For Immediate Release, January 6, 2021
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Lawsuit Launched to Protect Eight Florida Plants Threatened by Sea-level Rise, Development
Badly Needed Habitat Protection Delayed by Trump Administration
ST. PETERSBURG,
Fla. The Center for Biological Diversity filed a formal notice today of its intent to sue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over the agency’s failure to designate critical habitat for eight Florida plants, including one called the Everglades bully and a flowering shrub found only in the lower Florida Keys.
The species named in today’s notice are the Big Pine partridge pea, Blodgett’s wild mercury, sand flax, wedge spurge, Everglades bully, Florida pineland crabgrass, Florida prairie-clover and pineland sandmat.
By Alex DeMarban
Anchorage Daily News/TNS
ANCHORAGE, Alaska - A federal judge on Tuesday declined a request by conservation groups to prevent the Trump administration from issuing leases for drilling rights in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, though the broader case that seeks to stop the federal government’s oil and gas program in the refuge has not been decided.
The decision came hours before the federal government was set to hold its first-ever oil lease sale for land in the refuge’s coastal plain, at 10 a.m. Wednesday.
U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Gleason in Anchorage denied the motion in the case brought by National Audubon Society and three other conservation groups. They had argued that the judge should halt leases from being given out until the case is fully resolved.
The Bureau of Land Managementâs move of its national headquarters and some 40 jobs to Grand Junction was in the news at the very start of 2020, and remains a still-evolving story as the year comes to an end.
The BLM last year decided to relocate its headquarters to Mesa County as part of a larger move of many Washington, D.C., jobs to various locations out west. Trump administration officials and other supporters of the action, such as U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., pointed to benefits such as moving national-level BLM officials closer to the lands they manage and communities their decisions affect, and the lower cost of living, shorter commute times and access to the outdoors that appeal to some employees and candidates for headquarters jobs.
BLM Reinforces Importance Of Recreational Shooting
BLM News:
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Thursday issued guidance designed to protect and expand recreational shooting opportunities on BLM-managed public lands.
More than 99 percent of the 245 million surface acres managed by the agency are open to recreational shooting, and this guidance will help ensure that these activities are allowed to continue wherever possible.
“Recreational shooting is a longstanding tradition for millions of Americans, and the Department is proud to support this popular pastime as a key component of the BLM’s multiple-use mission,” said Casey Hammond, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management. “Working with local communities, our state agency partners, and other key stakeholders, we will continue to ensure that public lands remain open to recreational shooting, allowing Americans to pass down our nation’s rich outdoor heritage to futur
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) issued guidance Thursday, Dec. 31, designed to protect and expand recreational shooting opportunities on BLM-managed public lands. More than 99 percent of the 245 million surface acres managed by the agency are currently open to recreational shooting, and this guidance will help ensure that these activities can continue wherever possible.
âRecreational shooting is a longstanding tradition for millions of Americans, and the Department is proud to support this popular pastime as a key component of the BLMâs multiple-use mission,â said Casey Hammond, principal deputy assistant secretary for Land and Minerals Management. âWorking with local communities, our state agency partners, and other key stakeholders, we will continue to ensure that public lands remain open to recreational shooting, allowing Americans to pass down our nationâs rich outdoor heritage to future generations.â