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File:  ltr to Congress, 76 scientists 2012.pdfResource Type: Letters

File:  ltr to Congress, 76 scientists 2012.pdfResource Type: Letters

(Full Event Details) As part of the East Oakland Air Monitoring Project, a specialized van will measure different types of air pollutants around air quality concerns in the community. Join us to celebrate the launch of this project and see the monitoring van!

When: Saturday, July 12, 11am – 1pm
Where: 81st Avenue Library, 1021 81st Ave, Oakland, CA 94621

RSVP

Note: This project has been funded wholly or in part by the United States Environmental Protection Agency under assistance agreement 0X-98T56701 to the Bay Area Air District. The contents of this document do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Environmental Protection Agency, nor does the EPA endorse trade names or recommend the use of commercial products mentioned in this document.

Estación Móvil de Monitoreo del Aire de East Oakland: Evento de Lanzamiento

Como parte del Proyecto de Monitoreo del Aire del Este de Oakland, una camioneta especializada medirá diferentes tipos de contaminantes del aire en torno a preocupaciones de calidad del aire en la comunidad. ¡Únase a nosotros para celebrar el lanzamiento de este proyecto y ver la camioneta de monitoreo!

Cuándo: Sábado 12 de julio, 11:00 a. m. – 1:00 p. m.
Dónde: Biblioteca de la Avenida 81, 1021 81st Ave, Oakland, CA 94621

Inscríbete

Nota: Este proyecto ha sido financiado total o parcialmente por la Agencia de Protección Ambiental de los Estados Unidos (EPA) en virtud del acuerdo de asistencia 0X-98T56701 con el Distrito del Aire del Área de la Bahía. El contenido de este documento no refleja necesariamente las opiniones ni las políticas de la EPA, ni la EPA avala las marcas comerciales ni recomienda el uso de los productos comerciales mencionados en este documento.

(Full Event Details) You’re invited to join Communities for a Better Environment for our 2025 East Oakland Youth Leadership Academy! This academy will create a new wave of youth organizers and advocates empowered with knowledge about environmental justice and environmental racism in East Oakland.

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We will also be hosting a hybrid (online & in-person) info session on Wednesday, June 25th where you can meet some of the other participants, give topic or field trip suggestions, get logistical information, and ask questions.

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(Full Event Details) You’re invited to join Communities for a Better Environment for our 2025 Richmond Youth Leadership Academy! This academy will create a new wave of youth organizers and advocates empowered with knowledge about environmental justice and environmental racism in Richmond.

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Stipends are available for full participation!

We will also be hosting a hybrid (online & in-person) info session on Wednesday, June 25th where you can meet some of the other participants, give topic or field trip suggestions, get logistical information, and ask questions.

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This is an automatically generated transcript. Please excuse spelling and grammar errors.

Aaron: Welcome to The Landscape, your show about America’s parks and public lands. I’m a very froggy sounding Aaron Weiss with the Center for Western Priorities, getting over a cold in Denver this week. 

Kate: And I’m Kate Groetzinger in Salt Lake City. Today we’re doing something a little different, which is a short episode about some breaking news, and that news is that Trump’s Department of Justice has released an opinion stating that the Antiquities Act gives presidents the power to shrink or eliminate national monuments at will. But what does that mean? For example, if Trump tries to undo Chuck Wall, a national monument, or shrink Bears Ears again, will this DOJ opinion stand up in court? We put those questions and more to John Leshy, professor at UC law and former solicitor of the US Department of the Interior under President Clinton.

Aaron: Before we get there, I wanna address the other big news this week, which is  a provision to sell off two to 3 million acres of public land, possibly getting attached to the budget reconciliation bill in the Senate. This language is bad, like comically bad and clumsily written, but the threat is very real.

We’ll toss some links about that into the show notes and we’ll be back on Monday with a deeper dive. But first. Professor John Leshy. 

Kate: Welcome back to The Landscape, Professor. 

John: Thank you for having me. 

Kate: So the Trump Department of Justice released a legal opinion earlier this week that basically argues the Antiquities Act allows presidents to shrink or eliminate national monuments established by past presidents. Now, I’m pretty sure most of our listeners know about the Antiquities Act, but it basically gives the president the ability to establish national monuments to protect important cultural and natural resources on national public lands.

This opinion is a big departure from the federal government’s historic interpretation of the Antiquities Act, which is that it gives presidents the right to create and expand monuments, but not to shrink or eliminate them. So Professor Leshy, what is the effect of this opinion, and what does it mean regarding Trump’s future actions?

John: Well, it’s rather curious, uh, Kate, because, uh, while the opinion says it was being prepared in response to a request from inside the executive branch, not clear whether it was from the president or from the interior department or who exactly made the request, but they made the request about the authority to disestablish these two particular California national monuments that President Biden created.

Uh, but, but there wasn’t a. Proposal for a specific action. It was just asking for a legal opinion in the abstract. And that’s not the usual course. I mean, usually the Justice Department Office of Legal Counsel, which is the subpart that prepared this opinion, would respond to a particular request for action.

There’s no request for action here. There’s only, just tell us what you think the law is on this. Um, so that’s. And so then the question is, does that mean that there is some sort of specific action that’s gonna be forthcoming? Is Trump gonna do anything or not? We can, we can only speculate about what’s going on, which is, you know, fairly common for the Trump administration trying to figure out what the heck they’re doing here.

Uh, and, uh, I have no idea what’s going on inside. But this is just a legal opinion. It is not a particular action that is being taken. 

Aaron: So what’s the potential implication here if President Trump decides he wants to abolish or shrink national monuments? Uh, I assume it’s gonna be gentlemen, start your lawsuits and everyone goes to court.

So what effect or what weight does an opinion change like this have on the legal process? 

John: Well, it’s a good question. Um, and I should distinguish, um, th this opinion overrules a 1938 opinion by the Attorney General, which quite specifically said the president has no power under the Antiquities Act to abolish a national monument done by a previous president.

So no power to do away with it entirely. Now that may be a somewhat different legal question from can a president shrink or modify a monument that a previous president had done? Uh, now the historical record is clear. There is no case in which a president has ever abolished a national monument a previous president has done, and therefore we have no judicial opinions on this subject. There are a number of examples, mostly back in history, decades, uh, where presidents have shrunk or tinkered with national monuments. But those have never been challenged either. The shrinking has never been challenged. So we don’t have any judicial track record here.

We have no precedence, uh, on either one of those questions. And so the question is all right, what is this? Let’s say Trump does abolish or shrink a national monument, then it’ll be challenged in court. Uh, then what effect does this opinion have? Uh, well, the answer is, uh, frankly, somewhat unclear. Uh, uh, because you may have recalled that just a few months ago, the Supreme Court.

Basically issued an opinion that said, no, no. Uh, executive branch agencies don’t get any deference anymore in terms of how they interpret statutes. And that got a lot of play. Well, does that mean that this opinion gets no deference? I mean, it sort of sits out there, but does, are the courts going to defer to it, uh, or not?

