Western Priorities

President Joe Biden is planning a trip to Las Vegas next week, where he is expected to designate Avi Kwa Ame as a national monument. Biden pledged to protect the site almost 100 days ago at the White House Tribal Nations Summit.

The proposed monument is a 450,000-acre area in southern Nevada that includes a 5,600-foot peak called Avi Kwa Ame, or Spirit Mountain. Avi Kwa Ame is the ancestral home of the Fort Mojave Indian Tribe and holds major significance for other tribes in the region. The Fort Mojave Indian Tribe has asked the president to protect the area.

“The lands of the proposed Avi Kwa Ame National Monument are very important to the Mojave people and the nine other Yuman tribes whose creation story begins in this sacred area. Avi Kwa Ame is where we come from, it is where we were created and placed here to protect, it is our Ancestral homelands,” said Fort Mojave Indian Tribe Chairman Timothy Williams.

To learn more about the proposed Avi Kwa Ame monument, watch the Center for Western Priorities’ short film. The film is part of our Road to 30: Postcards campaign to share the stories of people working to protect special places across the country

Quick hits Biden plans to designate Avi Kwa Ame on Las Vegas trip

Nevada Independent | Las Vegas Review-Journal Feds suspend measures meant to boost Lake Powell levels

CNN First Yellowstone bear sighted out of hibernation in park

Billings Gazette | Yellowstone Public Radio | Daily Montanan Increasingly large wildfires hinder Western forest regrowth

Inside Climate News Bison carcasses cleaned up outside Yellowstone following heavy winter of hunting

Billings Gazette Opinion: Is environmental justice momentum slowing?

The Hill Hunters pan legislative inaction, call for citizen response on corner crossing

WyoFile | Fence Post Denver oil company sues to overturn order, sanctions by Colorado

Denver Post Quote of the day

Our natural infrastructure—like the trees, streams and coastlines that surround us—is just as in need of investment and care as our built infrastructure. Protecting access to nature, waterways, as well as a clean and healthy ocean is a part of environmental justice.”

—Shanna Edberg, director of conservation programs at the Hispanic Access Foundation Picture this @YellowstoneNPS

(News Release) On Tuesday, March 7, a Yellowstone National Park wildlife biologist on a radio telemetry flight observed the first grizzly bear of 2023 to emerge from hibernation. Learn more: http://go.nps.gov/23006

(featured image: Rock formations near Spirit Mountain, Center for Western Priorities)

The post Biden plans to protect Avi Kwa Ame next week appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

The Inflation Reduction Act included many important reforms to bring the federal oil and gas leasing system into the 21st century and give taxpayers a fair return in exchange for locking up public lands. After the bill became law, the Bureau of Land Management issued internal guidance laying out how it would lease public lands for oil and gas drilling under the new law. That guidance, which took the form of a series of Instruction Memoranda, was well intentioned and took a very responsible approach to oil and gas leasing.

Unfortunately, the BLM is not following its own guidance. It has proposed lease sales covering an entire order of magnitude more acreage than is required under the law. This year, the agency is proposing to offer leases on hundreds of thousands of acres of public lands that were nominated anonymously and in areas that it knows will likely never produce oil, even though the agency maintains broad discretion over the leasing program and is not required to offer up this land for lease.

Right now, the BLM is considering leasing more than 282,000 acres of public land in the second quarter of this year alone. A new analysis from the Center for Western Priorities finds that this is at least 261,000 acres more than the new law requires, and many of the acres being considered contravene the agency’s own guidance for lease sales. Fortunately, it is not too late for the Interior Department to change course and bring the upcoming lease sales in line with the letter and intent of the IRA.

Manchin holds up qualified Interior Department nominee

Senator Joe Manchin has indicated he may withhold his support for Laura Daniel-Davis, who is nominated to serve as assistant secretary of the Interior for land and minerals management. Manchin cited an internal memo pertaining to offshore rental rates as the cause of his concern. Manchin is in charge of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, which has jurisdiction over Daniel-Davis’s nomination.

“It appears that Senator Manchin is looking for any excuse to delay Laura Daniel-Davis’s long-overdue confirmation, and by extension, derail the accomplishments of the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law,” said Center for Western Priorities Executive Director Jennifer Rokala. “Senator Manchin knows that Laura Daniel-Davis is exceptionally qualified to serve the American people, which is why more than 100 women who know and have worked with Laura told the Senate last year to give her a confirmation vote.”Remember to add a featured image

Main content — use “paragraph” style. Make sure all links open in a new window [doesn’t matter for Mailchimp but is best practice for web site].

Quick hits Cattle country fends off climate villain label

E&E News Construction starts on Nevada’s Thacker Pass lithium mine

Grist The Biden administration is getting ready to unnecessarily offer hundreds of thousands of acres of public land to oil and gas companies

Westwise Records show that EPA sided with polluters in Butte

Montana Free Press Kerry, Podesta talk climate, permitting reform, LNG at Houston energy conference

E&E News Colorado congressmen urge Forest Service to delay approval of Uinta Basin Railway

Colorado Sun Utah legislature passes bill to allow year-round cougar hunting

Salt Lake Tribune These are the 50 most underrated national parks in the U.S.

Outside Quote of the day

It’s an important place not only because a terrible massacre occurred, but also because it’s a place where people gather, it’s a place for ceremony, for hunting… It’s really hard to be a tribal member and see our homelands destroyed.”

—Michon Eben, tribal historic preservation officer for the Reno Sparks Indian Colony Picture this @Interior

A dynamic vista of colorful rock formations, bristlecone pine groves and lush wildflower meadows awaits all who explore Cedar Breaks National Monument. The high desert landscape is saturated with brilliant colors rising over 10,000 feet above sea level.

Photo by Jon Johannsen

(featured image: Aerial view of natural gas field in the upper Green River valley, Wyoming; SkyTruth, Flickr)

The post Interior plans to unnecessarily offer hundreds of thousands of acres for drilling appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

We did the math — and it’s not too late to change course

In August 2022, Congress overhauled the system for leasing oil and gas on America’s public lands when it passed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Many of the updates were long overdue and intended to restore balance to a system that had been rigged in favor of the oil industry for more than a century.

After the IRA passed, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which is part of the Interior Department, issued internal guidance laying out how it would lease public lands for oil and gas drilling under the new law. That guidance, which took the form of a series of Instruction Memoranda, was well intentioned and took a very responsible approach to oil and gas leasing.

Unfortunately, the BLM is not following its own guidance. It has proposed lease sales covering an order of magnitude more acreage than is required under the law. In 2023, the agency is proposing to offer leases on hundreds of thousands of acres of public lands that were nominated anonymously and in areas that it knows will likely never produce oil, even though the agency maintains broad discretion over the leasing program and is not required to offer up this land for lease.

Right now, the BLM is considering leasing more than 282,000 acres of public land in the second quarter of this year alone. A new analysis from the Center for Western Priorities finds that this is at least 261,000 acres more than the new law requires, and many of the acres being considered contravene the agency’s own guidance for lease sales.

This process of scoping hundreds of thousands of acres more than is necessary is a waste of Interior Department resources, staff time, and unnecessarily complicates the selection process that goes into each lease sale. While it’s appropriate to consider a somewhat larger number of acres than the agency intends to ultimately lease, by making the evaluation process cover an order of magnitude more land than the law and BLM guidance requires, the agency is opening the upcoming lease sales to potential errors and abuse, and continuing to repeat the mistakes of the past century.

Fortunately, it is not too late for the Interior department to change course and bring the upcoming lease sales in line with the letter and intent of the IRA. Here’s how.

