Two pieces of legislation could require the Bureau of Land Management to throw out thousands of public comments and jeopardize the agency's proposed rule, which aims to put conservation efforts on par with other uses taking place on public lands.

Mandi Elliott, executive director of the Nevada Outdoor Business Coalition, said it is important for public lands in Nevada to be protected because they not only improve quality of life but also serve as what she called economic drivers.

"Outdoor access plays such a huge role in quality of life," Elliott pointed out. "Hand-in-hand with that is these burgeoning outdoor recreation economies that if you're not in Reno and you're not in Vegas, the draw is outdoor rec, right?"

Elliott noted other parties seem to forget public lands are intended for everyone's use. While the proposed rule aims to equally prioritize conservation and outdoor recreation with other uses, some stakeholders within the extractive resource industry do not seem to view it that way. Elliott stressed if the rule were to be dismissed, it would send an "unfortunate message" priorities are skewed.

Congress is currently in recess but is set to reconvene after Labor Day, which means House Resolution 3977 and Senate Bill 1435 could get a floor vote shortly thereafter.

Garrett Hammack, board member of the Nevada Wildlife Federation and an avid hunter, said Nevada faces unique challenges for rehabilitation efforts of public lands and supports the proposed rule, as it would help address those concerns.

"What we are seeing right now with feral horses, with the really large-scale fires that we are getting lately and the development around other cities, we really need to get back to rehabilitating some of this land and the sagebrush structure right now in Nevada is continually degrading," Hammack contended.

Conservationists said public comments are by and large in support of the BLM's proposed rule. The agency said it would continue to identify appropriate sites for renewable energy developments and to efficiently process applications for projects on public lands.


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California advocates for hunters and anglers are speaking out in favor of two public lands bills that were just reintroduced in the U.S. Senate. They're designed to maintain public access and conserve big-game migration corridors.

The Public Lands in Public Hands Act would require the Bureau of Land Management to get congressional approval in most cases to sell or transfer parcels to a non-federal entity, such as a state or private owner.

There's been a push in some parts of the West to hand control of large parcels of federal land over to the states, said Madeleine West, vice president for western conservation at the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership.

"Certain parcels, if you got rid of those, it would block off access to really pristine hunting grounds," she said. "It's those sort of worst-case scenarios that we just want to be able to safeguard against."

Utah has petitioned - unsuccessfully so far - to force the BLM to sell the state more than 18-million acres of federal land, and House Republicans recently passed a rules package that makes it easier to sell off federal lands. States, faced with the enormous cost of managing the lands and fighting wildfire, could then elect to sell them to private interests.

A second bill, the Wildlife Movement Through Partnerships Act, would codify programs to protect wildlife migration corridors. West noted that the programs were created during the first Trump administration and continued during President Joe Biden's time in office.

"These are programs that can have real, long-term benefit," she said, "and so, some certainty that they will exist into the long term, regardless of future political changes, is really valuable."

The programs, which are currently voluntary, provide funding for state wildlife agencies, landowners and nonprofits that do habitat restoration work and map out wildlife migration patterns.

Minnesotans have until next Tuesday to offer their thoughts on the state's next Climate Action Framework.

Those tasked with protecting a distinct type of wetland hope the public learns more about their fate before speaking up.

Only trailing Alaska, Minnesota has the largest amount of peatlands in the U.S. They are waterlogged areas covered with dead plant materials, such as decaying leaves. Almost like a big kitchen sink on the landscape, they absorb carbon emissions while acting as ecosystems for a number of species.

Meredith Cornett, peatland resilience project planner for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, said drainage ditches for unused farmland have turned into a problem because water from peatlands flows into them.

"We are currently doing a demonstration project to identify the best candidates for locking these ditches," Cornett explained. "Filling them in some cases and trying to restore the natural hydrology."

If successful, they can prevent more peatlands from drying out and releasing stored emissions back into the atmosphere. A recent estimate found nearly 850,000 acres of peatland in Minnesota are partially drained. Cornett noted federal grants have helped with restoration work but she encouraged public comments through the updated Climate Action Framework to create more urgency.

In northeastern Minnesota, the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa is making a strong push to protect and restore peatlands.

Nancy Schuldt, water projects coordinator for the Fond du Lac Environmental Program, said beyond the emissions effects, the wetlands have a deep connection to tribal communities.

"It's important habitat for moose, an incredibly culturally significant species, which is in a population decline up in this region," Schuldt noted.

Habitat for other plant and animal species prioritized by Indigenous populations also benefit from having a diverse group of wetlands in place. In recent decades, the Fond du Lac Band has enhanced water management to overcome the drainage effects traced back to colonization.

Schuldt alluded to the broader threats, such as droughts made worse by climate change, while also calling for a greater political will to limit land development near peatlands.

Support for this reporting was provided by The Pew Charitable Trusts.


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The U.S. Supreme Court has opted not to hear a lawsuit brought by the State of Utah, which alleged the federal government's ownership of large parts of the state is unconstitutional.

The decision marks a win for conservation advocates.

Olivia Juarez, public land program director for the nonprofit GreenLatinos, said Utahns now will not have their tax dollars used to fund what they call the state's "ill-founded lawsuit and disinformation campaign." Utah had made the effort to seize public lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management.

Juarez acknowledged with a Republican-dominated Congress, similar efforts may return.

"We are better set up to fight against some of the biggest challenges that the Trump administration is going to pose to the American public," Juarez contended. "Two of them namely being the climate and biodiversity crisis and also a cultural crisis about belonging."

Juarez pointed out public lands represent the origins of American and pre-American history. The case marks the latest setback for states looking to gain control of public lands, some of which hold valuable oil and gas, timber and other resources. Utah state leaders have said they have not ruled out taking their suit to a lower court.

The nomination hearing for Donald Trump's pick for Interior Secretary, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, is scheduled for this Thursday. The new administration will inherit a number of challenges, including disputes over conservation leases on Bureau of Land Management lands.

Juarez argued the multiple-use doctrine for public lands should be upheld.

"That rule will be under attack by the incoming Congress and presidential administration," Juarez noted. "It'll be important to reaffirm to the next secretary that conservation is a use that is valuable, economically as well as culturally."

Juarez added last weekend, public lands and conservation advocates rallied in Salt Lake City to show their support for protecting public lands across the Beehive State like the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments.

"Our goal was to bring people together at a time that it feels good," Juarez stressed. "It's a really hopeful moment for the nation's will to treat public lands as a solution to climate disaster, rather than making them part of the problem."