Uh, well, that’s not so clear. On the other hand, this is a presidential action. And do the courts defer to presidential actions as opposed to actions by an executive branch agency? Uh, and here, uh, you probably know, the Supreme Court in the last few years has been quite deferential to the president, uh, giving him immunity, broad immunity from all kinds of things.

Anyway, so it’s a, it’s a muddle, it’s a mess in the courts. We don’t know, uh, what the courts are going to do. 

Kate: Huh. I see. So anything could happen really. Um, but what’s your take on the legal theory adopted in the opinion? I mean, basically Trump put someone in charge of this department who he agreed with and then asked them to write a legal opinion on something. Is the legal theory sound or absurd, or somewhere in between? 

John: Uh, well, I would say somewhere in between, it’s a 50, I think, 53 page opinion. So it goes into a lot of stuff. It covers a lot of ground. I’m critical of certain parts of the opinion and I think the opinion, for example, misreads the history of the Antiquities Act and how it’s been administered, uh, and uh, uh, so it can definitely be challenged on, on.

Um, if you look at the history of the act, it’s quite clear that the presidents, well, there’ve been 21 presidents since the act was passed in 1906. 18 of them have used the antiquities Act often quite vigorously to create. And expand national monuments, uh, involving a hundred more than a hundred million acres of federal land.

So we have a very rich history. And by the way, it’s bipartisan history because of those 18 presidents who’ve used it, nine have been Republicans and nine have been Democrats, and the very biggest one, uh, and the first one offshore was done by George W. Bush. So, we have many Republican presidents as well as, uh, democratic presidents acting here.

Um, and, uh. Uh, the courts have never interfered with those. Um, they’ve been asked to from time to time, uh, but they’ve never, uh, they’ve never interfered, including the Supreme Court. Uh, one of the first, the first big exercise of antiquities at Power was by Theodore Roosevelt in 1908, almost a million acres he protected around the Grand Canyon and the Supreme Court upheld that unanimously in 19.

Action and congressional confirmation of that action and the courts staying out of it. Um, so, you know, in terms of the legal arguments, if I had my law professor’s hat on, I could say, uh, you can argue both sides of this with a straight face. Um, but I would certainly, um, not surprise me if the courts rejected this theory.

Now also, they could kind of draw a fine line and they could say, well, presidents can. Limit or shrink, but not abolish. They could make that distinction. So it’s a little unclear what, what, what’s gonna happen in the courts if, if, and I underscore if, if the president takes action, if the president does nothing, this opinion just sits there.

Um, and it sits there as a, a nice thing for people to read if they want to, but it has no meaning in the real world unless and until the president takes action. 

Aaron: The memo struck me as very much an audience of one memo, and that audience is not Donald Trump. It read to me like it was being aimed at Chief Justice Roberts.

It talks a lot about the lobsterman in Maine that Roberts called out in an unsolicited memo that he wrote, basically inviting challenges to the Antiquities Act. How much does something like that potentially work at the Supreme Court? Obviously the whole notion of taking a case to the Supreme Court is you are, uh, you are playing the judges, so is that something that’s potentially, uh, effective?

John: Potentially. One never knows, or one won’t know until the president takes action and we see what the courts do with it. Uh, my take on what’s going on here is a little different. I think the primary audience for this, frankly. This opinion is, uh, is the sort of right wing libertarian of the Republican party who have been agitating who, who, you know, who, who hate public lands, who wanna shrink the size of public lands, who hate national monuments, et cetera.

And here’s, I think the president saying, look, I hear you. My Justice Department has said we have authority to do what you want. Um, and I’m going to study this. So he’s kind of buying time and he might study it for a month. He might study it for three years. I mean, you know, uh, we just don’t know what’s gonna happen.

So I think he’s trying to sort of placate the right wing here with a message that I hear you without actually taking action. And the reason I think that may be the case is that the opinion polling has been so overwhelmingly in support of national monuments. In all the states across partisan lines, people love them basically.

And so I think that my, it wouldn’t surprise me if the president or the people around him are thinking, gee, this is a really hot button. If we are gonna, you know, do we wanna push this hot button and actually undo a national monument? Or maybe we should just buy some time by saying we hear you right wing.

Mm-hmm. And we’re thinking about it. 

Kate: I mean, that makes a lot of sense that the Trump administration certainly hasn’t been pulling any punches on other issues. So, the fact that they haven’t shrunk or eliminated any monuments yet, I think speaks volumes as to their fear of doing so. So in light of everything we’ve discussed, what is your advice to those of us who are trying to safeguard national monuments?

John: Well, ultimately the outcome is gonna be determined, not really by the courts, but by the political process. I mean, Congress can itself undo all national monuments or Congress can ratify them all or expand them or do more. I mean, so it’s really up to Congress and the political process. So my advice to people who, who, uh, you know, wanna protect and safeguard, uh, our federal lands is to.

Double down and engage in the political process and to make sure your voice is heard and try to persuade people, uh, you know, including people who, who may have voted for Trump who did not vote for him on public lands grounds or to undue monuments far from it. They may have voted for him for other things.

Those people would be wonderful if they would speak up and say, look, we didn’t vote for you to have your medal in this. Uh, go on and do these other things, but stay away from the national monument. So I think political, uh, having, uh, the political process, uh, working here, that’s the best outcome. So that’s my advice to people is to engage and advocate in the public space and try to convince others to, to, uh, support you, uh, and let public officials know, not just in the administration, but in the congress.

Aaron: It is definitely noteworthy that this is playing out at the same time as Senator Mike Lee just introduced his amendment to the reconciliation bill that would sell off between two to 3 million acres of public land, and if any national monuments were abolished, they would be suddenly eligible for that sell off.

So a lot of things are all happening. At the same time. So my question to you, as someone who has been through this, seen it from the inside and the outside, uh, what’s keeping you up at night right now? 

John: Well, to be honest, what’s keeping me up at night is all the other things Trump is doing, particularly in Los Angeles and use of the military and all that kind of stuff.

Uh. I mean, and those are obviously, you know, existential, uh, issues of existential importance for the country and the society and the culture and all of that. Uh, in that context, the arguments about national monuments and protecting more public lands kind of fades into insignificance. So, as I said, I think, I’m not sure the administration really knows what it wants to do on the, in the public land space, um, other than this. I think the kind of libertarians who have always disliked public lands now have a friend in the head of the Office of Management and Budget who is working very hard to downsize the land management agencies, not to get rid of lands per se, but to make them manage so badly that eventually the American public might say, “Well, geez, you know, the Feds really don’t know how to manage these lands, so we ought to give ’em to somebody else to manage.”

I think that’s what’s going on with this sort of hollowing out, the shrinking of the budgets and all of that, and that is something that really does worry me now. Remember, Congress has control of the purse strings. So when Trump calls for downsizing, the Park service or the BLM, by, you know, 50 or 75%, Congress can push back and say, no, we want them funded. So that makes the, again, the budgetary process in Congress, and the political process in Congress, ultimately the real issue here, which is why political engagement isn’t so important. 

