Ground Truth Blog
Trump Administration Supports Devil’s Staircase Wilderness
Guess who just came out in favor of declaring Oregon's Devil's Staircase an official wilderness area? Donald Trump. (Or his administration, at least.) In written testimony submitted earlier today to a Senate subcommittee, Forest Service Deputy Chief Glenn Casamassa...
Goodbye Goats?
Federal land managers will try once again to remove hundreds of nonnative mountain goats from the Olympic Mountains in Washington, hoping to reduce damage to rare plant communities and prevent conflicts between goats and humans. The National Park Service released a...
What, Me Worry?
Yesterday, a federal appeals court ruled that the Forest Service is liable for toxic waste cleanup costs from a mining operation in New Mexico. The appeals court remanded the case back to district court to determine how much the Forest Service will have to pay of the...
Prosecutor or Referee?
Last week, as jury selection was underway in the retrial of four men accused of brandishing weapons during the 2014 standoff between federal agents and supporters of scofflaw rancher Cliven Bundy, Attorney General Jeff Sessions traveled to Las Vegas. According to the...
Congress Debates Land Swap for Minnesota Copper Mine
A land swap that could clear the way for a massive copper and nickel mine near Lake Superior in northern Minnesota will be up for debate during a House Natural Resources Committee hearing tomorrow. Minnesota Democrat Richard Nolan is the author of a bill that would...
Feds Seek Prison Terms for Bundy Backers
Jury selection began this week as the government tries once again to secure convictions against four men who brought assault-style rifles to a 2014 standoff between federal agents and supporters of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy. The government’s first attempt to...
Deep Workforce Cuts Proposed for BLM
As many as 1,000 jobs at the Bureau of Land Management may disappear next year, according to an email sent to agency employees last week by BLM Acting Director Mike Nedd, as the Trump administration works to sharply pare back the Interior Department’s budget. The 2018...
Bill Would Roll Back Environmental Rules on Logging Projects
Arkansas Rep. Bruce Westerman has reintroduced a bill that would roll back environmental regulations governing logging on national forests. The Resilient Federal Forests Act of 2017 would allow the Forest Service to sidestep laws including the National Environmental...
Zinke to Trump: Roll Back National Monument Designation
Department of Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke wants President Trump to narrow the boundaries of Utah’s Bears Ears National Monument, marking a significant advance in the administration’s pledge to roll back national monument designations. In a memo sent to Trump on...
Forest Service Approves Controversial Copper Mine
A proposal to dig a $2 billion, mile-wide, half-mile-deep copper mine in southern Arizona cleared a significant hurdle yesterday when the Forest Service granted formal approval for the controversial project. Toronto-based Hudbay Minerals wants to dig the mine in the...
Fighting for Survival
In the waning days of 1973, Richard Nixon signed into law the Endangered Species Act. It was anything but a controversial step for the embattled president, who a few months later would resign his office. Earlier that year, the ESA had passed the Senate unanimously;...
An Emphatic Ruling Against a Montana Mine
Question: How many laws can the federal government violate by giving the green light to a copper and silver mine in a wild corner of Montana? Answer: At least five. Earlier this week, U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy took the Forest Service to task for approving the...