1) Follow your own guidance and follow the law What’s in the IRA

The Inflation Reduction Act says that in order for Interior to issue final rights-of-way for wind or solar projects on public land, BLM must also hold lease sales for oil and gas. Specifically, in order to issue a wind or solar right-of-way, BLM must have held an oil and gas lease sale in the past 120 days and have offered for lease at least 50 percent of the total acres nominated in the prior 12 months or two million acres, whichever is smaller. Since companies have only nominated a few hundred thousand acres in the past year, the 50 percent number is the relevant metric right now.

Because the IRA now requires oil and gas companies to pay $5 per acre to nominate land for leasing, it effectively ended the long-standing practice that let speculators anonymously submit nominations. (Previously, it cost nothing to nominate public land for oil and gas leasing.)

In the five years before the IRA, anonymous nominations made up at least 60 percent of all nominations. With BLM no longer accepting nominations submitted anonymously, we can expect the number of valid lease nominations to stay below pre-IRA levels.

How BLM says it will implement the IRA

In November 2022, BLM issued a series of Instruction Memoranda with guidance for implementing the IRA and addressing some of the deficiencies in the leasing system identified in the Interior Department’s 2021 report to President Biden.

IM 2023–006 outlines how BLM will calculate the 50 percent acreage requirement. It removes from consideration acres that are tied up in litigation, duplicate, already leased, unable to be processed, or withdrawn. Notably, it does not require anonymously nominated acres to be withdrawn from upcoming sales even though the IRA ended anonymous nominations.

In light of the new $5 per acre fee required by the IRA, BLM could and should have required companies to re-nominate all previously-nominated acres in order for them to be considered for leasing after the passage of the IRA. IM 2023–008 suggests the agency should close out all anonymous nominations that were submitted more than three years ago. Unfortunately, the agency is not following this guidance in its plans for the upcoming lease sales.

The IMs also instruct state offices to prioritize lands with certain characteristics when considering which nominated acres to offer in lease sales, such as areas that are close to existing oil and gas infrastructure and have high potential for future production, while avoiding lands that overlap with wildlife habitat, migration corridors, cultural sites, and recreation. This is good guidance — if it’s followed and used to inform decisions regarding which parcels are offered for leasing and which are deferred.

2) Your own guidance gets you to 50 percent

The second quarter lease sales are scheduled to be held in May and June 2023. That means the Interior Department must look at acres nominated for leasing beginning in June 2022 to come up with 50 percent of the acreage the agency must have offered for lease over the past year in order to issue a right-of-way (ROW) for wind or solar on June 30, 2023. The final number won’t be known until the day the ROW is issued, but by backdating to June 1, 2022, BLM can safely give itself a margin of error and not risk coming in under the 50 percent mark.

The math is straightforward:

• From June 1, 2022, through August 16, 2022 (the date the IRA was signed), companies nominated approximately 85,760 acres for oil and gas leasing.
• 19,840 of those acres were nominated anonymously and should not be considered eligible for leasing post-IRA, but because DOI’s current guidance includes those acres in calculating the 50 percent floor, they are included in these calculations.
• From August 17, 2022, through January 31, 2023 (post-IRA), companies nominated 107,520 acres for oil and gas leasing. This comes out to an average of 21,120 acres nominated per month.¹

• Projecting out at this rate from February 1 through June 30, 2023 (five months), BLM can expect companies to nominate an additional 105,600 acres for leasing.
• In total, the number of acres nominated for the 13 month period ending June 30, 2023, will be around 298,880 acres. Note that this period is one month longer than required by the IRA, and it includes acres nominated non-anonymously and for free before the IRA, so this gives DOI plenty of room in case nominations in the final weeks before the lease sales are held come in higher than expected.
• Dividing that in half, the IRA mandates that in order to sign renewable ROWs in June 2023, BLM must have offered leases on at least 149,440 acres in the past year. (Again, this is half of a 13-month period, giving the agency plenty of room to meet the IRA’s requirements even if nominations increase.)
• On June 30, 2022, DOI offered 128,511 acres for lease in sales held across Wyoming, Colorado, Montana, and Nevada. This acreage counts toward the requirement of acres that BLM must offer in the 12 months before issuing wind or solar rights-of-way, assuming it holds the second quarter 2023 lease sales on or before June 29.

So what does this mean?

• Subtracting the total 2022 lease sales acreage from the roughly 150,000 acre floor required by the IRA shows the second quarter 2023 lease sales do not need to be larger than 21,000 acres in total across all states.
• This means in the second quarter alone, the Interior Department is proposing to lease 261,000 more acres of public land than is required by the IRA.
• Looking ahead, if oil and gas companies continue to nominate land at the current pace, BLM will never have to offer more than 35,000 acres for lease each quarter in order to keep approving wind and solar rights-of-way.

Summary tables 3) The IRA got rid of anonymous nominations, so you should stop offering that land for lease

In the draft environmental review for the second quarter lease sale in Wyoming, BLM says that if it deferred acres based on application of the evaluation criteria laid out in one of the recently issued IMs, the sale would shrink from approximately 251,000 to 171,000 acres. But even that number is unnecessarily large. 177,944 of the acres being considered for the Wyoming sale are on lands with low or no potential of ever producing oil, which is discouraged by BLM’s post-IRA guidance.

Additionally, across the Nevada and Utah sales that have been proposed for the third quarter of 2023, 35 of 53 parcels (66%), covering a total of nearly 68,000 acres, were nominated anonymously more than 3 years ago. Four parcels in Utah were nominated in March 2018, and 31 parcels in Nevada were submitted in February and March 2019. Many of the parcels that have been proposed for lease in North Dakota have an even more egregious problem — the majority were nominated ten years ago. 33 of the 51 parcels (65%), covering a total of more than 15,000 acres, were nominated anonymously more than three years ago, some even as far back as 2007.

Even considering these parcels for lease is in direct conflict with BLM’s own guidance on how to select public lands for leasing under the IRA.

These statistics confirm that a significant proportion of the parcels being considered for lease are speculative in nature, given that they were nominated anonymously and/or on lands with little to no drilling potential. They would likely never produce oil, and simply be tied up “on the books” to help oil and gas companies pad their holdings. This is precisely the scenario that Congress intended to minimize when it modernized the minimum lease bid, rental, and royalty rates on public lands with the IRA.

In other words, BLM could easily — and legally — scale back the acreage offered in the upcoming 2023 lease sales to bring them in line with the guidance in the Instruction Memoranda, and safely hit the IRA’s 50 percent requirement with room to spare.

Because the second quarter sales only need to be a total of 21,000 acres in order to comply with the IRA and allow for wind and solar ROWs to be issued, there’s absolutely no reason for BLM to move ahead with a lease sale that includes thousands of anonymously-nominated parcels or parcels that are on lands with low or no drilling potential.

The way forward

Under both the IRA and the Mineral Leasing Act, the Interior secretary has broad discretion to determine which lands are eligible and available for leasing. Given the industry’s relatively low interest in nominating acres post-IRA, the BLM’s proposed 2nd quarter lease sales are massively overshooting the amount of public land the agency must offer for leasing in order to advance wind and solar development. BLM should drastically shrink the second quarter lease sales, which would ensure the sales align with the letter and the spirit of the IRA, and bring Interior in line with President Biden’s goals for America’s energy transition.

Since a significant proportion of proposed parcels for the second quarter sales were nominated anonymously and/or contain lands with little to no drilling potential, removing those parcels from the upcoming sales provides an obvious and legal way for BLM to scale down the sales to align with the intent of the IRA and the agency’s own guidance.

