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.
Park Service Employee Outreach Effort with Unsettling Results Shelved Since 2018
A detailed examination of the toxic work culture within the National Park Service (NPS) has gathered dust for the past three years despite promises that it would be used as a critical tool for healing. NPS commissioned an outreach campaign called “NPS Voices” that engaged staff in a series of in-person and web-based listening sessions. All NPS employees were invited to participate in what top officials called “a cornerstone in our efforts to change the culture that has allowed harassment to persist.” Unfortunately, shelving the report likely had the opposite impact on morale.
NEWS FROM PEER
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BLOG | Social Distancing to Curb COVID-19 and Park Overcrowding
Biden Executive Order on COVID-19 protocols on federal property puts the National Park Service under a direct presidential order to do something it’s resisted for years – manage overcrowding.
Tongass Timber Sales Mismanaged – Official Audit
“Pressure to Meet Timber Sale Goals” Led to Violations and Financial Losses
Statement | Biden Administration’s New Direction on Climate
Biden’s executive orders are the first steps to a rapid transition from fossil fuels and increased protections for our communities, public lands and oceans.
Beyond 2020: Bureau of Land Management Video
Steps that the Biden Administration, Congress and the Bureau of Land Management can take to move the agency into the next decade and beyond
Beyond 2020: National Park Service Video
PEER Executive Director Tim Whitehouse on restoring the status of our national parks as “America’s best idea.”
Arctic Refuge Becoming Oil & Gas White Elephant
Desperate Last-Minute Government Maneuvers Denote Industry Disinterest
Statement | Ten Steps to Ensure that Proper Leaders Run the Department of the Interior
A guide for the Biden administration to avoid repeating the Trump administration’s unlawful actions in making appointments in the Interior Department.
Big Cypress ORV Plan a Travesty: Former Superintendent
Park Service Shirking Wilderness, Wildlife, and Conservation Responsibilities
PEERMail | Climate Change and the Transition Ahead
Government actions must reflect the reality of climate change. The Biden-Harris campaign promises to address climate change on public lands.
BLOG | COVID-19, Yellowstone, and the Company that puts the American Public at Risk
Winter snow guides in Yellowstone protest pandemic response in managed Yellowstone National Park, six guides were fired as a result.
PEERMail | Troubled Timber Sales at Tongass
Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) is suing the U.S. Forest Service to produce an audit of staggering monetary losses from past timber sales in the Tongass National Forest.
BLOG | Is Pendley Indispensable at BLM or Just Undetectable?
A federal court in Montana is now determining which of William Pendley actions as illegal head of the Bureau of Lang Management (BLM) should be invalidated.
Forest Service Tongass Timber Audit Remains Hidden
Lawsuit Seeks Overdue Audit as Forest Service Preps Big Timber Expansion
Park Service Scrambles to Finish E-Bike Rule
Hastily Fashioned Regulation Will Not Extinguish Lawsuit Challenge
PEERMail | “Advice and Consent” Is the Law
Secretary Bernhardt continues his carousel of illegal appointments with new de facto NPS Director Margaret Emerson
Park Service Chief’s Appointment As Illegal As Pendley’s
Lawsuit Progresses Toward Removing “De Facto” Park Service Director
BLM Won’t Stop Illegal Grazing
Range Manager Facing Suspension After Appealing to Pendley
BLOG | Pendley Debacle Unmasks David Bernhardt’s Legal Charades
Judge rules WIlliam Pendley cannot serve as a de facto Director of the BLM despite the anemic arguments to the contrary by David Bernhardt.
BLOG | BLM Forges Ahead With Nevada Oil and Gas Leasing
Public lands in Nevada are being leased for oil and gas extraction despite little financial benefits to government but big losses to the public
BLOG | Another Roll-Back That the Oil and Gas Industry Hoped You Wouldn’t Notice
The Forest Service hopes to pass a new rule making it easier for private companies to drill for oil and gas on U.S. National Forests.
