Commentary

Western Lands and Rocky Mountain Advocate

Chandra, a Colorado native, serves as the Director of Rocky Mountain PEER. Formerly a staff attorney with Defenders of Wildlife specializing in endangered species and public lands issues, she has also worked for the U.S. Department of Justice and, under a legal fellowship, worked on a Superfund site with the Department of Energy. “I view my job as helping the region’s public service professionals do their jobs of protecting the diverse and abundant natural resources of the Rockies,” states Rosenthal. Chandra earned her law degree in 1993 at the Lewis and Clark Northwestern School of Law, where she focused her studies on environmental law.

The Old Spanish Trail Has Waited Long Enough for Protection

by Chandra Rosenthal | August 14, 2026
Our hope is that the court will reinforce that a National Trail designation carries meaningful responsibilities for the agencies entrusted with managing these lands ...

PEER and Allies Push Back on FCC’s Approval of Reflect Orbital’s Plan to Light Up the Night

by Tim Whitehouse | August 10, 2026
With the space rush on, we must continue to act to make sure federal agencies consider all the risks and impacts of satellite proposals as part of the approval process ...

Executive Branch Employees Are Bound by an Ethics Code. Why Not the Judiciary?

by Ben Glick | August 6, 2026
It is imperative that we act to ensure the judiciary remains accountable to the public and uninfluenced by personal financial interests ...

The Administration’s New Grant Rule Isn’t About Science. It’s About Power.

by Christine Schulman | July 24, 2026
The OMB's proposed overhaul of how the federal government awards grants would dramatically expand political control over how taxpayer dollars are distributed ...

Public lands need public voices; comment now on new BLM rules

by Lilley Gallagher | July 9, 2026
Public lands belong to all of us — we should all have a say in how they’re managed. Yet, a proposed rule from the Bureau of Land Management threatens to strip the public out of public land decisions, prioritizing business considerations over the health of western rangelands ...

Ruination of Public Lands: All Uses, Everywhere, All the Time, Without Limit

by Jeff Ruch | July 8, 2026
Donald Trump will certainly not go down in history as the Conservation President. At the current rate, his legacy will be as our first Despoiler-in-Chief ...