It’s important to note that the current leasing process, even if it’s implemented perfectly, still poses a long-term threat to America’s public lands. The Instruction Memoranda represent guidance to agency staff as they plan lease sales. They are not binding rules, and they can be easily rewritten by future administrations. Even if the Interior Department follows its guidance to the letter for the remainder of President Biden’s first term, it’s safe to assume that a future administration that is beholden to the oil industry would quickly toss that guidance out the door.

This is one of the reasons why we warned that the Biden administration must codify its IRA implementation through the rulemaking process. In order to protect public lands into the next century, the agency should ensure that the process of selecting public lands for leasing will always protect critical habitat and cultural sites, prioritize public access and recreation, and never again contemplate offering oil and gas companies an order of magnitude more land than the law requires.

1. This acreage estimate a) assumes each EOI is for a full PLSS section of 640 acres; and b) includes only EOIs that BLM considers “valid” according to the criteria laid out in IM 2023–006. Since some EOIs would result in leases of less than a full 640-acre section, the actual requirement under the IRA could be smaller.
2. Average of September 2022 through January 2023.

Photo: David Korzillus, BLM

The post The Biden administration is getting ready to unnecessarily offer hundreds of thousands of acres of public land to oil and gas companies appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

DENVER—Senator Joe Manchin released a statement today suggesting he may not support the nomination of Laura Daniel-Davis as the Interior Department Assistant Secretary—Land and Minerals Management because of an unreleased memo regarding the Interior Department’s offshore oil and gas leasing program.

The Center for Western Priorities released the following statement from Executive Director Jennifer Rokala:

“It appears that Senator Manchin is looking for any excuse to delay Laura Daniel-Davis’s long-overdue confirmation, and by extension, derail the accomplishments of the Inflation Reduction act and bipartisan infrastructure law. The assistant secretary is pivotal for the implementation of these landmark laws that invest in American communities and American energy. Leaving the job empty for this long is political malpractice by the Senate. Senator Manchin knows that Laura Daniel-Davis is exceptionally qualified to serve the American people, which is why more than 100 women who know and have worked with Laura told the Senate last year to give her a confirmation vote.

“Chairman Manchin knows that accounting for the ongoing harm caused by oil and gas drilling is a priority for the Biden administration. If he has concerns about that, he should take it up with the White House, not the people who are carrying out the President’s policies. The senator could hold an oversight hearing with White House officials or the director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management any time he wants. Instead, he is choosing to obstruct a nomination that has been unnecessarily and unfairly stalled for nearly two years. All he is doing now is harming his own constituents.”

The post Response to Sen. Joe Manchin’s statement on Laura Daniel-Davis appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

An updated analysis from the Center for Western Priorities finds that not every Western state is living up to its conservation reputation. States like Oregon and Arizona have a proud conservation tradition, but efforts by their elected leaders to protect public lands have run into the reality of a dysfunctional Congress.

The Conservation Gridlock report updates an analysis from 2022 that looked at the acres of national public land protected over the last 20 years in eight Western states. It finds that in the last decade, Oregon, Arizona, and Wyoming have conserved far less land than neighboring states. In fact, the three leading states—California, New Mexico, and Utah—have protected 37 times more acres of public land than the three bottom states.

“It’s a shame that conservation has slowed in states where the vast majority of voters support protecting public lands,” said Center for Western Priorities Deputy Director Aaron Weiss. “There are well-crafted conservation proposals in Oregon and Arizona that have been languishing in Congress for years. It’s time for members of Congress to work with President Biden to deliver for their constituents and protect these unique and valuable public lands before it’s too late.”

In Oregon, a decades-long effort to permanently protect the stunning Owyhee Canyonlands has the support of 79 percent of Oregon voters. Legislation to conserve Oregon’s canyonlands, championed by Oregon senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, has languished in Congress for almost ten years. In Arizona, the widely supported effort to safeguard the culturally and ecologically significant rimlands next to Grand Canyon National Park has been stalled for almost 15 years. With little to no hope of public lands legislation making it out of Congress, Western senators and representatives should partner with President Biden to realize his historic commitment to conserve and restore America’s lands and waters, and get locally-driven popular conservation initiatives moving again.

Conservation groups ask BLM to finalize congressional reforms on oil and gas leasing

Wyoming Public Radio

The 2023 Conservation in the West Poll found that despite the pressures of inflation and cost of living, voters care just as much about protecting public lands and waters as ever. In the 13 years since the Colorado College State of the Rockies Project launched the annual poll, the majority of Western voters have consistently supported public lands protection, wildlife preservation, renewable energy, and water conservation. Throughout the years, this sentiment has only grown stronger. Explore the most interesting and important findings from the poll on CWP’s Westwise blog, and hear directly from pollsters Lori Weigel and Dave Metz on the latest episode of The Landscape!

Quick hits Conservation groups ask BLM to finalize congressional reforms on oil and gas leasing

Wyoming Public Radio

New Mexico Oil and Gas Act reform clears first committee

NM Political Report

Efforts to expand e-bike use on trails elicit access concerns

Flathead Beacon | Washington Post [opinion]

Human-wildlife conflicts rising worldwide with climate change

Science Daily

BLM explores utility-scale solar in Montana

Montana Free Press

Exxon broke rules with late reporting of Permian methane leak

Bloomberg

Farm Bill to focus on climate, conservation

Inside Climate News

Ice Age fossils slow massive power line for renewable energy

E&E News

Quote of the day

Over the course of the last 13 years, the one thing that people have really valued and held dear is the land, the water, and wildlife in their state and their ability to get outdoors.”

—Lori Weigel, pollster for 2023 Conservation in the West poll, The Landscape Picture this @GrandCanyonNPS

“Poco a poco se va lejos.” (“Little by little one goes a long way”)

Park Ranger clearing snow from the Canyon Rim Trail with a mule-drawn plow. February, 1946. Photo courtesy of Kurt Severin > https://go.nps.gov/10 (1970) #ThrowbackThursday #TBT #Arizona #GrandCanyon #AZWX

(featured image: Legislation to protect Oregon’s Owyhee Canyonlands has languished in congress for nearly a decade. Photo: Greg Shine, BLM)

The post Public land conservation lagging in Western states appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

Oregon, Arizona and Wyoming fall behind as California, New Mexico, and Utah set an example for the West; Colorado moves up thanks to presidential action

PORTLAND—An updated analysis from the Center for Western Priorities finds that not every Western state is living up to its conservation reputation. States like Oregon and Arizona have a proud conservation tradition, but efforts by their elected leaders to protect public lands have run into the reality of a dysfunctional Congress.

The report, Conservation Gridlock, updates an analysis from 2022 that looked at the acres of national public land protected over the last 20 years in eight Western states. It finds that in the last decade, Oregon, Arizona, and Wyoming have conserved far less land than neighboring states. In fact, the three leading states—California, New Mexico, and Utah—have protected 37 times more acres of public land than the three bottom states.

“It’s a shame that conservation has slowed in states where the vast majority of voters support protecting public lands,” said Center for Western Priorities Deputy Director Aaron Weiss. “There are well-crafted conservation proposals in Oregon and Arizona that have been languishing in Congress for years. It’s time for members of Congress to work with President Biden to deliver for their constituents and protect these unique and valuable public lands before it’s too late.”