Kate: Awesome. Well, I just pulled up the statistic from the Colorado College poll that found that 80% of self-identified MAGA supporters, um, want to keep existing national Monument designations in place. You referred to that earlier, and I think that that polling speaks for itself. Well, I guess we will leave it here today. John Leschi, professor at UC Law and former solicitor of the US Department of the Interior under President Clinton. Thank you so much for being with us. 

John: Thank you very much for having me.

Always enjoy it.

Aaron: All right, that is it for today, folks. Thank you for listening. Please let us know what you think about this shorter format. Do you like more of these quick little episodes breaking down big headlines? If so, drop us an email or a review podcasts@westernpriorities.org. And as I mentioned, we will be back in a couple of days to talk about that big land sell off ploy that is back in play in Congress and to talk about mining with our friends from the National Parks Conservation Association.

Kate: Thanks again to Professor Leshy for jumping on the phone with us, and thank you for listening to the landscape.

 

The post The DOJ just told Trump he can eliminate monuments. Now what? appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

Companies in Colorado, New Mexico, and Wyoming spilled over 7 million gallons of contaminated liquids and crude oil and wasted billions of cubic feet of methane

DENVER—Each year, the Center for Western Priorities analyzes oil and gas spills data collected by Colorado, New Mexico, and Wyoming—the West’s top oil and gas-producing states. This year’s report found there were at least 2,709 drilling-related spills in 2024 in Colorado, New Mexico, and Wyoming (combined). These spills contained at least 7 million gallons of crude oil and other hazardous liquids.

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These spills harm landscapes, water sources, wildlife habitat, and communities. For example, a recent well blowout in Colorado caused 3.8 million gallons of contaminated water, chemicals, and crude oil to spew out of the ground for nearly four days. The pollutants reached an elementary school, roadways, multiple properties, and nearby waterways. (This spill is not included in this year’s report as it occurred in 2025.)

Operators in New Mexico and Colorado reported fewer drilling-related spills in 2024 than 2023, while the number of reported spills as well as the amount of drilling-related liquid spilled in Wyoming went up in 2024. In New Mexico, the total volume of liquid spilled decreased for the second year in a row, following the 2021 passage of a rule that allows regulators to fine operators for spills.

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Operators in New Mexico also reported a 43 percent decrease in the amount of methane, or natural gas, wasted through venting and flaring in 2024 as compared to 2023. Altogether, operators captured over 99 percent of the methane that was produced in the state in 2024. However, operators in New Mexico still wasted a combined 11.5 billion cubic feet of methane through venting and flaring in 2024.

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The Center for Western Priorities released the following statement from report author and Communications Manager Kate Groetzinger: 

“This report highlights the real-life toll oil and gas production takes on land, water, and air in the West. Companies in Colorado, New Mexico, and Wyoming spilled at least 7 million gallons of contaminated liquid and crude oil on Western soil in 2024, endangering water sources, wildlife, and human health.

“Meanwhile, companies in New Mexico wasted billions of cubic feet of methane through venting and flaring, exacerbating climate change and polluting the air that New Mexicans breathe. We should not accept this as the cost of producing energy in the West. If there’s one thing to take away from this report, it’s that oil and gas production is inherently dangerous. It defiles our physical environment and contributes to climate change. And while strong regulations and fines seem to help, there’s no way to produce oil and gas without the occurrence of spills, venting, and flaring.”

Explore the full report, or go directly to the Colorado, New Mexico, or Wyoming section.

The post New report finds over 2,700 oil and gas-related spills occurred in West’s top oil-producing states in 2024 appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

The Yurok Tribe has regained ownership of over 47,000 acres of its ancestral territory along the Klamath River, in the largest “land back” deal in California history.

The effort was spearheaded by Western Rivers Conservancy and began 23 years ago. The forest lands returned to the Tribe once contained ancient redwoods but were heavily logged over the past century. Tribal leaders say they will restore the forest and improve a watershed that is vital for salmon.

The completion of the “land back” effort coincides with last year’s removal of four dams upstream on the Klamath, which enabled salmon to reach spawning areas that had been inaccessible for more than a century.

“We are salmon people,” said Joseph L. James, chairman of the Yurok Tribe. “The river takes care of us, and it’s our job to take care of the river.”

What the monument DOJ opinion really means

President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice released an opinion last week stating that the Antiquities Act gives presidents the power to shrink or eliminate national monuments. What does that mean, for example, if President Trump tries to undo Chuckwalla National Monument or shrink Bears Ears? Will the opinion stand up in court? Kate and Aaron put these questions and more to John Leshy, professor at UC Law and former Solicitor of the U.S. Department of the Interior under President Clinton, in the latest episode of the Center for Western Priorities’ podcast, The Landscape.

Quick hits Maroon Bells lack water, electricity, and toilets due to budget cuts, staff shortages

Aspen Times

How Senate plan to sell off public lands could affect your state

Nevada Independent [NV] | Vail Daily [CO] | Denver7 [CO] | KTVB7 [ID] | WyoFile [WY] | OPB [OR] | Idaho Statesman [ID]

Trump to axe power plant emission rules, a potential boon for Wyoming coal

WyoFile

Montanans react to Senate proposal to sell federal land in other Western states

Missoula Current

Proposed gold mine threatens to cut up remote, wild expanse of California desert

SFGate

Meet the controversial activist who shook up Colorado’s water world

Colorado Sun

Signs asking national park visitors to report ‘negative’ historic information are causing concern

KUNC

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wants your opinion about altering the Endangered Species Act

Wyoming Public Radio

Popular Snowy Range road stays closed because nobody can figure out who owns it

Cowboy State Daily

Quote of the day

Don’t take the bait that this is about ‘affordable housing,’ as its proponent claims… It isn’t.”

—David Willms, associate vice president of the National Wildlife Federation, Outdoor Life

Picture This

@Interior

“Dad, how much farther?”

“Just around the next bend.” (It never is)

Happy Father’s Day to the dads and father figures who make every step an adventure!

Photo by Nina Mayer Ritchie

 

Feature image: Estuary of the Klamath River; Linda Tanner/Flickr

The post Largest “land back” deal in California history complete appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

Trump’s Department of Justice just released an opinion stating that the Antiquities Act gives presidents the power to shrink or eliminate national monuments at will. But what does that mean, for example, if Trump tries to undo Chuckwalla National Monument or shrink Bears Ears? Will this DOJ opinion stand up in court? We put those questions and more to John Leshy, professor at UC Law and former Solicitor of the U.S. Department of the Interior under President Clinton. 

News

• DOJ finds Trump can abolish areas protected as national monuments – Washington Post

Resources

• Episode transcript 

Credits

Hosts: Kate Groetzinger & Aaron Weiss 

Feedback: podcast@westernpriorities.org

Music: Purple Planet

Featured image: Bears Ears National Monument – Indian Creek; Photo by Bob Wick, BLM

The post The DOJ just told Trump he can eliminate monuments. Now what? appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

On Thursday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order requiring a consolidation of several wildland firefighting programs in the next 90 days, despite warnings from former federal officials that it could be costly and increase the risk of catastrophic wildfires heading into peak season.

