U.S. Bureau of Land Management

The only place to find the Coral Pink Sand Dunes tiger beetle is in a tiny sliver of the southern Utah desert. So as climate change and recreation threaten its fragile habitat, it has nowhere else to go.

After a wildfire, native plants and wildlife are often crowded out by invasive species, and rivers and streams can take years to recover. A collaboration between federal agencies and conservation groups in Nevada's Virgin River watershed, however, points to early signs of recovery.

Pearce's past comments about selling public lands had drawn particular scrutiny since his nomination was announced. His position was secured as part of a large package vote that approved 49 Trump administration nominations at once.

The canceled rule allowed public property to be leased for restoration in the same way that oil companies lease land for drilling. It was a key part of efforts under former President Joe Biden to refocus the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management.

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

Steve Pearce, Trump's pick to lead the Bureau of Land Management, said he would not propose large-scale sales of public lands.

The lawsuit argues the approval of the highway near St. George breaks multiple federal laws, including the act that established the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area.

A plan to build a highway through the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area near St. George is back. But public lands law experts from across the country question if the Trump administration is missing Congress's original intention.

The contentious highway would run through Red Cliffs National Conservation Area near St. George, a landscape that’s home to the threatened Mojave Desert tortoise.

The Biden administration issued an order in 2023 banning new oil and gas development within 10 miles of the historic site for 20 years. Tribal leaders who had celebrated the move are now concerned about the potential for protections to be rolled back.

The proposed road through the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area has been a long-fought tug-of-war between administrations, courts, Congress and the threatened Mojave Desert tortoise.

The rule adopted last year allowed public property to be leased for restoration in the same way that oil companies lease land for drilling.