In a contentious meeting that distilled a weeks-long fight, the U.S. Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee deadlocked 10-10 along party lines Thursday on approving Tracy Stone-Manning’s nomination as head of the Bureau of Land Management. Read more»

President Joe Biden's plan to protect 30% of U.S. land and water, over 720 million acres, by 2030 - what’s become known as the “30 by 30 plan” - has lofty ambitions, but what’s happening on the ground tells a different story of how it might play out. Read more»

Environmental groups voiced their support of Tracy Stone-Manning, a Montanan who led conservation and public lands policy at the National Wildlife Federation and President Joe Biden’s nominee to lead the Bureau of Land Management, prior to her Tuesday confirmation hearing. Read more»

In a preview of the arguments likely to be repeated as the Biden administration and Congress work toward conservation goals, Democrats on a U.S. House panel Tuesday outlined what they say is a need for aggressive action on climate. Read more»

President Joe Biden is set to sign a host of executive orders on climate that will put a hold on new oil and gas leases on federal property, place environmental justice in the center of climate reform and set goals of conserving nearly a third of the nation’s land and water. Read more»

About 1,900 people watched online Saturday as, one-by-one, four young California condors flapped through a hole in their release cage to take to the skies above Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, casting shadows on the windswept rocks below. Read more»

Major environmental legislation sailed through Congress Wednesday while the nation’s political leaders were stuck in intense negotiations over the contours of a fifth coronavirus relief package. Read more»

Thousands of wild horses and burros roam millions of acres of public land in 10 Western states, including Arizona. The Bureau of Land Management estimated last year that there are more than three times as many as there should be. Read more»

A poll says 52 percent of voters in eight Western states don't think federal lands should be shifted to state control. An Arizona bill to do that was vetoed in 2012, but Utah law calls on the federal government to cede lands there by Dec. 31. Few expect that to happen. Read more» 2

The Utah lawmaker who authored a law calling for the federal government to relinquish authority over public lands said Thursday that devastating wildfires are one reason for Arizona to follow suit. Read more»

As every schoolchild once learned, South Carolina precipitated the nullification crisis in 1832 by passing a law that said it could, essentially, pick and choose which federal laws would apply within the state. Today in Arizona, talk of trampled state rights and infringed "sovereignty" helps keep the base agitated and angry. Read more» 3

Most Americans know our public lands as the places we go to get away from it all and enjoy ourselves in the outdoors. Conservation, however, also has enormous economic value, supporting a specific economy in recreation, restoration, and renewable energy development, all of which support numerous jobs. Read more»

Beginning Saturday, active-duty military can receive a free annual pass that gives service members and their dependents access to more than 2,000 public land sites, including America's national parks. Read more»

Tribal leaders Thursday pushed for greater input on government decisions over “fracking" and stressed the importance of eliminating red tape from energy resources programs on Indian lands. Read more»

The Bureau of Land Management has recommended 237,100 acres of public land in Arizona are suitable for renewable energy development, part of an effort to speed up the process for clean-energy companies looking to set up shop in the state. Read more»