The ESA at 50: Six steps to better outcomes for people and wildlife
Were it not for the Endangered Species Act (ESA), it is likely that bald eagles, humpback whales, whooping cranes, peregrine falcons and American alligators would no longer be with us
Stream Access: A Western Water Issue
In March of 2022, the New Mexico Supreme Court issued a ruling upholding the public’s right to access waterways that flow through private land. As noted by the court in
Bennet, Moran, Heinrich Introduce Bill To Create New Tool For Farmers And Ranchers To Combat Drought
Legislation would create new USDA Voluntary Groundwater Conservation Easement Program Today, U.S. Senators Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) introduced the Voluntary Groundwater Conservation Act to give
Western Landowners welcome historic USDA working lands investment
Today, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced major changes and new investments that recognize and support the vital role that working lands play in sustaining wildlife. The USDA is
Don’t Say Backpack Tax
AS PARTICIPATION—AND IMPACT—INCREASES, THE OUTDOOR RECREATION INDUSTRY NEEDS TO FIND WAY TO CONTRIBUTE DIRECTLY TO WILDLIFE CONSERVATION. BUT THERE ARE FEW POPULAR OPTIONS. We hear it all the time: hunters pay
What landowners need to know about the farm bill and water
It has been a busy year at the Capitol. After much back-and-forth, two major pieces of legislation passed that will bring considerable new investments to Western working landscapes: the Inflation
Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon
WLA’s executive director, Lesli Allison, sat down with Governor Gordon for a conversation about the governor’s passion for ranch life, his vision for how ecosystem service markets could help Wyoming
The Great and Powerful Atlas
Can a set of maps avoid erasing people from the landscape? By the time you are reading this, thousands of individuals, nonprofits, industry associations, state and local governments and others will
The importance of private, working lands to Yellowstone in the twenty-first century
A keynote address for the University of Wyoming’s 150th Anniversary of Yellowstone Symposium, held at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody, Wyoming By Robert Bonnie, Undersecretary of Agriculture
New Mexico’s wildfires stark reminder of need for long-term conservation funding
After three years of dedicated work to ensure that New Mexico invests more to conserve its lands, forests, watersheds, and wildlife, today we can celebrate. This year, the New Mexico
Any national maps of conservation need to come from local communities
Of all the components of the Conserving and Restoring America the Beautiful Initiative (which includes the Biden administration’s goal to conserve 30% of land and water by the year 2030),
30×30 and the recreation-conservation seesaw
Within the “Conserving and Restoring America the Beautiful” report, President Biden’s most detailed public plan to date on how to implement the 30x30 goal, are two inauspicious policy recommendations. One