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 importance of mature and old-growth forests
WildEarth Guardians’ Dr. Lisa Markovchick explains why mature and old-growth forests and trees on federal public lands need protection
Public Lands Press
Federal judge finds BLM imperiled sage grouse and broke environmental laws in approving Idaho phosphate mine
The ruling by the U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho determined the BLM violated the National Environmental Policy Act and Federal Land Policy Management Act
Read more >The Greater Gila Teaches us That Worlds are Sometimes Forged in Flame
There is a collection of poetry by Indonesian American poet Cynthia Dewi Oka titled Fire is Not a Country. I stumble across it while searching for poems about fire.
Read more >Forest Service agrees to begin winter travel planning on Rio Grande
The parties in a lawsuit over the lack of winter recreation management planning in the Rio Grande National Forest have reached a partial settlement, under which the Forest Service has agreed to initiate the preliminary planning steps by the end of April 2024.
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