Western Priorities

While the national storyline coming out of the 2026 midterms is a broad Democratic wave, local elections across the Mountain West and Southwest showed that, for candidates of both parties, public lands were on the ballot.

From Wyoming to Montana to New Mexico to Arizona, Democrats and Republicans ran on their support for public lands, both in contested primaries and in general elections. Wyoming’s Republican governor-elect made opposing public land sales a signature of his campaign, beating a Trump-endorsed rival in the primary along the way. In Montana’s open, closely contested House seat, both the Republican and Democratic candidates made protecting public lands a central argument. In Arizona, a swing-district Republican congressman sponsored the bipartisan bill that created the nation’s newest national park, legislation that President Donald Trump signed into law two weeks before Election Day.

Meanwhile, public lands decisions over the last two years created a litmus test for candidates; For example, Utah Senator Mike Lee’s failed attempt to sell off millions of acres of public land in 2025 forced candidates at all levels to say whether they would support or oppose efforts to sell public lands. Public lands issues showed up in campaigns across the region, like Congress stripping protections to prevent mining near Minnesota’s Boundary Waters, deep cuts to the staff who manage national parks and forests and fight wildfires, and the first approval of an AI data center on national public land in Nevada.

This was a wave election, and no single issue decided it. But the pattern was consistent: in the West, candidates embraced pro-public lands positions, and rejected efforts to privatize or sell them to the highest bidder. Even in the context of other important issues like affordability, health care, and education, 85 percent of voters across Mountain West states see issues involving public lands, waters, and wildlife as a motivating factor in supporting an elected official.

The Center for Western Priorities will release its full Winning the West post-election analysis later this year. In the meantime, here are a few key takeaways:

Key races by state Wyoming

Governor — Eric Barlow (R)

Barlow won Tuesday with about 69 percent of the vote, after winning the August Republican primary over Superintendent Megan Degenfelder, who had President Trump’s endorsement. Barlow made public lands a signature campaign issue. When asked on the campaign trail about selling federal lands, forests, and parks, Barlow responded, “The wholesale, fire sale of public lands is BS. I’m just not there.” Leading into the Republican primary he sponsored the Wyoming Legislature’s 2026 “Wyoming public lands are not for sale” resolution.

Legislative primaries: In August, Wyoming’s Freedom Caucus lost its state House majority, and several state legislators who backed transferring federal lands to the state lost their seats, including former caucus chair Rep. John Bear and Sen. Bob Ide, who drafted a 2025 resolution demanding the federal government hand over the land it manages to the state of Wyoming.

Montana

1st District, U.S. House — Sam Forstag (D)

Democrat Sam Forstag beat Trump-endorsed Republican candidate Aaron Flint in the race to represent western Montana. Forstag, a former U.S. Forest Service smokejumper, said he got into the race because public lands faced a “full-scale assault.” He said Montanans should be able to hunt, hike, and fish on public lands “without worrying that they’re going to be sold out from underneath us.” He tied the threat of land sales to the Trump administration’s cuts to land management agencies, saying, “In Montana, we lost nearly a quarter of my co-workers in the Forest Service last year,” and arguing at a town hall that “another way to sell off our public lands is to gut the agency.”

Republican Aaron Flint, who had President Trump’s endorsement, campaigned on a pledge to keep “public lands in public hands” and repeated that promise twice in October debates. Reporters and Democrats pointed to his past comments supporting the transfer of federal lands to the states. Data centers also became part of the public lands debate, with Forstag running an ad on Instagram that said, “Aaron has taken hundreds of thousands of dollars from A.I.-funded SuperPACs.”

New Mexico

Governor — Deb Haaland (D)

Former Interior Secretary Deb Haaland became the first Native American woman elected governor of a U.S. state, after closing her campaign with a pledge to keep “standing up to the Trump administration’s attacks on our public lands.” She warned that repealing the 2001 Roadless Rule would open more than 1.5 million acres of New Mexico’s national forests to development. Her Republican opponent, Gregg Hull, argued that forest management decisions should be “driven by the people who live closest to the land.”

2nd District, U.S. House — Gabe Vasquez (D)

Vasquez won re-election by about 18 points in a bellwether swing district President Trump carried in 2024. He co-founded the bipartisan Public Lands Caucus in 2025 and ran a TV ad pledging, “I won’t let anyone from any party sell [public lands] off at any price.” His Republican challenger, Greg Cunningham, also told the Albuquerque Journal, “New Mexico’s public lands aren’t for sale.”

Land Commissioner — Juan de Jesus Sanchez III (D)

Sanchez, a rancher and former Army Corps natural resources specialist, won the open land commissioner race with about 60 percent of the vote. Sanchez made public lands the core of his campaign, saying “With what’s happening at the federal level with the current administration in Washington, D.C., public lands really seem to be under attack. I would love to be elected to this position so I can be a champion for our public lands here in New Mexico.” After receiving Sen. Martin Heinrich’s endorsement, Sanchez said, “we certainly agree that we cannot let Donald Trump and his allies sell off our public lands and resources to the highest bidder.” His Republican opponent, Michael Perry, also opposed land sales, saying in a radio debate, “We really need to keep public lands in public hands.”

