Natural Resources

"The U.S. Bureau of Land Management opened a seven-day public comment period on March 31 as part of its proposal to open 336,425 acres of public lands in the Greater Chaco Region in New Mexico to oil and gas drilling. If the proposal moves forward, new oil and gas leasing and development on federal lands will be allowed within 10 miles of Chaco Culture National Historical Park, even on lands directly bordering the park."

"A judge ruled on March 31 that construction on President Trump’s White House ballroom must halt until Congress authorizes the project. The lawsuit was brought by the National Trust for Historic Preservation."

"Plans for a wall in Big Bend National Park prompted public protests and behind-the-scenes lobbying to sway the Trump administration to stop."

"The United States has spent nearly a year pursuing deep sea mining without cooperation from the rest of the world. Now, Japan has said it will help out." "The arrangement could signal a fracture in the decades-long effort among nations to reach consensus on how to mine the ocean floor while protecting ecosystems."

"Medicinal and aromatic plants in the Appalachian Mountains, which have stood for hundreds of millions of years and contributed to biodiversity across the region, are facing threats from poaching, climate change, and more. The multiple national parks dotting the region are often havens for these plants, though even the protections afforded by the parks cannot prevent all threats."

"The US has caused an eye-watering $10tn in global damages to the world over the past three decades through its vast planet-heating emissions, with a quarter of this economic pain inflicted upon itself, new research has found."

"Ethics officials at President Donald Trump’s Interior Department granted Karen Budd-Falen, the agency’s No. 3 official, a waiver on March 11 — the very day that Public Domain inquired about her recent work on grazing issues — that provides her wide latitude to work on grazing policy and permitting, despite her family’s vast personal holdings in the public lands grazing industry."