Bureau of Land Management

Steve Pearce, a former Republican congressman from New Mexico, will next need to clear a vote in the full Senate in the coming weeks to be confirmed.

One in five Bureau of Land Management employees are veterans. Some worry the bureau's nominee, Steve Pearce, could sell off public land and thus cost veterans their jobs.

Labyrinth Canyon, one of Utah’s most remote and accessible stretches of the Green River, faces a major policy reversal that could reopen more than 100 miles of off-road vehicle routes.

Over the weekend, Sen. Mike Lee withdrew his proposal for the Bureau of Land Management to sell parcels for the highest value.

It would be called the U.S. Wildland Fire Service, according to budget documents from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Department of Interior. The agency would consolidate the wildland fire programs of the USDA and Interior within the latter.

Recreation-focused staff and budgets at national forests have gone down as demand has gone up. This has been resulting in lengthy delays in responses to applications.

A U.S. District judge said it was “not hard to imagine” that some horses and burros went to slaughter in his ruling that led to the Bureau of Land Management’s decision to shut down the adoption program.

In other news, the Salt Lake LDS Temple will welcome visitors in 2027 after years of renovations. And, mass firings were announced for the Bureau of Land Management and other federal departments.

Since the federal government nixed plans to build a highway through the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area, another area home to some popular St. George recreation spots has come under threat.

The Northern Corridor is a proposed four-lane highway that would cut through the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area in Washington County. Facing strong opposition as well as fierce support, its fate hangs in the balance.