Today’s report updates a May 2022 report from the Center for Western Priorities which spotlighted Colorado, a state whose conservation track record in recent years was not living up to its reputation as a national conservation leader. Soon after the release of the report last year, Colorado Senator Michael Bennet worked alongside President Biden and his administration to secure permanent protections for the Camp Hale-Continental Divide National Monument. The widely celebrated action was the first new national monument created by President Biden, conserving nearly 54,000 acres in the Rocky Mountains with incredible historic and natural values, and outstanding opportunities for outdoor recreation.

Similar opportunities exist today. In Oregon, a decades-long effort to permanently protect the stunning Owyhee Canyonlands has the support of 79 percent of Oregon voters. Legislation to conserve Oregon’s canyonlands, championed by Oregon senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, has languished in Congress for almost ten years. In Arizona, the widely supported effort to safeguard the culturally and ecologically significant rimlands next to Grand Canyon National Park, which are threatened by uranium mining, has been stalled for almost 15 years.

Sadly, the prospects for major conservation bills are dimmer than ever in the current Congress. The House Natural Resources Committee this week held a hearing on a bill that would grant a long wish list of oil, gas, and mining industry priorities on public lands. All of the bills prioritized by the House so far are dead on arrival in the Senate.

With little to no hope of public lands legislation making it out of Congress, Western senators and representatives should partner with President Biden to realize his historic commitment to conserve and restore America’s lands and waters, and get locally-driven popular conservation initiatives moving again.

“Protecting public lands is always popular with voters,” Weiss added. “They don’t care whether it gets done by Congress or the president—they just want to see the lands they love protected for their kids and grandkids.”

Featured image: Lower Owyhee Canyon, Greg Shine, BLM

The post 2023 update: Public land conservation lagging in Western states appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

Kate and Aaron are joined by pollsters Lori Weigel and Dave Metz to talk about the most interesting and important statistics from the recently released 2023 Colorado College State of the Rockies Conservation in the West poll. The poll found that voters care just as much about protecting public lands and waters, as well as about transitioning to renewable energy, as ever—despite feeling the pressures of inflation and high gas prices.

News

• State of the Rockies 2023 Conservation in the West poll – Colorado College
• After record profits, House panel considers massive taxpayer giveaway to oil and gas companies – Center for Western Priorities
• Recommendations for the Rulemaking to Revise Existing Regulations for the Federal Onshore Oil and Gas Leasing Program – The Wilderness Society
• Border plant joins ESA list despite Texas AG’s objections – E&E News

Credits

Hosts: Kate Groetzinger & Aaron Weiss

Feedback: podcast@westernpriorities.org

Music: Purple Planet

Featured image: Ear Mountain Conservation Mgmt Area, Lewistown, Montana; Bob Wick, Bureau of Land Management

The post What Western voters think about conservation appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

The Department of the Interior (DOI) and National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) announced the 2023 Request for Proposals for the America the Beautiful Challenge, which offers grants to local conservation projects that align with the America the Beautiful initiative. The program, initially launched in 2022, is dedicated to funding locally-led landscape-scale conservation and restoration projects that implement existing conservation plans across the nation. The 2023 program will award up to $116 million, an increase from the $91 million awarded in 2022. It will prioritize Indigenous-led projects by setting aside funding specifically to support Tribal Nations’ and territories’ efforts.

The Challenge is a partnership between the Departments of the Interior, Agriculture and Defense, NFWF, and Native Americans in Philanthropy which consolidates funding into a single resource. This makes securing funding more accessible and efficient, as applicants can apply for multiple grant programs through a single application.

“The America the Beautiful Challenge created a one-stop shop to help communities access funding for conservation and restoration initiatives,” said White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Brenda Mallory. “This collaborative effort has and will continue to advance locally-led projects aligned with the President’s ambitious America the Beautiful initiative, conserving our lands and waters while also expanding access to the outdoors across the country.”

Recipients of the 2022 America the Beautiful Challenge grants are pursuing projects that will reconnect 1,300 miles of streams and rivers, improve the management of 26 million acres of land, and restore 1,900 acres of wetlands. This year’s proposals are due April 20, 2023.

Quick hits Biden faces ConocoPhillips Willow project decision

Associated Press | Washington Post | E&E News

Green colonialism is flooding the Pacific Northwest

High Country News

Extreme Yosemite rain eases drought but disrupts wildlife habitats

Reuters

Senate targets environmentally conscious investing

New York Times | E&E News

Endangered Mexican wolf population makes strides in US

Associated Press | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service [press release]

Western US cities vote to move ahead with novel nuclear power plant

Reuters

EPA’s risky methane gambit: Let outsiders look for leaks

E&E News

Here’s why Arizona says it can keep growing despite historic megadrought

NPR

Quote of the day

We cannot just grow anywhere and everywhere and as much as we want and still sustain every kind of economy and economic growth that we want, we have to make choices.”

—Kathy Ferris, former director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources, NPR Picture this @USFWS

How are you practicing self-care today? This fence lizard in New Mexico is mid-shed. Unlike snakes, fence lizards have rough scales, so their shedding happens more piece by piece. We hope you like your new outfit, little buddy.

Photo: Laurel Ladwig/USFWS

(featured image: Bald eagles in Pinedale, Wyoming. Photo: Mark Thonhoff, BLM Wyoming)

The post Biden administration offers $116M for local conservation projects appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 28, 2023

On Tuesday, the Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee of the House Natural Resources Committee held a hearing on the “Transparency and Production of American Energy Act of 2023.” This draft bill proposes, among other things, to reverse many of the Inflation Reduction Act’s reforms to the onshore oil and gas leasing program. The bill would return royalty rates, minimum bids, and rental rates to the outdated rates that were put in place in 1920; eliminate the fees companies pay to nominate land for leasing; and restore noncompetitive leasing, letting companies lock up public land for just $1.50 an acre. 

The bill would also grant an oil industry wish list of exemptions from the environmental analysis requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act. Among the exclusions: accessing federal minerals from non-federal surface, a provision that would open up to 57 million acres to drilling with no federal protections. At the same time, the bill would require assessments of resource and revenue potential before agencies update land use management plans or enact mineral withdrawals, a provision that is intended to elevate drilling and fracking over other important public land uses and values such as recreation and conservation. 

Center for Western Priorities Policy Director Rachael Hamby released the following statement:

“While American families suffered through a year of high gasoline prices and heating bills, oil and gas companies were making record profits of over $400 billion, a 146 percent increase from the previous year, while sitting on thousands of approved but unused permits to drill in order to keep supply low and demand—and prices and profits—high. Now their allies in Congress are trying to pad their books even more by reversing the first meaningful reforms the oil and gas leasing system has seen in decades.

“These companies don’t need Congress to force more lease sales or permit approvals—they need to pay their fair share for exploiting public resources and compensate Americans for tying up millions of acres of public lands in unused leases. This absurd legislation makes it clear that Big Oil’s goal is to profit off America’s public lands above all else, when polls show that this is the exact opposite of what Western voters want. 

“As communities across the West face the reality of the climate crisis, it’s unconscionable to order agencies to stop considering the effects of more drilling for any reason, but especially when that reason is to grow already obscene corporate profits. The proponents of this bill have exposed themselves for who they really represent: oil and gas CEOs, not the American people.”

The post After record profits, House panel considers massive taxpayer giveaway to oil and gas companies appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

A new report from the International Energy Agency (IEA) shows that Big Oil could meaningfully reduce methane emissions with less than three percent of last year’s profits. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas responsible for around 30 percent of the rise in global temperatures. Cutting methane emissions is one of the most effective ways to limit climate change and improve air quality. The energy sector (including oil, natural gas, coal, and bioenergy) is responsible for nearly 40 percent of methane emissions from human activity. After 2022’s windfall profits, Big Oil could quickly and meaningfully address methane leaks without breaking the bank, yet the IEA reports that emissions remain high.

