public lands

House moves to bar use of public lands for housing migrants; SD’s Johnson votes yes

BY: - November 30, 2023

WASHINGTON — The U.S. House Thursday passed a bill to bar the use of public lands for temporary housing for migrants applying for asylum. The bill, H.R. 5283, passed with a majority of Republicans in support (including South Dakota Rep. Dusty Johnson), 224-203.  It’s dead on arrival in the U.S. Senate, where Democrats hold a […]

A portion of the Big Hole River area in Montana managed by the Bureau of Land Management. (Bob Wick/Bureau of Land Management, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/)

Federal public lands rule would be yanked under bill passed by U.S. House panel

BY: - June 21, 2023

The U.S. House Natural Resources Committee on a party-line 20-16 vote Wednesday approved a bill to force the Bureau of Land Management to drop its proposed rule that would allow the agency to lease parcels of land for conservation. The committee vote allows the bill, written by Utah Republican John Curtis, to get a vote […]

COMMENTARY
Bear Butte, as seen in 2020 from a vantage point within the U.S. Bureau of Land Management's Fort Meade Recreation Area near Sturgis. (Seth Tupper/South Dakota Searchlight)

Public Lands Rule would benefit wildlife and sporting traditions

BY: - June 14, 2023

As a sportsman who enjoys getting out on public lands and waters, I was heartened when the U.S. Bureau of Land Management recently released a proposed Public Lands Rule that elevates conservation as one of the multiple uses on federal land. Not surprising, however, was South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem’s decision to fly off to […]

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland testifies to the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on May 2, 2023, in Washington, D.C. (Committee livestream screenshot)

Interior secretary under fire at U.S. Senate hearing over oil and gas leases, public lands

BY: - May 2, 2023

Members of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee used a Tuesday hearing on the Interior Department’s fiscal 2024 budget to voice their displeasure with the administration’s energy production policies to Secretary Deb Haaland.  The strongest criticism came from Republicans on the panel, though Chairman Joe Manchin III, a centrist West Virginia Democrat with […]

Mountains in Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. (Seth Tupper/South Dakota Searchlight)

Fossil fuel drilling threatens air and wildlife in national parks, advocacy group finds

BY: - February 10, 2023

WASHINGTON — A “massive” methane cloud forming over Chaco Culture National Historical Park in New Mexico.   Noxious air pollution fouling Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado.  Herds of mule deer and pronghorn at risk of decimation at Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. Environmental problems like these are already resulting from fossil fuel extraction near four […]

A portion of the Black Hills National Forest near Mystic. (Seth Tupper/South Dakota Searchlight)

U.S. House GOP would make it easier for feds to give public lands away to states

BY: - January 13, 2023

U.S. House Republicans included in the new rules for the chamber they passed this month a provision meant to make it easier for Congress to give away public lands. The provision is a fairly technical piece of the 55-page rules package. It affects internal House accounting and requires that anytime Congress were to give any […]

Public access fight draws state into court with townships

BY: - November 5, 2022

Deer hunters Bill Berry and Kyle Battell recently attempted to access public land in the rolling hills and rugged backcountry north of Wall.  But the parcels of public land were surrounded by privately owned land – creating something hunters call a “landlocked parcel.” That’s the case with many public acres west of the Missouri River.  […]