Lost lands? The American wilderness at risk in the Trump era

Exclusive: a new study reveals the scale of how public lands are being opened up to the energy industry. The Guardian heard from three communities on the frontlinesIn the great expanses of the Grand Staircase-Escalante national monument, the silence hits you first. Minutes pass, smooth and unbroken as glass. The smallest sound - a breath of wind, a falling rock - can seem as loud as passing traffic.Colter Hoyt knows this landscape well. As an outdoor guide, he walks the monument almost daily. Yet these days he is full of fear. This remote paradise of red rocks, slot canyons and towering plateaus faces an uncertain future, following a controversial presidential proclamation that removed 800,000 acres from the monument and opened land up for potential energy development. Continue reading...