The IEA’s Global Methane Tracker shows that most oil and gas companies have made little progress in reducing their methane emissions, despite pledging to cut leaked methane emissions to zero by 2030. According to the report, it would require just $100 billion across the entire oil and gas industry to cut methane leaks by 75 percent using existing technologies.

“The untamed release of methane in fossil fuel production is a problem that sometimes goes under the radar in public debate,” said IEA executive director Fatih Birol in a statement. “Unfortunately, it’s not a new issue and emissions remain stubbornly high. Many companies saw hefty profits last year following a turbulent period for international oil and gas markets amid the global energy crisis. Fossil fuel producers need to step up and policymakers need to step in – and both must do so quickly.”

With this report, the IEA calls on the oil and gas industry to take immediate action on methane emissions and argues that there is “no excuse” for companies not to take this relatively easy and inexpensive step.

Judge rejects bid to halt construction of Nevada lithium mine

A federal district judge rejected the attempt by ranchers, environmental groups, and Tribes to block the construction of a lithium mine near Thacker Pass, Nevada. Judge Miranda Du concluded the plaintiffs were unlikely to win an appeal challenging her February 6 ruling, which found the Bureau of Land Management complied with federal law when it approved plans for the Thacker Pass mine in January 2021.

The proposed mine, which contains lithium needed for electric vehicle batteries, has faced opposition from environmentalists and Indigenous groups concerned about the impact on the local ecosystem, wildlife, and cultural resources. While acknowledging the validity of the environmental concerns, Du stated that “the Court indeed expects that Lithium Nevada unfortunately will soon begin ripping out sagebrush that will not grow back for a very long time.” Despite this, Du said that the environmental groups did not present a strong enough case that their arguments would succeed on appeal.

Quick hits Big Oil could cut methane emissions by 75% using less than 3% of last year’s profits

Fast Company | International Energy Agency

Judge rejects bid to halt construction of Nevada lithium mine

Associated Press | E&E News

Opinion: President Biden should move to protect more nature by using the Antiquities Act

The Hill

Colorado land swap between a billionaire and the BLM faces opposition from environmental group

Colorado Sun

In the once-cool forests of the Pacific Northwest, heat poses a new threat

High Country News

Opinion: Yes, we can save enough water to preserve the Great Salt Lake. Here’s how

Salt Lake Tribune

Planned legislation from Colorado state lawmakers will target oil and gas emissions on the Front Range

Colorado Public Radio

A big proposed wind project in Idaho faces major local opposition

NPR

Quote of the day

ur nation’s protected public lands contain scientifically important landscapes and cultural and historic sites that are tremendous assets to our communities. They play a critical role in our way of life and support our economies, health, and well-being. They help contribute to a better tomorrow for future generations that also honors the past. The Antiquities Act conserves vital places so our stories can be told and experiences can be shared for generations to come.”

—Anna Peterson,  Executive Director of The Mountain Pact Picture this @Interior

Moonlight brightens the snowy dunes at Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve in Colorado. Experience the park after dark by stargazing, listening for owls along the foothills or going for a full moon walk on the dunes. Photo by Patrick Myers / NPS

(featured image: Methane flaring in an oil field in New Mexico. Photo: Blake Thornberry)

The post Less than 3% of Big Oil’s profits could slash emissions appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

Since President Joe Biden took office, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack have signed off on nearly two dozen Tribal co-stewardship agreements with another 60 agreements involving 45 Tribes in various stages of review, according to reporting by HuffPost.

The Interior and Agriculture departments launched this effort in November 2021 with a joint secretarial order directing relevant agencies to make sure their decisions on public lands fulfill trust obligations with Tribes (the Commerce department signed onto the order a year later in November 2022). The order specifically requires that co-stewardship efforts be discussed in individual employee performance reviews for tens of thousands of federal employees to ensure its directives trickle down to the day-to-day activities of each agency. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and the Bureau of Indian Affairs have since produced their own co-stewardship guidance documents.

“The history of federal public lands cannot be separated from the history of Tribes,” said Monte Mills, a law professor and director of the Native American Law Center at the Washington University School of Law. “At its core, this is about justice and restoring the rightful, in my view, place of Tribal voices and their connection to these landscapes. To have Tribal folks weighing in on decisions on how lands should be managed benefits landscapes and benefits all of us,” he said.

Importantly, there are distinctions between co-management, where Tribes share legal authority with the federal government to make decisions affecting the land or the species on it, and co-stewardship, where they collaborate on activities like forest thinning. Bears Ears National Monument in Utah is likely the most prominent example of a Tribal co-stewardship agreement: The BLM, Forest Service, and five Tribes jointly oversee the federal lands within the monument’s 1.36 million-acre boundaries.

Quick hits Future of the Salton Sea is tied to the imperiled Colorado River

WBUR

Colorado agency holds fifth and final meeting on wolf reintroduction plan

Colorado Sun

After centuries of theft, the government is asking Tribes to help manage land

HuffPost

Judge clears the way for Forest Service to kill feral cattle in New Mexico’s Gila Wilderness

Associated Press | Reuters

How a company plans to use geothermal heat to pull carbon out of the sky

Washington Post

Visitors watch as giant piece of Yosemite’s El Capitan rock face crashes down

SFGate | Fox News

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service proposes protections for California spotted owl

Associated Press

Lawmakers urge EPA to tighten gas flaring restrictions to curb methane emissions

CNBC

Quote of the day

Our lawmakers have their own constitutional duty to steward the health of our natural resources. Montanans elected them because of their promises to defend, uphold, and protect our constitutional rights, including to a ‘clean and healthful environment.’ Anything to the contrary, and they should expect to be held accountable.”

—Marne Hayes, director of Business for Montana’s Outdoors, Helena Independent Record Picture this @DOICareers

“Every day I work hard to contribute to conservation, to people as a whole, and to this world. That’s my number one motive, trying to save the place that we all call home!” — Jerome Ford, Assistant Director for the Migratory Bird Program
@USFWS, #BlackHistoryMonth  #PeopleofInterior

(featured image: The sign greeting visitors at Bears Ears National Monument in Utah bears the logos of the BLM, the Forest Service, and the insignias of each of the five tribal partners. Photo credit: BLM Utah, Flickr)

The post After centuries of theft, the government is asking Tribes to help manage land appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

The National Association of Forest Service Retirees has shared a letter and two position papers with the agency, warning of the mounting threats to the nation’s forests due to climate change.

The letter, addressed to Homer Wilkes, the Undersecretary of Agriculture for Natural Resources and Environment, states, “We believe that the cascading effects of extreme events require greater focus and attention because of their many effects on communities and people.”

While the association supports the Forest Service’s near-term approach to accelerate and expand forest management practices aimed at reducing wildfire risk, the group is urging the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the cabinet agency that houses the Forest Service, to incorporate the long term risks of climate change into its strategy and planning activities.

The position papers outlined how advancements in science and climate-smart planning in the past several decades can assist federal agencies in working more closely with communities. The papers also emphasized that technological advances and evolving social values around climate change as well as shifting weather patterns are creating a “new reality” for public agencies to grasp when it comes to dealing with the impacts of climate change in both the short and long term.

Clarification

The lawsuit put forth by the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony, the Burns Paiute Tribe, and the Summit Lake Paiute Tribe referenced in yesterday’s Look West is separate from the emergency court order filed by four environmental groups to block construction of the Thacker Pass lithium mine in Nevada. Last week, the three tribes filed a separate lawsuit claiming that the Bureau of Land Management misrepresented its claims that it met its legal obligation to consult with tribes about potential impacts to historical and cultural values near the mine site.

