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Government

There are 731 animal species listed as threatened or endangered, including 171 types of fish, 99 birds, and 96 mammals.

Since 1967, an average of 30 species have been added to the list annually. An average of about two species are removed from the list each year. A total of 11 removals have been due to extinction.

Government

The federal government owned 28% of American land as of 2018, down about 5% since 1990.

Most federal land is either in Alaska (36.2% of all federal land) or concentrated in 11 Western states. The Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service together operate 71% of federal lands. The National Park Service operates 13%.

Government

The federal government collected $11.3 billion in revenue from energy and mineral extraction on its lands and waters in 2021, a 19% decrease from 2011, after adjusting for inflation.

Most federal land extraction revenue is generated by oil and gas extraction, and the acreage leased for oil and gas extraction decreased 35% since FY 2011 to 24.9 million acres. Despite this, the number of producing oil and gas leases in the US rose by about 5% since FY 2011.

Government

There were 297 million visits to land managed by the National Park Service in 2021 (including national parks, historical sites, and national monuments), 25% greater than in 2020.

Visits were 9% lower than in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Government

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park had 14.2 million visits in 2021, remaining the country’s most-visited national park.

Grand Canyon visits rose by 57% compared to 2020 and Yosemite visits increased by 28%, but visits to both remain below pre-pandemic levels.

Government

The federal government spent $40.9 billion in 2020, or 0.6% of all federal expenditures, on the environment and natural resources (not including renewable energy spending).

Most was on the Forest Service ($7 billion), transfers to state and local governments ($6.7 billion), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ($6.1 billion).

Government

State and local governments spent $67.7 billion on the environment and natural resources in 2019.

This was a 6.7% increase over 2018, but a 31.3% decrease compared to the 2009 peak.

Government

Combining bills that became public law, executive orders and presidential memoranda, and significant rulemaking by executive agencies, there were 81 federal actions on land, energy, and the environment in 2021.

More than half of these actions were on pollution (including 14 actions regulating hazardous materials use) or land, resource, and species management (including 15 that established regulations on how humans interact with animals).

Learn more about energy, environment, and natural resources in the US.

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