel landscape, expert tips and inspiration for your future trips. Each year, thousands of baby green sea turtles clamber across a beautiful, white-sand paradise that is one of the largest hatching sites of this species in the Atlantic, adorably making their way to the sea. There’s one noticeable absence: people.The spectacular hatching events take place between August and December on Poilão Island, a tiny, uninhabited speck off the coast of Guinea-Bissau in West Africa. It is the southernmost island of the 88 that make up the Bijagós archipelago, a UNESCO biosphere reserve. Last year, turtles laid more than 44,000 nests on its 1.4 mile-long beach.While the masses of turtles seem to have little trouble finding the spot to lay their eggs — some swim more than 600 miles across the North Atlantic — it’s hard to imagine somewhere more challenging for human turtle-lovers to reach.The country’s tourism minister, Alberto Demba Touré, said that access is a main challenge. “We want to increase the tourists who go to the Bijagós,” he said. Last year, UNESCO declared its support for the Bijagós Islands to seek World Heritage List status, which, if successful, would increase its visibility and strengthen its environmental protections.Turtle conservation programs have become a staple of resorts in many popular destinations, including in Hawaii, Mexico and throughout the Caribbean. Guinea-Bissau may like to capture a meager sliver of that pie, but it would be with steep challenges.Politically fragile Guinea-Bissau has very little infrastructure and is one of the world’s poorest and least touristed nations. Most flights to Bissau, the country’s sleepy capital on the mainland, require a connection in Lisbon or Dakar, Senegal. Then, from Bissau, it’s a bumpy one-hour drive to the coast, and five to seven hours in a speedboat (depending on the route) to Poilão Island.Subscribe to The Times to read as many articles as you like.

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Biden administration issues final rule to allow local agencies to lease some federal lands

The Biden administration has issued its final rule on maintenance of public lands, finalizing a 2023 proposal to allow leases of those lands for conservation purposes. The rule, issued Thursday by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), would finalize the bureau’s proposal for “conservation leases.” It outlines which people and entities would qualify, including tribal...

The Biden administration has issued its final rule on maintenance of public lands, finalizing a 2023 proposal to allow leases of those lands for conservation purposes. The rule, issued Thursday by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), would finalize the bureau’s proposal for “conservation leases.” It outlines which people and entities would qualify, including tribal governments, state fish and wildlife agencies and conservation districts. It would not be an option for any usages that contradict existing ones. The rule also clarifies the process by which BLM designates Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACECs), or areas within federal lands that need special upkeep considerations. It clarifies and streamlines the previous process, which was “described partially in regulation and partially in agency policy,” according to the final rule. “As stewards of America’s public lands, the Interior Department takes seriously our role in helping bolster landscape resilience in the face of worsening climate impacts. Today’s final rule helps restore balance to our public lands as we continue using the best-available science to restore habitats, guide strategic and responsible development, and sustain our public lands for generations to come,” Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in a statement accompanying the final rule. “This rule honors our obligation to current and future generations to help ensure our public lands and waters remain healthy amid growing pressures and change,” BLM Director Tracy Stone-Manning said. The final rule comes the week after the Interior Department issued a separate rule raising fees for oil and gas drilling on public lands, much of it codifying provisions passed in the Inflation Reduction Act. That rule raises the royalty rate from 12.5 percent to 16.67 percent, as well as increasing annual rent rates from $1.50 for the first five years and $3 thereafter to $5 for the first five years and $15 after.

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Land Under BLM Management to Get New Protections

The measure elevates conservation in a number of ways, including by creating new leases for the restoration of degraded areas.

The Biden administration on Thursday announced a new federal rule for the nation’s sprawling public lands that puts conservation on par with activities like grazing, energy development and mining.The new rule relates to areas overseen by the Bureau of Land Management, some 245 million acres that make up a 10th of the country’s land, mainly in the West. It elevates conservation in a number of ways, including by creating two new kinds of leases for the restoration of degraded lands and for offsetting environmental damage.These lands have long been managed for “multiple uses,” including cattle ranching, drilling and recreation. But some of those activities, combined with new pressures from wildfires and drought, both fueled by climate change, have taken a toll.“As stewards of America’s public lands, the Interior Department takes seriously our role in helping bolster landscape resilience in the face of worsening climate impacts,” Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in a statement. “Today’s final rule helps restore balance to our public lands as we continue using the best-available science to restore habitats, guide strategic and responsible development, and sustain our public lands for generations to come.”Last year, congressional Republicans and other opponents reacted with outrage to an earlier version of the lease idea, accusing the Biden administration of a land-grab and of putting national security in jeopardy by allowing foreign entities to tie up land that could have critical economic and geopolitical uses like mineral extraction. The final rule clarifies that leases will be issued only to qualified groups, will not be issued to foreigners and will not be issued when incompatible with existing uses.The move is the latest in a flurry of environmental announcements and decisions from the Biden Administration, including denying permission for a road through Alaskan wilderness and restoring endangered species protections.Subscribe to The Times to read as many articles as you like.

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