Public Lands Litigation- update through April 25, 2023
- May 5, 2023
New lawsuits
On April 17, Protect the Public’s Trust, which describes itself as an unincorporated association dedicated to restoring public trust in government, filed lawsuits against the Department of the Interior and the BLM for failing to meet Freedom of Information Act requirements to provide documents involving communications between agency officials and Somah Haaland, who is the daughter of Deb Haaland, the Secretary of the Interior. Somah Haaland has lobbied lawmakers as a media adviser for the Pueblo Action Alliance in support of a drilling moratorium around Chaco Culture National Historical Park in northwest New Mexico, and the request focuses on a movie about the protection efforts. The FOIA request was made on January 2.
(Family ties seem to be important to some these days; Hunter Biden comes to mind. Here’s an example of how more transparency might play out in such situations.)