Who are the bad guys when it comes public lands?

Responding to President Obama’s decision last week to protect a stretch of California’s Coast near Point Arena as a new national monument, the House of Representatives is planning to vote this week to overturn a 108 year-old law that presidents of both parties have used to protect iconic American places, including the Grand Canyon, the Statue of Liberty, and Arches National Park.

LINK (via:Think Progress)

Petition Calls For Ban On Mining And Drilling On Public Lands While National Parks Are Closed

While visitors are locked out and local commumities lose valuable tourist dollars, drilling and mining corporations are free to continue extraction of coal, oil, natural gas and timber on federal lands.

CREDOMobilize.com has launched an online petition in support Rep. Raul Grijalva of Arizona who sent a letter to Secretary Sally Jewell and Secretary Tom Vilsack urging them to halt all extractive activities on federal lands until employees and visitors have equal access

“Our federal lands are being mined, drilled, logged and just about everything else you can name — but because of the Republicans’ reckless and irresponsible shutdown of the federal government, we can’t be there to hike or camp, and our park rangers can’t be there to respond to emergencies. We need to get our priorities straight,” states the petition.

LINK (via: Think Progress)

Cutthroat trout stage comeback on Hoback

The Hoback River’s cutthroat fishery has bounced back, now that the Wyoming Game and Fish Department has stopped stocking it with hatchery-raised fish.

LINK (via: The Jackson Hole News and Guide)

Unfortunatley the Hoback is now threatened by natural gas development and made American River's list of America's Most Endangered Rivers.

The Noble Basin sits in the shadow of the Wyoming Range, most of which was protected from energy development by Congress in 2009.  But previous leases bought by energy companies can still be developed, and that includes one proposal for 136 wells to be drilled by Texas based Plains Exploration and Production (PXP).

One just needs to look at what gas drilling has done to the area surrounding Pinedale to see why the door should not be opened to gas development in the Noble Basin.

Western legislatures grab for control of public lands

Brought to you by ALEC and major corporations such as Koch Industries, ExxonMobil and Shell Oil Co.

LINK (via:High Country News)

The extractive resource industry and their paid members of congress like to push the notion that we need to open more of our public lands and waters for oil and mineral exploration.

Maybe they should develop the land and water they already have under lease?

More than two-thirds of offshore leases in the Gulf of Mexico and more than half of onshore leases on federal lands “sit idle.”

LINK (via:The Washington Post)