Shifting Ground: Changes in Public Land Policies

The second event in RFF’s If/Then series, which presents timely insights about substantive developments in environmental and energy policy.

Watch Now

Date

July 30, 2025

Time

2:30–3:45 p.m. ET

Participants

Margaret A. Walls, Brian C. Prest, David N. Wear, and Ian Stevenson

Event Series

Webinar

Details

Recent federal decisions, including the reconciliation megabill and several executive orders, will dramatically change the way public lands are managed in the United States.

Resources for the Future (RFF) scholars gathered on Wednesday, July 30, and discussed federal lands and the implications of changes in staffing and funding, timber harvesting, oil and gas leasing, and monument designations. Moderated by E&E News reporter Ian Stevenson, the group discussed their recent If/Then analyses of the road ahead for public lands.

Learn more about the If/Then policy analysis series

Speakers

Brian C. Prest, Fellow
Margaret A. Walls, Senior Fellow; Director, Climate Risks and Resilience Program
David N. Wear, Senior Fellow; Director, Land Use, Forestry, and Agriculture Program
Ian Stevenson, Reporter, E&E News

Event Recording

Topics

Projects

If/Then

Participants

Margaret A. Walls

Senior Fellow; Director, Climate Risks and Resilience Program

Margaret Walls is a senior fellow at RFF. Her current research focuses on issues related to resilience and adaptation to extreme events, ecosystem services, and conservation, parks and public lands.

Brian C. Prest

Fellow; Director, Social Cost of Carbon Initiative

Brian Prest is an economist and fellow at Resources for the Future specializing in climate change, oil and gas, and energy economics.

David N. Wear

Senior Fellow; Director, Land Use, Forestry, and Agriculture Program

David Wear is a nonresident senior fellow and the director of the Land Use, Forestry, and Agriculture Program at RFF.

Ian Stevenson

Reporter

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