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Tag: Land Management

Turn down the noise: Why Steve Pearce’s BLM confirmation isn’t the crisis critics claim
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GregWalcher.com, Approved, Commentary, National

Turn down the noise: Why Steve Pearce’s BLM confirmation isn’t the crisis critics claim

By Greg Walcher | Commentary, GregWalcher.com This week the Senate finally confirmed the new Director of the Bureau of Land Management, former New Mexico Congressman Steve Pearce. The firestorm surrounding his nomination a few weeks earlier has not yet cooled and probably won’t. The volume is louder than the situation justifies, though, and the vast western sky above BLM land is not falling. I met Steve Pearce several times when he was a congressman and always found him to be well informed, reasonable, and friendly – nothing like the demon portrayed by political opponents. He has deep roots in southeast New Mexico, where he grew up surrounded by BLM land, so he knows the agency well. He was a combat pilot in Vietnam, built an oilfield services business, and served 18 years in the sta...
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State school trust lands were meant to fund education, not environmental agendas
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GregWalcher.com, Approved, Commentary, State

State school trust lands were meant to fund education, not environmental agendas

By Greg Walcher | GregWalcher.com A land ownership checkerboard exists in nearly every state because of an oddity called “state school trust lands.” The federal government granted those lands at the time of statehood, under the Land Ordinance of 1785. Thomas Jefferson’s system divides and records land into townships, each with 36 one-square-mile sections. New states entering the union were each given 2 sections per township, to be held in trust to fund public schools. State Land Boards were created to manage those lands – in my state of Colorado it’s 4 million acres. The Board was charged with administering the lands “in such a manner as will secure the maximum possible amount” for the school fund. The Lincoln Institute of Public Lands explains, “That singularity of purpose continues...
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Smoke and ash drive Colorado’s animals to the edge of survival
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Summit Daily, Approved, State

Smoke and ash drive Colorado’s animals to the edge of survival

By Allisyn Capel | Summit Daily With wildfires raging across Colorado amid extreme drought conditions, the state's inhabitants -- human and wildlife alike -- are bracing for impacts. On Friday, Aug. 22, around 207,500 acres were burning across the state in 17 fires. The vast majority of this acreage is attributed to nine large fires on the Western Slope. "Wildfires can have significant negative impacts to the landscape, wildlife and homes," said Brad Banuli, Colorado Parks and Wildlife's northwest region senior terrestrial biologist. In the last month, wildfires have prompted Parks and Wildlife to evacuate hundreds of native trout from the Stoner Mesa Fire in the San Juan Mountains, monitor a variety of wildlife species and habitats, and alter fall hunts for certain bear, elk and ...
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Same week, same county, different response: Inside the Elk and Lee fires
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Approved, Local, Top Stories

Same week, same county, different response: Inside the Elk and Lee fires

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Flames boiled the pond on Mike Clark’s ranch, scorched irrigated fields and melted fiberglass fence posts in minutes. On August 6, the Lee Fire came so fast friends were calling with warnings as his family scrambled to clear trees and pump water toward the house.  Just miles away on the Elk Fire side, air tankers and ground crews had been dropping water since early morning. Mike Clark is no stranger to high stakes. A fourth-generation Coloradan and CEO of Petrox Resources, he built his life and business in the same place he raised his children. For decades, Clark has run Petrox while also working the family’s ranch, a property he moved to more than 30 years ago for its open spaces, agricultural roots and the chance to raise his kids in a...
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Gabel: State land board pick once cheered eco-terrorism—now she could control 2.8M acres
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Approved, denvergazette.com, State

Gabel: State land board pick once cheered eco-terrorism—now she could control 2.8M acres

By Rachel Gabel | Commentary, Denver Gazette Much of the land around Vail that is now developed as resorts, ski slopes, and golf courses first belonged to sheep ranchers with Greek roots. By the 1960s, development was pushing them out of the valley and activists were bemoaning the negative effect on wildlife that took place when livestock grazing was replaced by progress. In 1998, Vail Resorts was on the cusp of developing 2,2oo acres of backcountry. The plan riled activists, especially those devoted to preserving the habitats of elk and Canada Lynx that thrived before development came to town. Members of the radical Earth Liberation Front (ELF) and the now-defunct Rocky Mountain Animal Defense (RMAD) marched and chanted through Vail with police on their tails, wielding decibel me...
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