Protecting America’s Public Lands
Roughly 300 million acres of American lands, most in the West, are set aside as public lands and maintained using taxes paid by all Americans. These lands managed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service, and National Wildlife Refuge System are by charter supposed to be managed for multiple uses including recreation and provision of wildlife habitat and clean water sources. Increasingly, however, they are run for the benefit of extractive industries and with little regard for the preservation of the rare wildlife or iconic natural beauty for which they are famous.
With the help of conscientious range management specialists, scientists, law enforcement officers and other workers within these agencies, PEER is uncovering how our precious national heritage is being sold to the highest bidder, often under the direction of poorly qualified and illegally appointed political appointees.
Grazing and Rangeland Health
Livestock grazing allows heavily subsidized private operators to degrade our public lands.
Plastic Free Parks
Our national parks are drowning in a rising tide of plastic waste.
Cell Tower Invasion
Cell phone towers spread across national parks without proper planning and public input.
Off-Road Wreckreation
Off-road vehicle abuse is a growing problem on our public lands, especially in the West.
Oil and Gas Drilling
Environmental and public health risks are being ignored by regulatory agencies and decisions heavily influenced by profit-driven industries.
“Orphaned” Park Wilderness
Twenty-five million acres of recommended wilderness in our national park system are in limbo, marooned by politics.
REPORT | The Biden Administration’s Bureau of Land Management
As the Biden administration nears its halfway point, there are both encouraging signs of progress and plenty of room for growth when it comes to conserving public lands. Stronger leadership from the Biden administration and within federal land agencies is critical to act on both the climate and biodiversity crises. No public lands agency more epitomizes the challenges and opportunities ahead than the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) – the country’s largest land manager at more than 245 million acres.
Mapping Rangeland Health
Our interactive BLM Rangeland Health Standards Evaluation Data (2020) on MangoMaps is based on data from 2020, obtained via the Freedom of Information Act. PEER worked with a former BLM contractor to analyze what these records reveal about the condition of our public lands and BLM’s discharge of its duties to safeguard them.
Federal public land grazing fees stay low despite inflation and climate costs
Public lands grazing fees are the only expense immune to inflation, despite the increasing costs to the taxpayer
NEWS FROM PEER
Federal public land grazing fees stay low despite inflation and climate costs
Public lands grazing fees are the only expense immune to inflation, despite the increasing costs to the taxpayer
PETITION | Make National Parks Plastic-Free in Two Years
Ask the Park Service Director to ensure that our parks are plastic free NOW. The planet cannot afford to wait until 2032! Share this hashtag: #2NOT10
Park Service Criminal Investigators Down by Nearly Half
Investigation Triage Pulls Agents from Property and Drug Trafficking Cases
PEERMail | Stop Scamming Federal Wildlife Aid
PEER’s work in Alaska is part of a broader effort to end federal support for ruinous and cruel wildlife management practices that are on the rise throughout the U.S.
COMMENTARY | Park Service’s Inhumane Inertia
The Biden administration has left several disastrous Trump policies in place – from allowing inhumane hunting practices to not taking action on park crowding.
PEERMail | Banning Lead Ammunition in National Parks
One of the great tragedies of lead ammunition is the widespread poisoning it causes to wildlife.
PEERMail | Are Wild Horses to Blame for Failing Rangeland Health?
BLM must address overgrazing on public lands and stop scapegoating wild horses for failing land health.
COMMENTARY | Home on the Range: Wild Horses on Public Lands
Wild horses are given a bad reputation for damaging public lands but BLM data shows that livestock are the real problem.
REPORT | Bureau of Land Management Land Health Status – 11-09-2022 (PDF)
Huge swaths of BLM lands are failing fundamental land health standards with current livestock grazing management identified as a significant cause.
COMMENTARY | Biden’s First Monument Not Very Monumental
Is Camp Hale the least protected national monument in American History?
COMMENTARY | Glacier Skies to Finally Go Quiet
The path to serenity in the skies above all national parks is no longer subject to the demands of commercial tourism but the work is far from over.
PEERMail | Climate Change, Plastics and Our National Parks
Together, we can make plastic-free parks a reality in #2NOT10 years!
COMMENTARY | The Inflation Reduction Act Funds Additional Staffing at National Park Service
The National Park Service received funding to hire 5,000 more employees over the next ten years as part of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.
Plastic-Free National Parks Are Needed Now
Drive Launched to Remove Plastic Bottles in Two – Not Ten –Years
National Park Air Tour Plans Late and Off-Course
First 2 Overflight Limits OKed; 20 Behind Schedule, Most Lack Eco-Reviews
Interior Has Bad Case of Climate “Cow Blindness”
Failure to Address Commercial Livestock Climate Impacts Invites Lawsuits
REPORT | The Biden Administration’s Bureau of Land Management
Report on the Bureau of Land Management under the Biden Administration and its obligation to rebuild the agency to meet today’s challenges
Court Puts National Park Overflights on Tight Leash
Agencies Taken to Task for Violating Air Tour Management Plan Deadlines
PEERMail | Agency Policies Threaten Iconic Bird
The Interior Secretary announced a phaseout of single-use plastics in national parks and other public lands.
BLM Oil Exemptions Undercut Sage Grouse Safeguards
More Than 80 Waivers from Just 3 Field Offices Prompt Call for Inquiry and Lawsuit