Nevada

Governor — Aaron Ford (D)

Ford unseated Republican Governor Joe Lombardo in a race where data centers on public land became one of the defining fights. In June, the Bureau of Land Management approved the first AI data center on federal public land, an 88.5-acre project near Boulder City. Boulder City’s council voted unanimously to appeal the approval, and a judge’s ruling has since stalled construction. Amid growing public backlash against data centers, Lombardo signed an executive order in September to require data centers seeking tax abatements to sign a “community support commitment” intended to ensure that regular and emergency water and power costs are borne solely by the data centers and not by ratepayers. Ford pledged to oppose data centers on public lands, arguing that affordable housing should be the priority. Ford attacked Lombardo’s order, saying in a statement, “Lombardo’s executive order is not a reflection of what Nevada communities are asking for.” Nevada Representative Dina Titus also pressed Lombardo to halt state tax breaks for data centers on federal land.

Arizona

6th District, U.S. House — JoAnna Mendoza (D)

Mendoza unseated Republican Representative Juan Ciscomani in a race fought mostly over health care and costs. Ciscomani made public lands a central part of his re-election pitch. He sponsored the bipartisan Chiricahua National Park Act, which President Trump signed into law on October 20. The law made Chiricahua Arizona’s fourth national park and the nation’s 64th. Ciscomani called the new park “a defining moment for our state.” He also co-sponsored the bipartisan Public Lands Integrity Act, which would block sales of federal public lands through budget reconciliation. His closing TV ad highlighted “working to preserve public lands like Sabino Canyon and the Chiricahuas.” Mendoza called Ciscomani’s public lands bonafides into question, highlighting his votes to rescind public land protections through the Congressional Review Act.

Governor — Katie Hobbs (D) 

Hobbs won re-election over Republican Andy Biggs in a race in which water and the Colorado River were central issues. Hobbs’ ads declared, “Arizona’s water is for Arizonans.” Amid federal cuts to Arizona’s Colorado River supply, water became voters’ top concern for the first time in the five-year history of the Center for the Future of Arizona’s survey. While not the primary focus of her campaign, Hobbs has long been a supporter of public lands. She came out forcefully against Mike Lee’s attempt to sell off national public lands in 2025, posting to X: “I strongly oppose auctioning off Arizona’s public lands to the highest bidder. This land grab will prevent us and our children from experiencing the beauty of Arizona.” And, in February 2026, on the anniversary of Grand Canyon National Park, she posted: “I’m committed to protecting our public lands so future Arizonans can experience the beauty and history of the Grand Canyon.”

Featured image: South Boundary Trail, Grand Teton viewed from Big Game Ridge. Source: NPS / Jacob W. Frank.

The post Candidates from both parties ran on a pro-public lands message in the 2026 midterms appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

From Chaco Canyon to the Arctic Refuge, to landmarks in the nation’s capital, BAAJA would make the Trump administration’s drilling, mining, and development approvals nearly impossible to undo

DENVER – The Center for Western Priorities, in partnership with Earthworks, today released an interactive map and analysis of national public lands where the Senate’s permitting bill, the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act, would lock in the Trump administration’s attacks. The map shows that landscapes from Bears Ears to the Tongass to the Boundary Waters are at risk of permanent destruction by BAAJA.

The Center for Western Priorities released the following statement from Communications Director Kate Groetzinger:

“This bill would lock in the Trump administration’s attacks on our public lands. Every oil and gas well permitted around Chaco Canyon, every mine approved upstream of the Boundary Waters, and every mile of road bulldozed through Gates of the Arctic would be nearly impossible for a future president or court to undo. Congress can build a better grid without selling out our most vulnerable landscapes. But, as written, BAAJA hands our public lands over to Trump to permanently destroy.

“This bill represents a false choice between protecting public lands and fighting climate change. The incoming Congress can and should do better. If the Senate moves forward with this bill as written, it will be a slap in the face to voters across the country who just demanded a new direction in Washington.”

Places at risk that are highlighted on the map:

• New Mexico: BAAJA would lock in new oil and gas leases around Chaco Canyon, where the administration is moving to revoke a 336,000-acre buffer and prospectors have staked more than 100 uranium claims. It could also lock in uranium mines near Mount Taylor and in the Rio Chama watershed, as well as permits for the 522-mile Desert Southwest Pipeline across Otero Mesa.

• Utah: Prospectors have filed more than 110 mining claims since Trump cut Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments by roughly 90 percent. Any mining plans approved by this administration would be nearly impossible to revoke, even if the monuments are restored. BAAJA would also lock in Valar Atomics’ Project Beehive, which seeks to put 456 nuclear reactors and a data center on public land near Price, if it is approved before Trump leaves office.