Firefighting efforts are currently split among five agencies and two cabinet departments—the Interior department and the Department of Agriculture. The order aims to centralize these efforts, which would require shifting thousands of personnel from the Forest Service to this new agency with wildfire season already underway.

Trump’s order came just hours after Interior Secretary Doug Burgum admitted to Congress that he has no idea how many ‘red card’ certified wildfire support staff are left at the Interior department.

The order also comes just days after the U.S. Forest Service chief asked employees who took the Trump administration’s deferred resignation offer to come back for the wildfire season.

“If President Trump was serious about improving the nation’s wildland firefighting capabilities, he would stop hollowing out the agencies tasked with fighting wildfires and prioritize the climate and weather science that firefighters need to analyze risk,” said Center for Western Priorities Deputy Director Aaron Weiss. “This executive order is nothing more than a performative gesture that will cause chaos just as wildfire risk is ramping up in the West.”

Quick hits A plan to sell public land is back. This time, it’s millions of acres

New York Times | CPR News | Idaho Capital Sun | Idaho Statesman | Albuquerque Journal | Grist

Trump to merge wildland firefighting forces, despite warning of chaos

The Guardian

You can visit any national park for free on June 19

Denver Post

Trump bid to shrink monuments could prompt big legal battle

E&E News

Wyoming lawmakers consider cementing corner crossing as legal

Wyoming Public Radio

Interior moves to reverse Biden-era mining rule

E&E News

Trump’s National Energy Dominance Council sets its sights on Alaska’s energy potential

National Interest

“An exciting step.” At least one new litter of wolf pups spotted by Colorado wildlife officials

Colorado Sun

Quote of the day

We need to think about what we [are] leaving for future generations. Ensuring that people can access their public land is something that I am dedicated to doing.”

—Wyoming State Representative Karlee Provenza, Wyoming Public Radio

Picture This @BLMNational

National Conservation Lands are a system of spectacular landscapes that encompass more than 38 million acres of beautiful, historic, and culturally significant public land. Discover and connect with these extraordinary places in three new story maps  https://ow.ly/O35J50W8l4w.

 

(Featured image: Indian Butte Fire in Idaho, 2018. Photo by Austin Catlin, BLM. Flickr)

The post Trump to merge wildland fire agencies in the middle of wildfire season appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

DENVER—President Donald Trump today signed an executive order requiring a consolidation of the Interior department and Department of Agriculture firefighting programs in the next 90 days.

The order also includes vague directions to various agencies to “identify rules that impede wildfire prevention, detection, or response and consider eliminating or revising those rules,” as well as to “increase wildfire firefighting capabilities…  through artificial intelligence, data sharing, innovative modeling and mapping capabilities, and technology to identify wildland fire ignitions and weather forecasts to inform response and evacuation.”

The Center for Western Priorities released the following statement from Deputy Director Aaron Weiss: 

“Just this morning, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum admitted to Congress that he has no idea how many ‘red card’ certified wildfire support staff are left at the Interior department. Burgum also reassured members of Congress that he would carefully gather input before combining firefighting operations across Interior and USDA next year. Now President Trump wants to restructure everything in 90 days, at the start of summer wildfire season. This is madness.

 

“If President Trump was serious about improving the nation’s wildland firefighting capabilities, he would stop hollowing out the agencies tasked with fighting wildfires and prioritize the climate and weather science that firefighters need to analyze risk. This executive order is nothing more than a performative gesture that will cause chaos just as wildfire risk is ramping up in the West.”

A 2008 Congressional Research Service report found a similar proposal to consolidate the Forest Service and Interior department’s firefighting programs into one agency could reduce costs but would likely increase wildfire risk by putting an emphasis on fire suppression, rather than preventative management.

 

Learn more:

• Trump plans to merge wildland firefighting efforts into one agency, but ex-officials warn of chaos – Associated Press

• ‘Crazy’: Forest Service cuts ignite fear, fury over wildfire risks – Politico

• Trump Said Cuts Wouldn’t Affect Public Safety. Then He Fired Hundreds of Workers Who Help Fight Wildfires. – ProPublica

The post Statement on Trump’s irresponsible and performative wildland fire executive order appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

(Full post) Communities for a Better Environment exists to support the people of California in the fight for environmental justice. For over 45 years, CBE has worked in California’s EJ communities to support Southeast Los Angeles, Wilmington, Richmond, and East Oakland, but our fight is not limited to clean air, water and soil. We rise as one voice to condemn the aggressions and lack of due process committed by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in communities in Los Angeles and across California.  These ICE actions are indiscriminately sweeping up our neighbors, our relatives, the people who do the jobs that keep us safe, members of society on whom we all rely and who are the fabric of our communities. ICE’s tactics threaten every one of CBE’s shared values and we will not stand by silently as our community continues to be harassed, terrorized, and falsely imprisoned without charges.

On Friday June 6, our friend and ally David Huerta, President of SEIU-USWW California, was arrested and detained by the federal government. The role of labor is critical to the environmental justice movement and necessary for a path towards a just transition. CBE relies on and supports our SEIU allies around the state, as we believe that empowered workers build empowered communities.  

Now is the time for all people to practice community care. Whether that looks like joining your local march, making art, volunteering at an ICE watch hotline, distributing first-aid materials, or checking in with your loved ones, we must come forward in support of our shared values.  

In this moment, CBE demands immediate release of all people who were detained in ICE raids, and all people who were detained in protesting these raids; that the federal government immediately pull back the national guard, cease threatening military response, and desist from threatening California’s elected leaders with arrest. 

At CBE we understand our movement is intersectional, which means there is no environmental justice without migrant justice. Our collective liberation includes everyone – we stand in solidarity with migrant, low-income, queer and trans, and people of color – we will protect each other.  

If you suspect ICE activity in your neighborhood, you can report it to the ACLU Southern CA Rapid Response Network at 888-624-4752. For more information about your rights, visit CHIRLA’s My Rights website.  

These are dark times for public lands in the United States, and few people know that better than the hosts of the true-crime podcast “National Park After Dark.”

Over the past four years, hosts Cassie Yahnian and Danielle LaRock have recorded hundreds of episodes about the occasionally dark histories of public lands across the United States and around the world. In the process they’ve visited dozens of parks and shared stories that illustrate what makes these sites so important — to the people who enjoy them, the communities that thrive around them, and the plants and animals who depend on them.

 

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While the podcast mostly focuses on crimes from years past, it has lately taken on a more urgent tone, as the Trump administration has slashed budgets, instituted mass firings, removed environmental protections, and made moves to sell out thousands of acres of public lands.

The Revelator spoke with Yahnian and LaRock about the troubles already emerging at national parks and other sites, why these public lands are so important, and what people can do to stand up for them. We also discussed why the topics of true crime and conservation work so well together. (This conversation has been lightly edited for style and brevity.)

How do you feel about this massive push toward selling or exploiting the nation’s public lands?