Quick hits Are we trying to save animals in the wrong places?

The Atlantic

Descendants urge Biden to make Oklahoma’s Black Wall Street a national monument

Black Wall Street Times

Interior announces first offshore wind lease sale for Gulf of Mexico

Houston Chronicle | Associated Press | E&E News

Climate change poses “new reality” for Forest Service, former officials say

E&E News

Report: U.S. energy firms are using Ukraine war to lock in long-term liquified natural gas contracts

The Guardian

Montana bill proposes restrictions on conservation easements

Montana Free Press

Federal funds spur cleanup of abandoned oil wells in parks

New York Times

Opinion: Better methane accounting will lead to a faster, cheaper clean energy transition

The Hill

Quote of the day

Methane accounting may not have the popular appeal of electric cars or rooftop solar panels. But finding, fixing and preventing methane leaks is one of the fastest and cheapest ways to reduce heat-trapping gases in our atmosphere.”

—Brad Handler, Simon Lomax & Morgan Bazilian with the Payne Institute for Public Policy at the Colorado School of Mines, The Hill Picture this @Interior

The American alligator population reached an all-time low in the 1950s, due to overhunting and loss of habitat. However, thanks to Endangered Species Act (ESA) protections, these snappy reptiles were pronounced fully recovered, making it one of the first ESA success stories.

(featured image: A forest hit by the Caldor Fire near South Lake Tahoe, California. Photo: USDA Forest Service Flickr, by Cecilio Ricardo)

The post Climate change poses “new reality” for Forest Service appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

As former U.S. President Jimmy Carter entered home hospice care last Saturday, many historians, conservationists, and former officials are reflecting on his environmental achievements as president. Douglas Brinkley, a presidential historian at Rice University, told the Washington Post that President Carter will “go down, along with people like Theodore Roosevelt and [Franklin D. Roosevelt], as one of the greatest conservation presidents or environmental presidents of all time.”

In particular, Carter made a substantial impact in Alaska, using his executive authority under the Antiquities Act in 1978 to designate 56 million acres as federally protected. Shortly after losing the 1980 presidential election, Carter worked with Congress to pass the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA), the landmark law that protected more than 100 million acres of Alaskan land, including national parks, national monuments and other sites.

Carter’s actions prompted intense local protests at the time, as it was the most public land any president in U.S. history had designated as off limits to development. In the decades since, public support for protecting public lands has only continued to grow. The 2023 Colorado College Conservation in the West poll is evidence of this trend—84 percent of Western voters surveyed in the poll said they want to see more national monuments, parks, and wildlife refuges that protect historic sites or preserve recreational areas.

While President Joe Biden has made progress on restoring environmental protections that were removed during the Trump administration, he has a long way to go if he wants to leave a lasting conservation legacy that rivals the achievements of Jimmy Carter. The Biden administration must dramatically accelerate its land protection and rulemaking efforts if the president hopes to campaign on or leave a lasting legacy on America’s public lands in 2024.

Tribes file lawsuit challenging Nevada lithium mine approval

Three Native American tribes are joining environmental groups to seek an emergency court order to block construction of a Nevada lithium mine weeks after a federal judge directed the Bureau of Land Management to revisit part of its approval of the plans but allowed construction to go forward in the meantime. The Reno-Sparks Indian Colony and Burns Paiute Tribe and the Summit Lake Paiute Tribe joined together to oppose Canada-based Lithium Americas’ proposal to develop the Thacker Pass lithium mine, an area that marks the location where ancestors of the Paiute and Shoshone people were massacred by the U.S. Cavalry in 1865.

“When the decision was made public on the previous lawsuit last week, we said we would continue to advocate for our sacred site PeeHee Mu’Huh. A place where prior to colonization, all our Paiute and Shoshone ancestors lived for countless generations,” said Arlan Melendez, Chairman of the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony in a statement. “It’s a place where all Paiute and Shoshone people continue to pray, gather medicines and food, honor our non-human relatives, honor our water, honor our way of life, honor our ancestors.”

Quick hits Corner crossing conflicts could be settled with Colorado legislation

Colorado Sun

Lawsuit alleges Recreation.gov is cluttered with “junk fees”

National Parks Traveler

President Jimmy Carter’s enduring environmental legacy

Washington Post

BLM releases final review for proposed SunZia wind power transmission line in Arizona

Arizona Daily Star

Is the government sacrificing endangered salmon to help potato farmers?

Grist

Colorado may store carbon in defunct oil and gas wells

Associated Press

Tribes file lawsuit challenging Nevada lithium mine approval

Associated Press | Nevada Current | E&E News | Public News Service

The ten best seasonal national park jobs and how to get them

Outside

Quote of the day

I have never been happier, more exhilarated, at peace, rested, inspired, and aware of the grandeur of the universe and the greatness of God than when I find myself in a natural setting not much changed from the way He made it.”

—Excerpt from President Jimmy Carter’s memoir, “An Outdoor Journal: Adventures and Reflections,” Washington Post Picture this @NatlParkService

When you get out of the shower and sit on the bed trying to get yourself pumped up to get dressed and start your day.

(featured image: Cottongrass blows in the wind by the Sheenjek River, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Photo Credit: Alexis Bonogofsky for USFWS, Flickr)

The post President Jimmy Carter’s enduring environmental legacy appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

The news keeps getting worse for Lake Powell, the nation’s second largest reservoir, which is currently just 22 percent full. Bureau of Reclamation officials shared during a virtual meeting on Saturday that the reservoir is just 32 feet away from dropping to “minimum power pool,” the point at which Glen Canyon Dam would no longer be able to generate hydropower for 4.5 million people living in the Southwest.

“There is now an acknowledgment, unlike any other time ever before, that the dam is not going to be suited to 21st century hydrology,” said Kyle Roerink, executive director of the environmental group Great Basin Water Network, who listened to the virtual meeting. “They’re not sugarcoating that things have to change there, and they have to change pretty quickly.”

Federal officials warn that if the water level in Lake Powell drops below minimum power pool, the main intakes would need to be shut down and water would instead flow through Glen Canyon Dam’s lower bypass tubes. Because of those tubes’ reduced capacity, less water would flow downstream, shrinking the Colorado River’s flow in the Grand Canyon and accelerating the decline of Lake Mead toward “dead pool,” the point at which water would no longer pass through Hoover Dam to Arizona, California, and Mexico.

“We’re 32 feet above where problems occur. And we’ve had years, recently, where we’ve lost 50 feet or more of reservoir volume,” said Brad Udall, a water and climate scientist at Colorado State University and a Colorado River expert. “We’re one bad year away from reaching the point where we can’t generate hydropower. That’s the first worry here.” Hear more from Brad Udall about the crisis on the Colorado River in the latest episode of The Landscape, CWP’s podcast.

Quick hits Public lands pay the price while grazing fees stay low

KUNR Public Media

Lake Powell drops to historic low, threatening hydropower generation

Los Angeles Times | Washington Post | USA Today

Colorado lawmakers call on Biden to protect more land with executive action

Colorado Newsline

Forest Service plans to kill New Mexico feral cattle

Albuquerque Journal | CBS News

Rapidly shrinking Great Salt Lake is an air pollution nightmare

The Guardian

Activist group spreads misinformation to stop solar projects

NPR

BLM advances plan for New Mexico to Arizona wind power line

E&E News

Camera spots “chunky” bobcat in California forest

Sacramento Bee

Quote of the day

Ultimately, I think what we’re going to see here is some major rewriting of Western water law. We’re seeing a collision right now between 19th century water law, 20th century infrastructure and 21st century population and climate change. And how this works out is anybody’s guess.”

