Tag: federal lands

The Trump administration has formally repealed the Biden-era Public Lands Rule, ending a policy that required conservation to be weighed equally with drilling, mining and grazing on federal lands. Environmental groups warn the move could accelerate industrial development across millions of acres in the American West.

Tribal land-return efforts are accelerating across the West, but in northwestern New Mexico the debate is colliding with the energy economy. A federal buffer zone around Chaco Culture National Historical Park is now at the center of legal and political fights that could affect future leasing activity and the royalty checks some local residents depend on.