Danielle: It’s a gut punch. It feels heartbreaking. I think public lands bring everyone from so many different walks of life together and are just this unifying space. To see that being chipped away and sold off and privatized, it’s like the rug is being pulled out from underneath our feet.

You know, growing up, public lands felt almost like a guarantee. Over a century ago, we collectively made this decision: This is a good idea. It benefits everyone. There’s so much positive that comes with outdoor spaces and public lands, we should safeguard them. And then all of a sudden to have a century’s worth of dedication be reversed is kind of blindsiding and shocking.

[Cassie:] A lot of what they’re trying to pass right now, it’s a money grab. They’re trying to do oil and drilling and all of that. They’re ignoring the fact that people have made their livelihoods off some of these public lands for generations. There are towns that exist because of these public spaces. There are so many hardworking families who are going to be affected because their tourism runs off of these lands. Their restaurant businesses, hotels, guiding services, everything like that.

You’re jeopardizing a lot of hardworking American families’ incomes.

After four years you’ve taken the podcast to so many new places. You’ve heard from so many new people. How have your feelings about national parks evolved?

[Danielle:] I think the first word that comes to my mind is gratitude.

Through all our research and just meeting people and hearing their stories, and learning what a typical ranger’s job entails — they’re kind of this Jack of all trades — and all the responsibilities that they carry and the passion that they have… I learned about the people who fought for the protection of certain parks and why that’s so significant and why it’s so needed, and about all of the different species that are vulnerable. Those spaces might be their last holdouts and their last hope of survival.

I am so happy that national parks exist and that so many people feel passionately about them, because they aren’t just for one thing. They aren’t just so you can go and take a beautiful photo, although that remains true. They also exist for a plethora of other reasons that you may never realize as a visitor. National parks are amazing. They do so much for this country and the people in it.

[Cassie:] We’ve been really lucky to meet a lot of people within the National Park Service system, the Forest Service, and people who work in public lands. And one thing that we have really gotten to know is that the community that surrounds them is really amazing and full of hardworking, incredibly smart people who really care about not just the planet, but other people as well. And it just serves as such a special place for community, which we have been so fortunate to now be a part of, between talking to rangers, emergency responders, biologists, authors, everyone who draws inspiration and surrounds their life in these spaces.

But also, something that I think I’ve noticed in my own travels is that we’re going into these places and as you walk in you might see a huge crowd of people and think, “Oh my God, this place is so busy.” But then when you take a minute and sit back, you look around and you see everyone is here because they think that this is important. Everyone came to see this place because it’s something that’s important to them.

Let’s talk about the link between true crime and conservation. You’re drawing in audiences who are interested in different things and showing them the value of these places and telling very human stories. Can you talk about your approach and what you’ve gotten out of marrying these two seemingly disparate concepts?

[Cassie:] What we’ve found — and I think this is always the point of conservation — is that you want to get people to care about the places you’re talking about. You can say “These trees are important, this wildlife is important to the ecosystem” a thousand times, but if you’ve never been to the place or you don’t care about the place, it kind of just goes over people’s heads a lot of the time.

What we’ve found is when we can create a link to these spaces that people care about, they then are like, “Wait a minute, you just told me this incredible story about this place, but they’re trying to deforest it.” And then people suddenly care about it.

And where true crime comes in is these dark morbid curiosities. True crime is so popular for a reason, because it’s so intriguing.

We also dive into survival stories, animal attacks, dark histories, everything like that. When you can create your own personal link and say, “I want to go there” or “This place is important,” suddenly conservation is in your mind because now you care about it, too.

[Danielle:] When we were in Joshua Tree, we did a live show and told the story of an old rancher at Keys Ranch who went to prison because he shot someone. He claimed self-defense. It was basically a neighbor dispute, but as soon as he got out of prison, he went to the spot where he killed his neighbor and erected a stone that said, “This is where Worth Bagley bit the dust at the hands of me,” with the date on it.

And the Park Service decided to preserve that site and that memorial. This is also preserving old mining history. For part of our live show we said, “Go visit this place.”  So now you’re on this trail that has historical importance, but you’re there for a story that you heard. And you’re standing in the same location where you heard that story. A ton of people went over and took photos and learned about the trail, where they were, and what was important there, so it all linked together.

One of the things I’ve enjoyed about your podcast is that you sometimes take an international approach. You’re not just looking at American national parks. You’re going to Canada soon. You’ve been to Borneo and Africa. Are there any lessons you take from those national park experiences? Because obviously they have budgetary issues. Some parks in Africa are “paper parks” that don’t have any rangers or protection. But there’s a lot that are awesome. Are there any lessons you take from them that you bring back to your experiences here?

[Cassie:] They say that national parks are America’s best idea, which is ironic since we’re actively trying to get rid of them right now. But it’s something that the whole world followed after Yellowstone. Even though some, like you mentioned, aren’t as established as some American national parks, there is this love behind all of them. The entire globe has come together and said, “Here are some spaces that we found that deserve more protection.”

We were in Patagonia, in a national park, and I met someone who had just come to that specific location because they felt that it was important. The community that’s brought to these places isn’t just in the United States. It crosses borders and countries and oceans and it’s all around the world, which is something that’s very special.

One of my favorite parts of the podcast is the introduction. There was a great one within the past couple of episodes where you talked about wildlife encounters and said there’s a dark side to them: We might be seeing more animals because they’re being forced into smaller and smaller locations. What are your worries about wildlife in these national parks right now?

[Cassie:] When we’re seeing this defunding and we’re losing rangers and the people who would be out here mitigating problems, I worry about the wildlife who are out here just minding their own business, doing what they do, and having people who are coming and being nervous. Having less resources and not having staff there who can make sure that the people coming are respectful and safe and making good decisions makes me nervous for wildlife. Because animals pay the price for human stupidity and human error a lot of the time.

[Danielle:] For a lot of species, national parks are kind of their last hope and last stronghold, especially with animals that we have extirpated from the landscape intentionally.

We’re trying to right a wrong in a lot of cases. Wolves in Yellowstone — everyone points to that example because it is such a success story.

But there’s talk of reintroducing grizzlies into the North Cascades National Park, and if this defunding keeps its momentum programs like that are not going to be able to get off the ground or continue in the way that has been intended. And a lot of the animals that have really paid the price for decades or centuries will continue to suffer and maybe flicker out from the places that could sustain a population.

That’s really devastating, especially for conservationists and animal lovers.

Are there things you’re hearing about on the ground that are already getting worse because of these budget cuts, firings and everything else?

[Cassie:] Yeah, for sure. I think that some of the biggest things we’ve seen are these layoffs. I know a lot of employees were reinstated because of the protests and things that were going on. But something that we’ve learned is that the news, or wherever you’re getting your information, might say that “five people were let go,” but what it’s not saying is that five people were let go and there were six employees.

We’re getting to the point where it’s not just understaffed, it’s not doable. You can’t run these places with one person.

Someone that we spoke to, they have since been reinstated, but they were released from their job and they were the only one there. And they were search and rescue, the only EMT within miles.

