The Bureau of Land Management on Tuesday partially backed off from unpopular plans to open land near Utah national parks to oil and gas drilling. BLM deferred leasing about one-third of the 93 tracts that the National Park Service had objected could contaminate parks with noise, water, and air pollution; the rest will still go on the auction block Dec. 19.

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Some 2 million acres near Alaska's Bristol Bay will be opened to development for the first time under a plan released Friday by the Bureau of Land Management. The agency's decision to throw the door open for mining and drilling in the area, which is home to the world's largest sockeye salmon run, is opposed by environmentalists, Native Alaskans, and commercial fisherfolk.

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The U.S. Bureau of Land Management announced Tuesday that over 359,000 acres of public lands in Utah will be up for lease in December, some of which have "wilderness characteristics" or are "in the vicinity of national parks or monuments." Meanwhile, the Government Accountability Office released a report criticizing the Bush administration's public-lands leasing process, saying it encourages oil and gas companies to hoard leases.

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The U.S. Bureau of Land Management has proposed opening up relatively pristine natural areas in eastern Utah to oil and gas drilling, including Nine-Mile Canyon and Desolation Canyon, despite the agency's own determination in 1999 that the areas have "wilderness character" and thus are good candidates for wilderness designation. "BLM is condemning these lands to a future of oil rigs and gas pipelines and almost certain disqualification from future wilderness designation," said Stephen Bloch of the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.

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Thousands of abandoned mines across the U.S. West pose hazards to the public, according to a strongly worded audit from the Interior Department inspector general. The Bureau of Land Management's mine program "has been undermined, neglected, and marginalized," says the report, and many easily accessible mines have "dangerously dilapidated structures, serious environmental hazards, and gaping cavities." With very few fences and warning signs, passersby can stroll right in to areas tainted with dangerous levels of arsenic, lead, and mercury. "Even more disturbing," says the report, "we found that BLM supervisors told staff to ignore these problems, and employees were criticized or received threats of retaliation for identifying contaminated sites." Mining companies have minimal responsibility for post-digging cleanup, and no dedicated funding source exists for mine remediation. A bill to update antiquated U.S. mining law passed the House of Representatives in the fall, but has stalled in the Senate.

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The U.S. Bureau of Land Management has reversed its recent moratorium on new applications for solar-energy projects on public land, allowing companies to keep submitting proposals for new solar projects. The solar-project freeze had been instituted in late May while the BLM began conducting a two-year study on the potential environmental impacts of solar projects on public lands; the agency said the study would eventually help to speed projects along. However, due to pressure from the solar industry, Congress, and the public, the agency decided Wednesday that it could continue to process new applications after all, even as it studied solar's environmental impacts. The victory is only partial, however, as the BLM hasn't actually approved any of the 130 solar-project applications it already has. So, really, not approving a few more isn't that big of a deal for the agency. "We're encouraged that the BLM lifted their moratorium, but we're only halfway there," said Rhone Resch of the Solar Energy Industries Association. "We now need to get them to expedite the permitting of the solar projects."

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Conservationists have analyzed public comments on a Bureau of Land Management proposal to drill for oil and gas on Colorado's Roan Plateau and have come up with a tally: seven comments for drilling; approximately 42,000 against. Hm -- guess it's not a consensus then.

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The future of the infamous northern spotted owl in the Pacific Northwest may be in further jeopardy if some U.S. federal agencies carry out their plans to restructure its recovery. Perhaps most potentially destructive is the Bureau of Land Management's recently announced plan to essentially opt out of the Northwest Forest Plan -- a truce of sorts between loggers and environmentalists that has managed the actions of a number of federal agencies as they pertain to the owls and their habitat. Part of the BLM's plan includes tripling logging on 2.2 million acres of forest it manages in western Oregon, with an even greater increase in logging in old-growth areas crucial for the northern spotted owl's recovery. The plan also wouldn't set aside any territory for the owl on the BLM land, putting the overall Northwest Forest Plan in question. The BLM's scheme has been aided by a much-criticized draft plan from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service -- the agency that oversees Endangered Species Act protections -- that emphasizes threats to the spotted owl from the barred owl and plays down the importance of old-growth forest habitat. Meanwhile, the U.S. EPA, in letters to the FWS this summer, questioned the wisdom of the revised owl-recovery plan and the BLM's increased logging plan, saying they could harm water quality and fish.

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Conservation organization sues feds over energy development

The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership has sued the U.S. Department of the Interior over the authorization of thousands of new oil and gas wells, roads, and miles of pipeline in a wildlife-rich area of Wyoming. News that an organization has sued the federal government over environmental travesties is, well, not really news -- unless it's TRCP, a non-litigious group with a largely Republican membership. The move is indicative that even the Bush administration's usual allies are fed up with a one-track-mind approach to energy development. Case in point: The Bureau of Land Management stated that development in the Wyoming area would "have adverse impact to suitable habitat for many wildlife species" and turn hunting grounds into "an industrial setting" -- but recommended the DOI go ahead anyway.

