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BLM ACTION CENTER

Protecting and conserving Bureau of Land Management lands across the western United States.

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Keeping public lands and western communities safe from irresponsible “fracking”

Gas well

Credit: BLM

May 8, 2012 - “Fracking.”  It’s a bit of a dirty word – pumping millions of gallons of water, toxic chemicals, and sand into a well to free up oil and gas far below ground.  Its widespread use is causing concerns from communities and conservationists worried about the effects it could have on water and land. more

Amazing Earthfest provides an opportunity to explore and play on our wildlands

Group hike through Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument as part of the 2011 Amazing Earthfest

Credit: Photo by Amazing Earthfest

May 4, 2012 - I’ll let you in on a secret. There is a way for your family to experience the best of southern Utah and northern Arizona and all you have to do is get there. Yup, no need to develop a plan for how to spend your days, others have done that planning for you! Every year, the Amazing Earthfest takes place the third week in May and offers a sample of the rich cultural and natural world surrounding the area of Kanab, Utah. May 13 is the kickoff date for the 6th annual festival. more

Earth Day in Roubideau Canyon

Roubideau Canyon

Credit: Barbara Hawke

April 23, 2012 - Earth Day was celebrated in unique ways in the small towns across western Colorado. In Montrose I joined a small group to honor the gifts of the natural world at a pre-dawn ceremony near the Ute Indian Museum. We gathered around Montrose’s  Peace Pole with a chorus of songbirds as our backdrop, near the flowing Uncompahgre River. more

New protections on the horizon for greater sage-grouse

Greater sage-grouse coexist with pronghorn

Credit: Photo by Sasha Nelson, Colorado Environmental Coalition

February 27, 2012 - The greater sage-grouse is a western icon, famous for its courtship ritual, which draws curious crowds every spring to witness the males perform an elaborate strutting display and mating calls . The bird was once ubiquitous in the lower-elevation sagebrush landscape of the western United States and British Columbia. But rampant oil and gas drilling, road development and other causes of habitat fragmentation across our western lands have imperiled the greater sage-grouse and led to significant population declines. So much so that in 2010, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) declared the bird warrants protection under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). more