Bobby Magill

Florida’s Big Cypress National Preserve sprawls north from Everglades National Park over 729,000 acres of swamp, an ancient forest that protects the endangered Florida panther and the pristine waters of

The White House wants to trim the National Park Service budget by transferring some parks to state and tribal management. States say their resources are already tight.

Whole counties in the state are Superfund sites after decades of contamination. As the cleanup continues, remaining mines are eyeing new demand.

It’s a libertarian’s dream come true: cities rising on open acres of former federal land that become deregulated zones where innovation and technological advancement can thrive. These “ freedom cities ” owned by tech companies would have little to no government interference, exempt from regulations, including labor laws and environmental laws. But at what cost? And how realistic is this dream?

A panel of Ninth Circuit judges on Tuesday questioned whether a national monument banning mining around the Grand Canyon had sufficiently harmed the Arizona State Legislature to give it standing to challenge the preserve in federal court.

As the Trump administration prepares to move the US Forest Service to Utah, it’s been opening the door for unprecedented control by state and local governments—and use by industry.