Federal rule makes conservation equal to industry on US lands
BILLINGS, Mont. — The Biden administration finalized a new rule Thursday for public land management that’s meant to put conservation on more equal footing with oil drilling, grazing and other extractive industries on vast government-owned properties.
Officials pushed past strong opposition from private industry and Republican governors to adopt the proposal.
The rule from the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management — which oversees more than 380,000 square miles of land, primarily in the U.S. West — will allow public property to be leased for restoration in the same way that oil companies lease land for drilling.
The rule also promotes the designation of more “areas of critical environmental concern” — a special status that can restrict development. It’s given to land with historic or cultural significance or that’s important for wildlife conservation.
The land bureau has a history of industry-friendly policies and for more than a century has sold grazing permits and oil and gas leases.
The bureau also regulates publicly owned underground mineral reserves — such as coal for power plants and lithium for renewable energy — across more than 1 million square miles.
Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said the changes would “restore balance” to how the government manages its public lands.
But Republican lawmakers and industry representatives blasted the move as a backdoor way to exclude mining, energy development and agriculture from government acreage that’s often cheap to lease.
Haitians deported: Immigration officials sent around 50 Haitians back to their home country Thursday, according to three government officials, in the first deportation flight conducted by the U.S. government since January.
Deportation flights are generally viewed as a way to deter migrants from crossing the southern border without authorization. The United States has been concerned about migration from Haiti since a gang takeover this year of its capital, Port-auprince, led to the planned resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry.
President Joe Biden has faced intense scrutiny from Republicans about the border. In recent months, however, migrants are crossing the border at lower rates.
Still, the deportation flight caught many immigrant advocacy groups by surprise. The U.S. government advises Americans to not visit Haiti, citing “kidnapping, crime, civil unrest and poor health care infrastructure,” and has previously told family members of U.S. officials in Haiti to leave.
Accused spy: A Polish man was arrested Wednesday in Poland on allegations of being ready to spy on behalf of Russia’s military intelligence in an alleged plot to assassinate Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Polish prosecutors said Thursday.
The man, identified only as Pawel K. under Polish privacy laws, was accused of being prepared to give airport security information to Russian agents.
The man was seeking contact with Russians directly involved in the war in Ukraine and was expected to pass on detailed information about the Rzeszow-jasionka airport in southeastern Poland, near the border with Ukraine, which is the gateway for international military and humanitarian supplies for Ukraine. It also serves leaders and politicians traveling in and out of Ukraine. The airport is under the control of U.S. troops.
If convicted, the man could face up to eight years in prison.
Drought-fueled hunger: Twenty million people in southern Africa are facing what the United Nations calls “acute hunger” as one of the worst droughts in more than four decades shrivels crops, decimates livestock and, after years of rising food prices brought on by pandemic and war, spikes the price of corn, the region’s staple crop.
Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe have declared national emergencies.
It is a bitter foretaste of what a warming climate is projected to bring to a region that’s likely to be acutely affected by climate change, although scientists said Thursday that the current drought is more driven by the natural weather cycle known as El Niño than by global warming. In southern Africa, El Niños tend to bring below-average rainfall.
The rains this year began late and were lower than average. Also, thousands of cattle deaths have been reported in the region.
Harry a US resident: Prince Harry, the son of King Charles III and fifth in line to the British throne, has formally confirmed that he is now a U.S. resident.
Four years after Harry and his American wife, Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, decamped to a villa in Southern California, a travel company he controls filed paperwork this week informing British authorities that he has moved and is now “usually resident” in the United States.
The formal acknowledgment underscores the prince’s increasing estrangement from Britain; it was received Monday by Companies House, the government agency that over sees the incorporation of U.K. companies.