As weather disasters worsen and what's expected to be another “hottest year on record,” some Western states are aggressively trying to change the public lands policies that are critical to addressing the climate and extinction crises. And if President Donald Trump's final term is any indication, those efforts will be boosted by the new administration come January.
The state of Utah recently filed a lawsuit to seize 18 million acres of public land now supported by Elko County in Nevada. If successful, it could put at least 210 million acres of public lands in the West and Alaska at risk and encourage other states to pursue similar claims. Since states would not have the budget to manage these lands, this would likely result in the sale and privatization of many public lands that we love and value.
It has been nearly four decades since I first traveled through Nevada's public lands with our amazing Mojave Desert. My father, a Midwestern dairy farmer accustomed to green pastures, looked out over the vast, arid Nevada landscape and scowled. He, like many others, thought, “What a barren wasteland!” This “barren wasteland” is the place I call home, the place where I raised my family and shared my love of art and nature, the place , where my adopted turtle lives and feels at home. These desert lands are wondrous and harsh. But are they a barren wasteland? Only if we allow them to be treated as such.
Public lands in Nevada and across the country are very popular. We saw this when the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) recently strengthened its existing authority by finalizing its Conservation and Landscape Health Rule, also known as the Public Lands Rule. The rule is good for Nevadans and nature. It places conservation on an equal footing with other uses in the management of our public lands and prioritizes restoring degraded habitats and ecosystems using data, science and Indigenous knowledge to guide management decisions. The BLM received more than 200,000 comments on the Public Lands Rule, with public support at 92 percent. It is advocated not only by environmentalists but also elected officials, scientists, legal experts and businesses.
Yet some Republican members of Congress and state leaders are attempting to undo these important new policies and even public lands themselves, locking us into a destructive pattern of land management that overwhelmingly favors private industries such as oil and gas extraction, mining and other resource uses. We can expect more of these threats to public lands and our communities in the new Congress and administration.
Approving polluting and water-intensive projects on our most vulnerable, natural and arid lands, often at the expense of communities and the environment, is unsustainable. Once disturbed, desert landscapes take hundreds of years to recover. Nevadans are proud to be the fourth-largest gold producer in the world, but the scars of our toxic mining legacy are nothing to brag about.
Waste raw materials from gold, silver, copper and lithium mining make us the most polluted state in the country. Nevada ranks first and worst out of 56 states and territories, according to the Toxics Release Inventory, a data set that tracks specific chemicals that pose toxic threats to human health and the environment. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that 40 percent of the country's rivers and 50 percent of all lakes are contaminated by abandoned hard rock mines.
Even more concerning is that in many parts of our state, groundwater is being withdrawn from aquifers faster than it is being replenished. About 56 water basins across the state are over-pumped, and according to the Legislative Counsel Bureau's research division, Nevada has 1.5 times more water obligations than the estimated 2 million acre-feet actually available.
As our agricultural public lands experience droughts, they are increasingly vulnerable to wildfires and the spread of invasive, non-native plants. Of the 155 million acres used for livestock grazing in the United States, Nevada leases 43 million acres, more than any other state. Livestock grazing is responsible for some of the most profound long-term damage to Nevada's natural landscapes and ecosystems.
Preserving public lands would protect the endangered Mojave Desert tortoise from extinction. In southern Nevada, we continue to see declining populations of one of our state's most iconic species, the Mojave Desert tortoise. The abysmal survival rates of the turtles placed in sanctuaries to save them should motivate approval of development in their critical habitat.
Furthermore, our desert should be managed for something we rarely give it credit for: removing the excessive carbon emissions from the atmosphere that are responsible for warming our planet and accelerating the extinction crisis. According to a report by biologist and plant ecologist Robin Kobaly, deserts like the Mojave Desert should be considered some of our country's most important natural carbon sinks because they store carbon in their extensive root systems and calcium carbonate-rich soils.
Public land belongs to us, the people, the public. Nearly two-thirds of Nevada's land, 48 million acres, is managed by the BLM and is considered public. Faced with the threat of privatization, we must speak out against these anti-state land ownership efforts and stand up for our public lands that are under attack.
Stewardship of our public lands should address our climate and extinction crises. The thousands of voices that supported the new Public Lands Rule should not be overruled. Equalizing conservation with other land uses is a critical step in protecting our land. Our Nevada Senators Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) must strongly oppose attempts to seize millions of acres of our public lands and support maintaining conservation policies and designations. In this way, we can continue to preserve Nevada’s natural heritage for future generations.
Linda Stout is a mother, former educator and volunteer conservation co-chair of the Toiyabe Chapter of the Sierra Club.
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