National parks in UT benefit from BLM rules

Public News Service Newscasts

National parks in UT benefit from BLM rules Conservation experts are applauding the Bureau of Land Management for releasing two new rules that recognize conservation as an essential part of public lands management and strengthen accountability for oil and gas operations across the West, including Utah. Beau Kiklis is the senior program manager of energy and landscape conservation for the National Parks Conservation Association, and said Utah is home to multiple national parks - many of which border BLM lands. "The fact of the matter is," said Kiklis, "the conditions of the landscape across the state and also throughout the West, are such that the BLM has to shift course and has to respond to these changing conditions as an obligatory matter." Kiklis said historically there has been a "significant imbalance" in terms of land that has been available for oil and gas leasing around the West. "...(Read More)