[Danielle:] And that’s echoed throughout our conversations with park personnel and public land employees: It’s such a snowball effect. It’s like flicking over that first domino. And we’re going to see the implications, whether it be two weeks from now or two months from now, especially as we’re heading into peak park-visitation months.

It’s not just that the visitor center has limited hours, or there’s not as many people cleaning the bathrooms. It’s all of that, and cleaning up the backcountry campsites, or any campsites. That’s something that at face value people may not think about, but those people are there for a reason. With overflowing trash and an accumulation of garbage and attractants, wildlife is going to start associating people and campsites with food, which snowballs into a bigger problem.

Then here we are again, looping back to wildlife paying the price. Because now when a bear wanders up to a campsite that they’ve been habituated to, because no one is cleaning up the trash, people are going to freak out because a bear is coming into their picnic. And the park personnel who are still there are going to have to deal with that bear.

It’s not just this “X number of people were let go.” It’s the larger picture. Everyone there has a role and they’re all important.

What’s going on now… is it starting to bleed into your storytelling when you’re telling these stories from the past? Is there any resonance that you see or are actively trying to pull out to make sense of what’s going on now?

[Cassie:] Yes. And I would say, unfortunately, overwhelmingly so, because we’re finding in our research that the past is essentially repeating itself. A lot of what’s happening right now is a fight that’s already been fought.

If you go back into just the history of logging, for example — we logged so much of the country that towns were decimated because of erosion and floods. There were rockslides.

 

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There are places that are preserved now for a reason, and it’s because we destroyed them at some point.

We don’t see that now, because these places are coming back and look beautiful. But unfortunately, in our research, we’re seeing things unfold for a second, third, fourth time.

It has influenced how we choose our stories. We find ourselves leaning more heavily on conservation, and on some of these stories where we’re seeing histories being erased within the federal government, where some of this information is hard to even come by.

We’re starting to say: This is relevant right now. It’s an interesting story, but it’s really important because we’re back again.

I’m seeing this parallel through a lot of things. We’ve forgotten that rivers used to be on fire. We’re going to learn some hard lessons again if we’re not careful.

[Cassie:] Look at Cuyahoga National Park. It’s one of the most exciting and biggest conservation stories in the national park system. It was toxic to even be there.

Now it’s a national park and the marshes are back, birds are back. Not only is it good for wildlife, but the people who lived around there, who were literally being poisoned.

It is important to look back and realize that we are so lucky now because we’ve fought this fight before.

[Danielle:] It’s so frustrating. We’re not even talking, you know, hundreds and hundreds of years ago. Sometimes we’re talking about stories within our lifetime or our parents’ lifetimes.

It’s not that far removed and yet we’re treating it as if it’s some alternate universe.

You want to just bang your head against the wall and be like, are we the only people seeing this and why are powers that be not taking this seriously?

[Cassie:] I also think that it’s important to note that I really think — and I truly, honestly believe this — that they have picked the wrong fight. They’re underestimating the love of public lands and the National Park Service.

They can, and they might pass these things, and it’s going to be scary and it’s definitely a fight, but they picked the wrong community to mess with because they are severely underestimating the love for these places. I truly believe that people are going to show up and fight for these places, just as they have, but even more because we’re at record-breaking national park visits. Millions of people visit every single year. You look at just Great Smoky Mountains — they get over 6 million visitors a year, and that’s just one park. I don’t think people are going to stand for this.

What else gives you hope? What gives you excitement? What are you looking forward to?

[Danielle:] Well, it’s hard, because there’s a lot of scary things going on right now. We hate what’s going on and yet it’s still happening. And that can make you feel a little bit hopeless.

But on the other side of that coin, like Cassie said, people are not going to take this lying down.

This shared love of public lands and national parks is so unifying. And it’s one of the few things that almost everyone has in common.

Because people find different meaning in public spaces. Not everyone goes to hike, because not everyone is an extreme backpacker. Some people are painters and find inspiration from the landscapes. Some people are photographers. Some people find peace being alone out there. Other people like meeting people on the trails. There are so many different reasons that people go, but the point is they’re all still going.

There’s no sign of that stopping. People are going to fight for that. And the hope that I see is people’s anger fuels change.

People should be outraged. This isn’t something that’s an idea that might happen. This is stuff that really will happen, and it should make you angry because they’re taking it from all of us. And that anger is really fueling change that we’re seeing in real time.

[Cassie:] Something that gives me a lot of hope, too, is just seeing how many people are banding together. There’s protests every week at national parks right now because people care so much. People are volunteering. People are donating. Every day on social media, I see people sharing what’s going on and asking people to reach out to their congressman, to whoever their points of contact are in their state.

 

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I don’t know if I’ve ever seen so many people come together over one thing, which is also why I say that they picked the wrong community because the Americans are the community and it’s directly targeting Americans. And I truly don’t think we’re going to stand for it.

When you really look at the numbers, how many people are benefiting from mining and oil industries? They’re minuscule in comparison, and they’re not going to bring in the amount of money and jobs as ecotourism and everything — they’re actually going to destroy those communities and a lot of people’s livelihoods. People have a lot to fight for and it’s not just that they love the parks. A lot of people rely on them.

I see the bad stuff that’s happening, but I am very hopeful that people are not going to allow it to.

Well, that’s a fantastic message to end on. Is there anything else you think is important to add?

[Cassie:] People are looking for ways that they can help, and some people can’t go out and protest, or some people aren’t near national parks. But it’s not just national parks and it’s not just these huge places. Your local places, whatever state you’re in … federal funding was cut across the board. The state park that’s a couple of miles from your house — they’re looking for volunteers. People are looking for donations. People are looking for just advocacy. Take a few minutes of your time to write a letter to your local representatives and just make your opinions known.

And if you’re going out into these parks, understand that they’re going to be understaffed and help out. Follow those “leave no trace” principles. Make sure you understand that maybe there aren’t rangers out there who can rescue you and be prepared to self-rescue. Be prepared to not take risks when you’re outdoors, because the staff might not be there.

And be kind, because these people still working in these places are really going to be struggling this summer.

It’s going to be tough in national parks this year, but that doesn’t mean to stop going to them. It means show up for them, show up for your state parks, your public lands, wherever that may be.

These legislations seem overwhelming, in that they’re trying to push people away from these places — which they are. Don’t let that deter you: Go out and enjoy them and advocate for them.

Previously in The Revelator:

Saving America’s National Parks and Forests Means Shaking Off the Rust of Inaction

The post What’s Being Done to Public Lands Is a Crime appeared first on The Revelator.

We’ve found some fantastic new books to stimulate your kids’ curiosity about nature and the environment during the upcoming summer break. Many of these books can be shared by the whole family and complement your vacation destination — or your exploration of local parks and trails.

The writers and illustrators of these books — all published in the first six months of 2025 —embrace the environment and include delightful explorations of the world, with a good dose of ecology and other science sprinkled in.

We’ve excerpted the books’ official descriptions below. As always, the links go to the publishers’ sites, but you can also find these books through your local bookstore or library.

What Makes a Bird?