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BLM offers yet another plan for drilling on Alaska's sensitive North Slope

In 1923, U.S. President Warren G. Harding designated 23 million acres on Alaska's North Slope as a national petroleum reserve. The ecologically sensitive northeast corner of the reserve -- which includes pristine Lake Teshekpuk and is vital habitat for breeding caribou and migrating birds, and hunting grounds for Inupiat Eskimos -- was closed to energy development by the Reagan, Bush Elder, and Clinton administrations. But damned if the current administration won't pull out all the stops trying to access it! Dubyah and crew tried in 2005. Then they tried in 2006 -- twice. Last fall, a judge blocked the administration, saying it had failed to consider environmental impacts of drilling in the area, and ordered the Bureau of Land Management to develop a new plan. Yesterday, the agency obliged, offering a vague proposal which suggests various options for development. The BLM will offer final recommendations after a two-month public-input period, which starts Friday. So get thee to inputting!

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BLM OKs drilling on Colorado's Roan Plateau, new grazing rules blocked

Steamrolling the opinions of various Colorado politicians, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management has OK'd oil and gas drilling on 73,602 acres of the Roan Plateau, known to be rich in both underground fossil fuels and aboveground wildlife. Two of Colorado's Democratic representatives had asked the BLM for a one-year moratorium on drilling in the area, and Governor Bill Ritter (D) had asked that the decision be postponed 120 days -- to no avail. "Unfortunately, the BLM's rush to lease this special area could inhibit my ability to weigh in on this extremely important decision," said a bitter Ritter. But lest you fear that the BLM can muscle its way into whatever it wants, take heart: a judge recently blocked the agency from loosening restrictions on livestock grazing on 160 million acres of federal land. U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill declared that the new regulations violated several federal environmental laws and were a result of giving in to pressure from Big Ranching.

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Illegal dumps sprout up across the American West

Amber waves of grain? Purple mountain majesties? These days in the American West, it's illegal dumps that are proliferating under the spacious skies: heaps of car parts, furniture, appliances, and household trash discarded on public land. The Bureau of Land Management has identified 6,482 illegal dumps since 2000, plus an additional 607 hazmat cleanups. Sprawl seems to be part of the problem, says BLM's Felicia Probert: "There is hardly a city in the West right now that isn't experiencing significant growth. Typically, we haven't had the appropriation, the budget strength, to add rangers as these issues grow in the expanding West." Dealing with a potentially hazardous material, such as an unidentified drum of liquid, can cost up to $10,000. In California, coping with illegal dumping on private and public land costs at least $87 million every year. Commercial illegal dumping in the state can bring a fine of up to $3,000 for a first offense -- but dumpers generally must be caught in the act to be proved guilty.

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BLM slacks on environmental monitoring in Wyoming

For the past six years, the Bureau of Land Management has been slacking on its commitment to assess and limit the impact of natural-gas drilling on wilderness in western Wyoming, says, um, the Bureau of Land Management. A leaked internal assessment for the BLM's Pinedale, Wyo., field office declares that there is often "no evaluation, analysis, or compiling" of data concerning environmental harm to the area. Had it been doing its job, the BLM might have noticed that drilling activity has upped area nitrous oxide levels and reduced deer and sage grouse populations. According to a former Pinedale BLM employee, agency staffers have been spending their time and energy on drilling requests; under pressure from the White House, the BLM is issuing drilling permits faster than the energy industry can keep up. Says conservationist James D. Range, "While the leaked report shines light on the agency's failure in one specific place, we fear that it is emblematic of its handling of energy leasing and development throughout the West."

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Bush administration will open 8 million Alaskan acres to oil drilling

As only makes sense following a disaster in northern Alaska involving oil spills and corroded pipelines, the Bush administration next month plans to open 8 million northwestern Alaska acres to oil and natural gas development. The area, in the National Petroleum Reserve, contains "a significant amount of oil that will help decrease our dependence on imported oil," says Julia Dougan of the Bureau of Land Management, by which she meant, "dude, we're jonesing." Included are 373,000 acres near wetland-rich Teshekpuk Lake, which is also hunting grounds for native Inupiat residents. "The Teshekpuk Lake area is biologically rich nursery grounds for birds from many continents and mammals which sustain our Inupiat families and communities, and must be protected from leasing activities," says resident Rosemary Ahtuangaruak. As the U.S. is a democracy, we're sure the concerns of the Inupiat will be given full and careful consideration while the first wells are being dug.

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