In December of 2017, the president illegally reduced Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments by nearly two million acres. Despite overwhelming support from the majority of Americans, nearly three million of whom spoke up during a public comment period in favor of protecting our national monuments,… Read More
“The reason that I was able to do it is because I was incredibly naive,” says Lucas St. Clair. “I had no idea how much work it was gonna be when I started. Not a clue.” The thing Lucas did: work to establish Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument in… Read More
Debates over how America’s public lands should be managed are as old as the system itself, dating back to the early 1900s when President Teddy Roosevelt pioneered our current system. Disagreements have often centered on the balance between energy or resource development and protecting wild places for recreation and wildlife. Read More
In mid-May, I presented at the annual NOLS instructor conference held in Lander, Wyoming. This was not only an opportunity to speak to the frontline of outdoor educators but, in light of the recent concerns with our public lands, an even better… Read More
As Americans, regardless of our descent, we share as our greatest inheritance, both material and spiritual, the gift of our federal public lands. Most of us can readily name a piece of ground sacred to us as individuals that belongs to every soul in the country: Yosemite, the Everglades, Acadia,… Read More
I break trail for my companions, pushing through snow and curtains of my own misty breath, both aglow with starlight. We left warmth and merriment in Big Spring Brook Hut where the rest of our group is gathered. Only three of us pushed on after the 11-mile ski from the… Read More
The Secretary of the Interior arrived in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument midday on May 10, 2017. He came to perform an “assessment” of the monument—to see whether the current boundaries overstepped their task of protecting natural and cultural resources and spurring economic growth. It was raining, windy and cold, but… Read More
May 4, 2017 Secretary Ryan Zinke Department of the Interior 1849 C Street, N.W. Washington DC 20240 Dear Secretary Zinke, As Secretary of the Interior, you hold the solemn responsibility to steward America’s public lands and waters on behalf of the American people who own them. Our… Read More