Written by Megan Pomper and illustrated by Maia Hoekstra

Children 4-10

In this evocative picture book, a child wanders through nature with one question: What makes a bird a bird? Is it feathers? The beak? Could it be wings? With each possible answer, more questions arise and expand a child’s awareness. If laying eggs makes a bird a bird, what about other egg-laying creatures like turtles, snakes, or fish? With gorgeous illustrations and subtle STEM content, this thoughtful picture book invites readers to think about what makes us human and how we categorize and identify the world around us.

Animal Partnerships: Radical Relationships, Unlikely Alliances, and Other Animal Teams

Written by Ben Hoare and illustrated by Asia Orlando

Children 7-9

Get acquainted with unexpected animal teams around the world and find out how these groups thrive in the wild as they defend, feed, and plot with each other in order to survive in this fascinating and unique look at animals.

Presenting these unpredictable discoveries, Ben Hoare’s friendly, informative explanations are paired with striking photographs and colorful illustrations to make sure every page captivates the imagination.

The Urban Naturalist: How to Make the City Your Scientific Playground

By Menno Schilthuizen

Teens and Up

Thanks to the open science revolution, real biological discoveries can now be made by anyone right where they live. This book shows readers how to go about making those discoveries, introduces the tools of the trade of the urban community scientist, from the tried and tested (the field notebook, the butterfly net, and the hand lens) to the newfangled (internet resources, low-tech gadgets, and off-the-shelf gizmos). But beyond technology, his book holds the promise of reviving the lost tradition of the citizen scientist, rekindling the spirit of the Victorian naturalist for the modern world.

At a time when the only nature most people get to see is urban, The Urban Naturalist demonstrates that understanding the novel ecosystems around us is our best hope for appreciating and protecting biodiversity.

History Smashers: Earth Day and the Environment

By Kate Messner

Children 8-12

It’s true that the first Earth Day encouraged people around the globe to clean up their act when it came to the environment. But activists have been working for centuries to save the planet! Native people across the world developed sustainable farming practices, women in eighteenth-century India stood up to protect trees, and amateur scientist Eunice Foote discovered the science behind global warming all the way back in the 1850s! Join the History Smashers team to bust history’s biggest misconceptions and figure out what in the world really went down before (and after!) the first Earth Day — and how you can join the fight to protect the environment.

Far, Far Away

Written by Molly Beth Griffin and illustrated by Bau Luu

Children 2-8

Mom and Mama are taking Rowan on his first camping trip, far away from the city where they live. Rowan is excited to see all kinds of wildlife, maybe even a bear or a moose! But canoe camping is hard work. Before long, Rowan is tired and hungry, itchy from mosquito bites, and downright grumpy. In fact, he wants to go home. Mom and Mama listen to his complaints and show him something truly special that they don’t have at home, something that makes Rowan glad they worked so hard to go far, far away, where the wilderness is really wild.

Great Apes: Protecting Our Animal Cousins

By Christopher Gudgeon

Children 8-12

Get to know our charismatic chimpanzee cousins, the peaceful bonobos, three types of high-flying orangutans, and those gentle giants of the jungle, the gorillas. Discover where and how they live, their biology, what they eat and what they share in common with humans ― beyond their opposable thumbs. These giant mammals are our closest relatives in the animal world, known for their intelligence, complex social structures and communication skills. But great apes everywhere are in trouble. Their habitat is being destroyed by deforestation and the effects of climate change. Their population is dropping, and fast. In Great Apes, find out what conservationists, scientists and young people all over the world are doing to protect them.

Green Jolene and the Neighborhood Swap

Written by Wendy Mass and illustrated by Billy Yong

Children 8-12

Jolene wouldn’t have guessed that the first day of summer vacation would start with her trying to figure out if the squishy object smelling up her backpack was a half-eaten tuna sandwich or a six-month-old plum! (It was both!) While dumping old food in the trash and bringing out the recycling, Jolene sees the huge boxes of stuff her new neighbors got delivered. She realizes how many of her own belongings she doesn’t use anymore.

Horrified by the idea of contributing to overflowing landfills and trash-filled oceans, Jolene hatches a big plan to not only deal with her own stuff, but her whole neighborhood’s unwanted items as well. Clad in her favorite rain boots, Jolene is ready to save the world. Or, at least, to tackle her own neighborhood’s stuff and find some surprising new allies along the way.

How to Explain Climate Science to a Grown-Up

Written by Ruth Spiro and illustrated by Teresa Martínez

Children 8-12

The best-selling author of the Baby Loves Science series levels up with this playful STEM picture book introducing kids (and grown-ups) to climate science.

A Wolf Called Fire: A Voice of the Wilderness Novel

By Rosanne Parry

Children 8-12

Inspired by Wolf 8, a real Yellowstone wolf who was the smallest of his pack and constantly bullied by his bigger brothers. Wolf 8 survived a tumultuous first year and grew up to be a different sort of leader — one who fought many rival wolves to submission but never killed any. He had a rare talent for mentoring young wolves and became the patriarch of the largest and most successful pack in Yellowstone by choosing a more collaborative and generous leadership style.

 

 

A Hummingbird on My Balcony

Written and photographed by Isabelle Groc

Children 6-8

Noah’s family has just moved into a new apartment on the 22nd floor when an Anna’s hummingbird visits their balcony. Soon the young boy notices a fuzzy nest being built — like Noah’s family, this hummingbird is making a new home. This true story shows the hummingbird through Noah’s eyes as he discovers how these birds feed, care for, and raise their young. Alongside Noah’s story are facts explaining where Anna’s hummingbirds live, their role as pollinators and the threats they face from pollution, pesticides, urban predators and a warming climate. Readers will learn that with a few simple actions, we can all help hummingbirds survive and thrive in urban areas.

Enjoy these summer reads wherever you spend your summer days — and at whatever age.

Let us know what you think. Send your ideas, success stories, and other book recommendations to comments@therevelator.org

For hundreds of additional environmental books — including many more for kids of all ages — visit the Revelator Reads archives.

Previously in The Revelator:

Comics for Earth: Eight New Graphic Novels About Saving the Planet and Celebrating Wildlife

The post Summer Reads: 10 Environmental Books for Children to Inspire and Engage Their Curiosity appeared first on The Revelator.

Chairperson, distinguished delegates,

I am Teresa Bul, a Nigerian waste picker from Lagos State, speaking on behalf of WIEGO and the International Alliance of Waste Pickers.

The informal economy, where over 2 billion people earn a living, is not a barrier to social justice—it reflects policy failures to address poverty, exclusion, and lack of protection. Rather than forcing workers into rigid systems, policies must adapt to recognize and support us.

Recommendation 204 should be a road map to reduce risk, secure livelihoods, and ensure social protection and justice—not just productivity.

I urge the ILC to center formalization on:

• Job creation: with gender-sensitive policies that guarantee access to finance, workspace, and fair legal frameworks.
• Rights at work: ratify and implement Conventions 189 and 177, recognize informal workers in labor laws, and ensure a just transition for waste pickers.
• Social protection: make it accessible to all workers.
• Collective bargaining: remove barriers to our right to organize and negotiate.

