Public Lands

National parks and other popular destinations on public lands are still open with little to no staff. Advocates don't want the public to forget that it's the federal government's responsibility to protect and maintain these areas.

The Public Lands Rule allowed conservation to be managed as part of BLM's multiple-use mandate, along with other uses like mining and grazing. The Trump administration now says that rule doesn't pass muster.

Pitkin County's move to change the zoning of most federal land within its boundaries won't affect how the land is used today but is intended to limit development there if it's ever transferred to private ownership.

Public lands could be designated “Resource Government” zoning to prevent development should the land sell to private owners.

The Wyoming property owner is arguing it's trespassing to step over private land to access public land.

The bill would have required the Bureau of Land Management to sell up to 1.2 million acres within five miles of population centers in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon and Utah.

The question of whether the federal government should sell off some public lands has been debated in Congress in recent weeks. Leaders in Western towns will consider a more focused version of that controversial idea in the months ahead: They’ll look at how places with severe housing shortages – like many mountain towns in Colorado – might buy or lease nearby federal land and use it for housing.

The updated bill targets Bureau of Land Management land near population centers. But hunters say these areas are important for recreation — and wildlife.

Some local officials in the Mountain West say federal land could be used in certain cases to ease the region's housing crisis. But they view a plan from Senate Republicans as going much farther than the solutions that have worked in their areas.

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