Saving the West’s open spaces comes at a cost. A Colorado county may have a model for the nation’s conservation efforts.
How can we keep working lands open and providing all the ecosystem services and landscape values we care about? Chaffee County’s Community Conservation Connection program, implemented by the Central Colorado…
Read More...Conservationists renew push to save New Mexico lesser prairie chicken. Feds to decide by May
Federal protections for the lesser prairie chicken could be enacted this spring as a federal judge in 2019 called on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to decide by the…
Read More...Economist examines death taxes and their misconceptions
While delivering estate-planning presentations across Montana, Marsha Goetting, Montana State University Extension family economics specialist, saw a pattern among some attendees. When it came to understanding state and federal taxes…
Read More...USDA Seeks Public Comment on Revised Conservation Practice Standards
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is seeking public comment on proposed revisions to 23 national conservation practice standards through a posting in the Federal Register.…
Read More...USDA invests $285M to improve national forest and grassland infrastructure
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the U.S. Department of Agriculture will invest $285 million to help the Forest Service address critical deferred maintenance and improve transportation and recreation infrastructure on…
Read More...Stateline Range grazing project challenged
Despite President Joe Biden signing an executive order to “consider suspending, revising, or rescinding the agency actions” made during the Trump administration, environmentalists continue their efforts to halt projects. Western…
Read More...USDA encourages producers to complete the cash rents and leases survey
Farmers and ranchers may have received a Cash Rents and Leases survey from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS). This survey provides the basis for estimates…
Read More...Big questions about grizzlies await Haaland at Interior
(Subscription) The grizzly bear questions will only get tougher for Interior secretary nominee Deb Haaland. If confirmed, the New Mexico Democrat will confront legal, scientific, management and, yes, political challenges…
Read More...Tribes flex political muscle in quest to co-manage parks
The nation’s 574 federally recognized tribes are gaining momentum in their long drive to co-manage the country’s national parks and other public lands — and they’ve got a new occupant…
Read More...Environmental attorney to lead Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
The Bureau of Land Management announced that an attorney who previously worked on agency issues for environmental groups will serve as the new deputy director.The U.S. Department of the Interior…
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