Recognizing, protecting, and empowering informal economy workers is essential for a just world, as our work sustains the economy.

Theresa Bul
Association of Scraps and Waste Pickers of Lagos
IAWP Delegate at the #ILC2025

This position paper was developed for the 113th Session of the International Labour Conference (ILC) to contribute to the General Discussion on innovative strategies for addressing informality and advancing transitions toward formal employment that supports decent work.

Grounded in the ILO’s Decent Work framework, WIEGO, HomeNet International, the International Alliance of Waste Pickers, IDWF, StreetNet International, and UTEP advocate for a rights-based approach to formalization. This approach prioritizes risk reduction, access to social protection, and economic policies fostering enabling environments for cooperatives and social and solidarity economy enterprises. It also calls for legal frameworks that secure labour rights and collective bargaining for all workers, including those in informal employment.

MUST READ AND RECORD YOUR VOICE READING THIS! Nets and WIEGO Position Paper Formalization June 2025Download Global-Position-Paper-on-Formalization-June-2025-FrenchDownload DEBE LEER Y GRABAR SU VOZ LEYENDO ESTO Redes y WIEGO Documento de posición Formalización Junio 2025Download

DENVER—The Trump administration released new details of its proposed Fiscal Year 2026 budget in a late Friday trash dump on the White House website. The new 1,200-page document lays out massive cuts to programs and staffing across America’s public lands and national parks. Additionally, the budget proposes to raid the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), using non-taxpayer funds to pay for park maintenance instead of land protection. This would effectively rescind the Great American Outdoors Act which Congress passed in 2020 to provide permanent funding for LWCF.

The Center for Western Priorities released the following statement from Deputy Director Aaron Weiss:

“You can see why President Trump and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum tried to hide this budget proposal in the dead of night—it’s indefensible. Our national parks are already understaffed, and Burgum wants to eliminate another 5,000 positions from the Park Service alone. At the Bureau of Land Management, Burgum would effectively eliminate protections for America’s national monuments and national conservation areas, cutting funding by 75 percent. Recreation, maintenance, and habitat protection would all be devastated as well. All of this is consistent with Secretary Burgum’s dream of selling off America’s lands to the highest bidder because he refuses to take care of them.

“This budget is a bleak vision for the country, especially for everyone in the West who relies on America’s public lands for camping, hiking, hunting, and fishing. Just five years after President Trump signed a landmark bipartisan outdoors bill into law, he’s trying to erase the promise he made to future generations. When Secretary Burgum travels to Capitol Hill in a few weeks, I’m confident he’ll get a frigid reception from both sides of the aisle if he doubles down on this plan to eviscerate the lands he’s supposed to care for on behalf of our kids and grandkids.”

Significant proposed cuts in the proposed FY 2026 budget include:

National Park Service

• $897 million (34%) from park management
• 5,518 full time equivalent (FTE) positions (40%)

Bureau of Land Management

• $45 million (75%) from national monuments and national conservation areas
• $114 million (77%) from wildlife habitat
• $45 million (67%) from transportation and facilities maintenance
• $45 million (63%) from recreation management
• $156 million (52%) from land resources
• $30 million (53%) from water resources
• $57 million (36%) from resource protection
• 1,157 FTE positions (22%)

Bureau of Indian Affairs

• $140 million (25%) from public safety

National Forest System (U.S. Forest Service)

• 4,636 FTE positions (33%)

Featured image: Yellowstone National Park

The post STATEMENT: White House proposal to eviscerate America’s parks and public lands appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

The Supreme Court issued a ruling that will limit the scope of environmental reviews for major federal projects such as pipelines and railways. The unanimous 8-0 ruling centered around the Uinta Basin Railway, a proposed 88-mile oil railroad expansion in Utah. The justices reversed a 2023 lower court decision that stated the railway’s initial NEPA review was incomplete because it failed to consider risks like wildfire or water pollution.

Yesterday’s ruling is likely to have significant implications for future NEPA reviews, setting the precedent for less elaborate reviews that only focus on immediate impacts, not broader environmental concerns. It grants federal agencies broader power to decide which environmental harms to analyze. “Simply stated, NEPA is a procedural cross-check, not a substantive roadblock. The goal of the law is to inform agency decisionmaking, not to paralyze it,” said Justice Brett Kavanaugh in the court opinion.

If the proposed railway moves forward, it would more than double the total amount of oil transported in the U.S. and increase hazardous material transport through sensitive areas, including along the Colorado River. A potential derailment would have severe environmental and public health consequences. “Today’s decision undermines decades of legal precedent that told federal agencies to look before they leap when approving projects that could harm communities and the environment,” said Sambhav Sankar, senior vice president of programs at Earthjustice.

Quick hits U.S. Supreme Court rules on Utah oil train

Salt Lake Tribune | New York Times | E&E News | Utah News Dispatch | Associated Press | Colorado Sun

Trump, DOGE officials target USGS research program with budget cuts

Vox

Senator Heinrich pushes Interior for list of national parks that could be sent to states under Trump plan

Source NM | E&E News

More industry lobbyists take positions at Interior department

Public Domain

‘Lowest staffing in modern history’: National Park Service short thousands of seasonal employees

SFGATE

Opinion: Wyoming’s congressional delegation should follow neighbors’ lead on public lands

WyoFile

Could Colorado be home to the BLM’s national headquarters — again?

CPR News

Map: Wildlife habitat, migration routes under threat

The Wilderness Society

Quote of the day

The killer is that all of the money is appropriated, they have the money to hire these folks. They don’t have to stretch people thin. Congress has to hold the administration responsible and tell them to hire folks and get boots on the ground. The administration made a big show of hiring seasonal staff, and they’re not doing it. There’s no commitment to staff our parks.”

—Kristen Brengel, National Parks Conservation Association senior vice president of government affairs, SFGATE

Picture This
@usinteriorAmboy Crater is a striking landmark that has guided travelers along Route 66 for generations. Located within Mojave Trails National Monument, it offers easy access for visitors looking to explore the unique landscapes of the California desert.

Mojave Trails spans 1.6 million acres east of Los Angeles and features rugged mountain ranges, ancient lava flows, fossil beds and sweeping sand dunes. It’s one of the best places to experience the vast spirit of the Mojave Desert. The desert heat can be intense, so bring extra water and check the weather before heading out.

Photo by Bob Wick / @mypubliclands

Featured photo: A train travels along the Colorado River in western Colorado. The Library of Congress, Carol M. Highsmith Archive

The post Supreme Court weakens a key environmental law in Utah oil train ruling appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

Whether you’re walking, cycling, carpooling, telecommuting or taking the bus – there’s a prize to win by participating in Commuter Challenge! Learn more about Commuter Challenge. Individual Grand Prize This ...

The post Win Cool Prizes with Commuter Challenge! first appeared on Green Action Centre.

We are excited to run the Commuter Challenge fully through GoManitoba in 2025! Participants will now just have one spot to log their trips to get access to all of ...

The post Commuter Challenge is Here! first appeared on Green Action Centre.