Photo Credit: WildEarth Guardians
Public lands in public hands – exposing greedy land-grabbers and fighting privatization
Public Lands in Public Hands
Public lands provide limitless opportunities to experience everything from majestic red rock canyons to ancient sequoia groves, vast mountain wildernesses, and the stunning Sagebrush Sea. Many of these areas are protected from development as National Parks, Monuments, Forests and Wilderness Areas, providing the last remaining places for clean water and air, and homes to a remarkable diversity of wildlife, birds, and fish.
Unfortunately, exploitation and privatization of the commons is as old as the West, and protection of, and public access to, these lands is not assured. Wealthy, entrenched interests are lobbying their friends in Congress, pressuring federal agencies, and supporting the message of radicals like the Bundy family that they are the rightful owners of public lands and can do with them as they see fit.
We can’t stand by and let this happen. Guardians works to expose the efforts of greedy land-grabbers to keep public lands where they belong: in public hands.
Public Lands in Public Hands Key Strategies
- Stopping Underhanded Trades
- Challenging State Seizures
- Fighting One-Sided Deals
- Protecting National Monuments
Guardians defends the rights of all Americans to preserve national monuments for future generations. We are committed to fighting monument reductions from the president and Congress.
How You Can Help
Help protect the magnificent wild places of the West! Be a guardian for public lands by joining the conversation, learning about current issues, and making your voice heard. Together, we're a powerful force for nature.
Recent Stories From Public Lands

The doctor is in
Samantha Ruscavage-Barz lays down the law for the Wild as WildEarth Guardians legal director

Big court win opens door to keep coal in the ground
Court orders new look at coal mining, oil and gas drilling on public lands in the Powder River Basin of Montana and Wyoming

The doctor is in
Samantha Ruscavage-Barz lays down the law for the Wild as WildEarth Guardians legal director

The doctor is in
Samantha Ruscavage-Barz lays down the law for the Wild as WildEarth Guardians legal director
Public Lands Press
Climate bill headed to President Biden sacrifices public lands while locking out Indigenous and Frontline communities
Congress allowed the good in Inflation Reduction Act to be watered-down by provisions that fund polluters and expand fossil fuel leasing on public lands
Read more >Large Trees, Bad Projects
Imagine the largest tree you ever saw. Maybe you remember looking up, trying to see all the way to its crown. Maybe you recall wanting to stretch your arms around the tree.
Read more >Scientists Propose Ambitious West-wide Rewilding Plan Involving Wolves, Beaver
Twenty wildlife and public lands professionals are proposing a plan to “rewild” public lands in the West to preserve threatened fish and wildlife and help people survive in the face of worsening climate change. But even the professionals admit the plan is controversial.
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