Public Lands

A federal judge gave the Department of the Interior until Independence Day to bring back purged exhibits on climate change and slavery. Here is how park staff, advocacy groups, and the White House are scrambling to respond.

Trail workers are removing years of accumulated human waste from one of the state's most beloved alpine destinations as new regulations require hikers to pack out what they leave behind.

When a new executive order put QR codes in parks asking visitors to flag "disparaging" history, 35,000 people wrote back. A Sierra Club lawsuit shows they brought receipts—and plenty of sarcasm.

National Park Service data shows a significant drop in fatalities from the pandemic peak, but one group of people makes up an overwhelming majority of those deaths. Plus, five parks make up one-quarter of all deaths.

A national movement, led by the Trust for Public Land, is swapping concrete playgrounds for ecosystems to ensure every child has nature within reach.

A new accountability tool shows exactly how every member of Congress voted on national parks, forests, and wilderness areas—stripping away the political noise. Here’s how to see whether your representatives are in support of public lands.

Conservationists warn that Utah politicians are weaponizing an obscure legislative tool to dismantle the management plan for Grand Staircase-Escalante. If they succeed, it could throw outdoor recreation and conservation into “chaos” nationwide.

In the most remote corners of the Chihuahuan Desert, federal officials say they are now betting that vertical limestone walls and cutting-edge surveillance will be more effective—and sustainable—than a physical fence.

From lifting alligator hunting bans in Louisiana to allowing loaded weapons near popular Colorado hiking trails, the Department of the Interior’s new directive is dismantling decades of safety-first conservation. Former National Park Service leaders are sounding the alarm.

Extreme drought, overstretched crews, and a sweeping Forest Service restructuring are converging into what experts fear could be the most volatile fire year in U.S. history.

The new budget aims to promote “visitor-facing roles,” but critics argue the cuts will gut the agency's science and conservation capabilities.

From a magical stretch of the California coast to 50,000 acres in Montana, conservationists are still finding ways to set aside land for protection.

Following the 145,000-acre Dragon Bravo Fire that destroyed historic North Rim structures in the Grand Canyon, the federal government has acknowledged mistakes in its response.

The U.S. Forest Service is moving its headquarters to Salt Lake City and shuttering 57 of its 77 research stations. Is this a move for efficiency, or a play to dismantle federal land protections? Experts weigh in.

A federal panel just gave the oil industry a free pass to bypass wildlife protections near ten National Park Service sites. Now, environmentalists are suing to stop them.

Can you legally carry a firearm in national parks? While carrying on the trail is legal, a new lawsuit seeks to end the ban on guns in facilities like gift shops and visitor centers.