Conservation

The dunes sagebrush lizard, found only in the shinnery oak sand dune ecosystems within the oil and natural gas-rich Permian Basin may be listed as “endangered” under the powerful Endangered Species Act (ESA).  The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) is accepting comments through Sept. 1 on the proposal. The determination “also serves as the…

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Wyoming officials have proposed updating the state’s sage grouse core area protection map as the bird’s population has steadily improved. The protection areas were initially developed in 2008 and revised in 2015 and 2019. The updated map includes additional protection areas that cover a total of 15 million…

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is proposing to change how public lands are managed to put conservation on equal footing as other uses, including oil and natural gas extraction. The BLM plan for conservation leasing would entail a time-limited lease of public land that allows interested organizations to conduct specific restoration or mitigation activities.…

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is proposing to change how public lands are managed to put conservation on equal footing as other uses, including oil and natural gas extraction. The BLM plan for conservation leasing would entail a time-limited lease of public land that allows interested organizations to conduct specific restoration or mitigation activities.…

Appalachian pure-play Southwestern Energy Co.’s various water conservation projects returned 10 billion gallons of fresh water to the environment in 2019.

Wyoming Republican Gov. Mark Gordon has issued an executive order (EO) on the greater sage grouse, reupping the state’s efforts to marry conservation objectives and economic activity including energy development.

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke on Thursday ordered a review of the federal Greater Sage Grouse Conservation Plans to see if they are in any way restricting energy production on public lands.

With implications for oil/natural gas drilling as well as mining, the U.S. District Court for Colorado on Tuesday agreed with various environmental groups that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) needs to protect two threatened wildflowers that live solely on an oil shale formation in Colorado and Utah.

The United States needs “a major course correction” in its approach to conservation, according to U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell, who on Tuesday outlined a long-term overview and plans for the rest of the year which include reviews of previous land use decisions.