—Brad Udall, water and climate scientist at Colorado State University, Washington Post Picture this @Interior

You don’t take a photograph, you make it.” — Ansel Adams.

Born on this day in 1902, pioneering photographer Ansel Adams’ work continues to serve as tremendous inspiration.

(featured image: Water level at Glen Canyon Dam in August, 2021. Photo: U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, Flickr)

The post Lake Powell drops to historic low, threatening hydropower generation appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

It’s been 79 days since President Biden pledged to designate Nevada’s Avi Kwa Ame, or Spirit Mountain, as a national monument—but he still hasn’t fulfilled his promise. Now the Center for American Progress is highlighting the importance of Avi Kwa Ame for meeting the president’s environmental justice commitments.

A new report from CAP identifies the “nature gap” that exists around Avi Kwa Ame—an area where “93 percent of people of color are nature deprived, making them nearly twice as likely to be nature deprived than white communities living in the same area,” according to Sam Zeno, the author of the analysis.

The CAP report found that in the 25 mile radius around Avi Kwa Ame, which includes the Las Vegas metropolitan area, communities of color “experience heightened nature deprivation, even while surrounded by other public lands in the region.”

Last fall at the White House Tribal Nations Summit, President Biden pledged to protect the 450,000-acre national monument using his authority under the Antiquities Act, saying it was a “sacred place that is central to the creation story of so many tribes that are here today.”

Once President Biden signs the proclamation designating Avi Kwa Ame, it will become one of the few national monuments to honor Indigenous history. The area around Spirit Mountain also has incredible ecological importance, with the world’s largest Joshua tree forest, endangered desert bighorn sheep, and desert tortoise populations.

Learn more at honorspiritmountain.org and watch CWP’s Road to 30 video postcard from Avi Kwa Ame.

Got Colorado River questions? Brad Udall explains it all

In the latest episode of CWP’s podcast, The Landscape, Kate and Aaron are joined by water scientist Brad Udall to talk about the current state of the Colorado River. Water levels are dropping and something has to give or the river’s main reservoirs—Lake Powell and Lake Mead—are going to run dry. But states aren’t anywhere close to an agreement on how they’re going to cut back.

Udall, who teaches at Colorado State University and researches the impact of climate change on the Colorado River, is here to explain what’s going on, how dire the situation is, and what could happen next. Listen now or subscribe on Apple Podcasts.

Quick hits GAO warns abandoned mines may turn into money pits for land management agencies

FEDweek

Indigenous leaders warn proposed BLM methane venting and flaring rule falls short

Inside Climate News

Why are BP, Shell, and Exxon backing off their climate promises?

Grist

Will the Biden administration greenlight ConocoPhillips’ Arctic ‘carbon bomb’?

Sierra Magazine

Meet the GOP leaders in charge of critical environmental committees

CNBC

Why AOC and the left flank matter in the fight over permitting reform

Axios

Report: protecting Avi Kwa Ame would honor tribes and increase access to nature

E&E News | Center for American Progress

Study: Frequent wildfires more likely to hit low-income communities

Jefferson Public Radio

Quote of the day

The administration has said point blank that ‘no decision’ has been made on the Willow project despite moving the proposal forward in a ‘final’ environmental impact statement. We hope that as the outrage continues to pour in, President Biden and Secretary Haaland take time to reassess and reverse course.”

—Kristen Miller, Alaska Wilderness League, Sierra Magazine Picture this @Interior

At Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge, you can take a break from urban living and reconnect with your natural surroundings. The refuge is a great place to explore nature and offers recreational activities for all comfort levels. Photo by Tom Kachelmeyer / USFWS

(featured image: Avi Kwa Ame photo by Alan O’Neill, used by permission)

The post Growing calls for Biden to protect Avi Kwa Ame appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

Kate and Aaron are joined by water scientist Brad Udall to talk about the current state of the Colorado River. Water levels are dropping and something has to give or the river’s main reservoirs—Lake Powell and Lake Mead— are going to run dry. But states aren’t anywhere close to an agreement on how much each one is going to cut back.

Udall, who teaches at Colorado State University and researches the impact of climate change on the Colorado River, is here to explain what’s going on, how dire the situation is, and what could happen next.

News

• State of the Rockies 2023 Conservation in the West poll – Colorado College
• ‘This is about self-determination and sovereignty’: Tribes welcome return of ancestral lands – Indianz
• The Decolonial Atlas

Credits

Hosts: Kate Groetzinger & Aaron Weiss

Feedback: podcast@westernpriorities.org

Music: Purple Planet

Featured image: Grand Canyon National Park, Flickr

The post What’s going on with the Colorado River? appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

Despite Westerners’ concerns over gas prices, the cost of living, and water shortages, support for conservation efforts remains high across the region, according to the 13th annual Conservation in the West Poll from the Colorado College State of the Rockies Project.

The bipartisan poll, which is considered the gold standard for public opinion research on conservation measures, surveyed more than 3,400 people in eight Western states. Across the West, more than two thirds of respondents said that reducing the need for oil and gas and expanding renewable energy was a bigger priority than expanding production of oil, gas, and coal.

Two thirds of Western voters said that drought and inadequate water supplies are a serious problem. Four out of five voters in Colorado, Arizona, Nevada, and Utah say the Colorado River is at risk and in need of urgent action.

The poll also revealed a need for more education about which sectors of the economy use the most water. Colorado Public Radio notes that in Colorado, the largest share of voters polled, 35 percent, believe industry and business use the most water in the state. In fact, agriculture uses by far the most water in Colorado—86 percent—but only 34 percent of Colorado respondents correctly identified that farmers and ranchers are the biggest water users.

“I think it does highlight an area where there’s room for public education,” said Dave Metz with FM3 research, part of the State of the Rockies polling team. “Given how critical public concern is about water shortages, understanding how water is currently used is helpful in making decisions about what policies we need to enact to ensure that we have sustainable supplies for all of these sectors moving forward.”

Similar misconceptions held up across most states in the survey. In only three states—Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming—did a slim majority of respondents correctly identify farmers and ranchers as the biggest water users in their state.

The Conservation in the West Poll also showed growing support for the “30×30” initiative to protect American lands and waters. E&E News reports that 82 percent of voters said they support the conservation goal, and 84 percent said they want to see more national monuments, parks, and wildlife refuges that protect historic sites or preserve recreational areas.

You can read the full poll results and look back at previous years at the Colorado College State of the Rockies website.

Quick hits Westerners support clean energy, less oil—even in red states

Los Angeles Times | CPR News | Axios Denver | E&E News | Arizona Republic | Deseret News | Colorado Sun | KRTV | Colorado Newsline | Missoulian

Manchin, Barrasso float bill to jump-start domestic uranium

E&E News

Montana joins oil industry to sue Portland over fossil fuel terminal ban

Reuters | OPB

As Willow project decision nears, Alaska ponders ties to oil

Roll Call

Wyoming bill would erode Tribal land rights

WyoToday

Tribes welcome return of ancestral lands—sometimes one acre at a time

Indianz

Western bumblebee populations suffering alarming declines

KUNC

Nine endangered ferrets released to prey on Colorado’s prairie dogs

OutThere Colorado

Quote of the day

Then there’s the challenge of deep-pocketed industries and other interest groups — such as fossil fuel companies and anti-public lands activists — drowning out the voices of regular people. [Pollster Lori] Weigel told me she used to keep a quote on her wall from a legislator who had trouble believing the results of a survey she’d conducted: ‘Well, no one that I talk to every day has said this.’

