In 2016, the Bureau of Land Management, working with numerous conservation and recreation organizations, finalized the Desert Renewable Conservation Plan, an eight-year plan that set aside millions of acres for conservation and recreation, as well as for renewable energy. Managing editor Tami Roleff says the Trump administration released amendments Wednesday that will increase the land available for energy and reduce the acreage available for conservation and recreation…
California Native Plant Society photo
In the last week of the Trump administration, the Bureau of Land Management is proposing big changes to the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan. The BLM is now proposing to allow activities like energy development, mining and grazing on more than one million additional acres. Jeff Aardahl with the group Defenders of Wildlife says the habitat protections in the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan are crucial to stopping the desert tortoise’s slide toward extinction.