The federal government owns 640 million acres in the United States, totaling more than one-quarter of the nation and nearly half of the American West. From national parks and forests to rangelands and mineral resources, effective public land management is critical for conservation and prosperity. But today’s federal land agencies face a host of challenges, including growing maintenance backlogs, poor environmental stewardship, and excessive “analysis paralysis” that increases costs and delays effective management.
Making matters worse, many of the laws and regulations governing public lands create immense conflict, litigation, and political controversy, which tears at the social fabric of many western communities. Today, public lands are more likely to provoke acrimony than to encourage innovation and cooperation among competing users. Decisions are often made in Washington D.C., or in the courts rather than resolved cooperatively by local people or managers on the ground.
RESEARCH INITIATIVE: Opening up the bidding processes for resource management on public lands would promote conservation where it is valued higher than other uses.
Opportunities exist to develop conservation reserve networks in the western US that account for landscape connectivity and that benefit both private landowners and biodiversity conservation efforts through land trades and acquisitions.
A daunting restoration backlog in national Forests fuels the wildfire crisis. With increased funding coming, significant policy and litigation obstacles still stand in the way of forest restoration.