‘It’s exactly that,’ Weigel said. ‘They’re talking to a small number of people in a very specific area.”

—Sammy Roth, Los Angeles Times Picture this @WstrnPriorities

Despite high gas prices, Westerners continue to support limiting oil and gas drilling on #publiclands.

Instead, they want their U.S. representatives to focus on protecting clean water, recreation, and habitat in the West.

(featured image: Lake Powell’s “bathtub ring” shows how far water levels have dropped. Photo: arbyreed, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

The post Water worries Westerners appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

The U.S. Department of Interior announced Wednesday that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has proposed revisions to the voluntary conservation programs outlined in the Endangered Species Act (ESA). If implemented, the revisions would make it cheaper and easier for applicants to obtain incidental take permits and enhancement of survival permits, both of which aim to protect imperiled species from private development and conserve the habitats they depend on.

This announcement comes as the ESA turns 50 years old in 2023. According to a press release from the Interior Department, we can expect the USFWS to celebrate the importance of the ESA throughout the year by continuing to bolster its provisions.

Incidental take permits are used when a non-federal landowner believes their activities may require taking endangered or threatened animal species. The application, with its accompanying habitat conservation plan, ensures that the effects of such actions are adequately minimized or mitigated. Enhancement of survival permits create more of a partnership between the applicant and the USFWS, where landowners enter voluntary conservation plans to benefit species, and in return, are not subject to additional restrictions as a result of their conservation actions—known as assurances. There are two similar programs under these permits, but the proposal seeks to combine them into one to simplify the process in hopes of obtaining more applicants.

House Republicans have expressed concern over a different ESA regulation that comes from a 2015 court decision requiring the U.S. Forest Service to consult with the USFWS on forest management plans when they encounter new information about threats to a protected species. 130 projects in the West have reportedly been delayed as a result of the ruling, and the Forest Service has generally supported its revision. Others, including the Center for Biological Diversity, believe there are alternative ways to address the issue.

Big Oil profits unlikely to stick around

Fossil fuel companies reported $200 billion in profits in 2022. Though companies are planning on keeping their momentum through 2023, an economy reliant on fossil fuels is not as stable as it once was. In the 1980s, the oil-reliant energy industry commanded 28 percent of the stock market, plummeting to only 2 percent in 2020. Big Oil’s profits are unlikely to remain at 2022 levels as renewables become cheaper and car manufacturers seek to electrify, and they know it—companies are beginning to reverse their limited climate commitments in order to offset prospective profit loss, including BP, who recently changed its emission pledge from a 35-40 percent reduction to only 20-30 percent.

Quick hits Breakdown of big oil’s $200 billion profits

USA Today | The Guardian There’s enough snow to refill Lake Powell, but that won’t happen

9NEWS Does thinning work for wildfire prevention?

High Country News California’s trees are dying by the millions. Blame drought

Washington Post NatWest to end new business loans for oil and gas extraction

The Guardian Energy secretary touts Utah geothermal project, sees green path to U.S. energy independence

Salt Lake Tribune As Colorado River shrinks, water evaporation becomes critical to California

Los Angeles Times 25,000 massive birds set to swarm Colorado valley

Out There Colorado Quote of the day

A collaborative approach to the biodiversity and extinction crises will advance the goals of the President’s America the Beautiful initiative and set us on a course for continued recovery and resilience.”

—Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, U.S. Department of Interior Picture this @Interior

The @BLMNational Rainbow Mountain Wilderness in Nevada emerges from the valley floor, standing guard over the Mojave Desert below. Its sheer, towering red and white cliffs provide a unique and beautiful backdrop for hiking, horseback riding, wildlife viewing and camping.

(featured image: Bald Eagles on the National Elk Refuge with Sheep Mountain, USFWS Mountain-Prairie via Flickr)

The post Endangered species protections may become stronger in 2023 appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

Aaron and Kate are joined by two mining reform experts to talk about the need to update our century-old mining laws and regulations in order to protect vulnerable communities and public lands as interest in mining grows thanks to electric vehicles and renewable energy needs.

Roger Flynn is the director and managing attorney at Western Mining Action Project, a nonprofit law project working on hard rock mining. He also teaches mining law at the University of Colorado law school. Aaron Mintzes is senior policy counsel at Earthworks where he works on transforming hard rock mining, oil, and gas policy.

*This is the second episode in our two-part series on critical minerals and mining in the West.*

News

• Biden, Democrats rage as Big Oil touts record profits – The Hill
• Why California is so far apart from other states in Colorado River water cuts plan – Los Angeles Times
• Colorado animal sanctuary to open 22,450-acre horse refuge – 9News

Credits

Hosts: Kate Groetzinger & Aaron Weiss

Feedback: podcast@westernpriorities.org

Music: Purple Planet

Featured image: arbyreed, Flickr

The post Why we need mining reform on public lands appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Friday that it will consider removing grizzly bears in parts of Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming from the Endangered Species Act. The decision is a result of petitions from Montana and Wyoming requesting that state governments be responsible for the management of grizzly populations in the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem, which includes Glacier National Park and the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex, as well as the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.

The Service will now conduct a review of the grizzly population in these regions to make a 12-month finding. At that point the agency will decide if removing ESA protections for the species is warranted. If that happens, a separate rulemaking process including a public comment period would follow.

The agency indicated that it will carefully consider laws and regulations in Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho throughout the 12-month-finding period to ensure a smooth transition to state management, but significant legislation outlining state-level protection plans consistent with the requirements of the USFWS has yet to be offered by any of the three states. In 2021, a bill passed in the Montana Senate that would allow Montanans to kill grizzly bears that were attacking or threatening livestock. The agency notified the Montana legislature that the bill cannot be enacted because of an ESA regulation that only allows killing grizzlies as a means of self-defense, but the bill would become law if the grizzly is officially delisted.

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Colorado Sun Quote of the day

The drought is so critical that this recent rainfall is a little like finding a $20 bill when you’ve lost your job and you’re being evicted from your house.”

—Rhett Larson, Arizona State University professor of water law, Salt Lake Tribune Picture this @carlsbadcavernsnps

Welcome back to a new recurring social media series, Speleothem Saturday! Over the next several Saturdays, we will show off some of the weird, wacky, and wonderful formations found inside the caves at Carlsbad Caverns National Park. The term speleothem is greek in origin, meaning cave deposit. Share your favorite photos of each week’s featured speleothem in the comments!

We will start with stalactites. These icicle-like structures hanging from the ceiling are some of the most famous speleothems, often defining many conceptions of what caves should look like. They are typically made up of a calcium carbonate mineral called calcite. Like most speleothems you’ll learn about in this series, they form when water sitting on a surface leaves a mineral deposit behind.

In this case, water dripping from the cave ceiling leaves a tiny bit of calcite behind with every drop. As more minerals are deposited on the cave ceiling, water will seek the lowest point before dripping down, creating an angular shape reminiscent of icicles. However, unlike icicles, which take hours to form, stalactite formation is measured in hundreds or thousands of years.

Photo: NPS

Image Description: Several large white stalactites are hanging from a cave’s ceiling.#CarlsbadCaverns #FindYourPark #EncuentraTuParque #SpeleothemSaturday #YourParkStory

Grizzly bear in Yellowstone National Park, National Park Service

The post Feds consider delisting grizzly bears appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.