• Arizona: Federal permits for Resolution Copper’s mine at Oak Flat, which models show would collapse into a crater roughly two miles wide, swallowing a sacred Apache site, would become nearly untouchable.

• Colorado: Any oil and gas leases sold on the Roan Plateau, where an upcoming lease sale includes more than 4,600 acres atop a plateau that holds elk calving grounds and native trout habitat, would be locked in by BAAJA.

• Nevada: The Townsite data center outside Boulder City, the first AI data center approved on public land before it was paused by a legal intervention, would be much harder to stop if BAAJA passes and BLM moves ahead with approving it again.

• Minnesota: Any leases the administration issues to Twin Metals to mine upstream of the Boundary Waters, America’s most visited wilderness, would be almost impossible to revoke.

• Alaska: Oil leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and around Teshekpuk Lake, the Ambler Road through Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve, and old-growth timber sales in the Tongass National Forest would all be allowed to proceed by BAAJA.

• Washington, DC: Judges could no longer halt projects like Trump’s plans for the Kennedy Center, the East Potomac Golf Course, and a triumphal arch on National Park Service land over flawed environmental or historic preservation reviews if BAAJA becomes law.

The map is not an exhaustive list. Almost all public land outside national parks and other permanently protected areas could be put at risk by the disastrous provisions included in the bill.

Background:

The bill’s sponsors are selling it as a fix for America’s aging transmission system. But Section 1401 bars federal agencies from revoking, suspending, or changing any permit in effect on or after September 16, 2026, including those issued by the Trump administration, unless they can prove one of five narrow exceptions by “clear and convincing evidence.” That gives the Trump administration and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum just over two years to lock in drilling, mining, and other development on America’s public lands.

The bill would also tie the hands of courts. Under Section 1110 of the bill, a judge who finds an agency skipped or botched an environmental review could not cancel the permit or stop the project, only order the agency to redo the review while work continues. And under Section 1402, if a future administration slowed or paused permits for a category of projects, such as oil and gas drilling, compared with the previous five years, developers could sue and collect 50 to 100 percent of their expected construction costs from taxpayers. For a president taking office in 2029, that baseline would be the Trump years.

BAAJA would also stack environmental reviews in developers’ favor. Section 1106 would require agencies to toss out any alternative that doesn’t meet the developer’s own goals, such as a smaller mine or a different pipeline route, and would excuse them from considering science published after a review began. Section 2215 would make it easier for mining companies to dump waste rock and tailings on public land outside their claims. Section 2301 would rewrite the National Historic Preservation Act so agencies consult Tribes only after reaching their own conclusions about which cultural sites matter, as well as set short deadlines for Tribal Historic Preservation offices to weigh in on projects, and take away their power if they miss deadlines.

The climate math on the bill also leaves out public lands. Rhodium Group’s modeling, which finds BAAJA would cut emissions modestly, “does not include an attempt to reflect the permit certainty provisions of the bill.” Analyses by Resources for the Future and for the Solar Energy Industries Association model only the power sector. None of these analyses count the emissions from the drilling, mining, and gas-powered data centers the bill would lock in on public lands.

The full map and analysis are available here.

Learn more:

• The Senate permitting bill would lock in data centers and nuclear waste on public lands. It only gets worse from there – Westwise

• Permitting Bill Text Would Strip Our Most Basic Federal Protections – Earthworks

• Is the Trump administration illegally authorizing data centers on public land? – Westwise

• TWS Opposes S. 5653 over six threats to public lands – The Wilderness Society

• The Conservation Lands Foundation Opposes Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act – Conservation Lands Foundation

• Hard Questions About the Permitting Bill – NRDC

• Enviro lawyers say the permitting bill could aid Trump’s DC renovations – Politico

• How the Permitting Bill Threatens our Historic and Cultural Sites – Earthjustice

• Over 100 Groups Oppose Sweeping Attacks on Public Lands in Permitting Bill – Center for Biological Diversity

 

Feature image: Greater Chaco Region, Fajada Butte, NPS

The post New map: Senate permitting bill would lock in Trump’s assault on public lands appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

A new interactive map from the Center for Western Priorities and Earthworks shows the national public lands where the Senate’s permitting bill, the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act (BAAJA), would lock in the Trump administration’s drilling, mining, and development decisions.

The map highlights places at risk in seven states and Washington, D.C. In New Mexico, BAAJA would lock in new oil and gas leases around Chaco Canyon, where the administration is moving to revoke a 336,000-acre buffer protecting culturally significant land. In Utah, any new mining plans approved around Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments would be nearly impossible to revoke, even if the monuments are restored. And in Arizona, permits for Resolution Copper’s mine at Oak Flat, a sacred Apache site that models show would collapse into a crater roughly two miles wide, would become nearly untouchable.

The map isn’t exhaustive. Almost all public land outside national parks and other permanently protected areas could be at risk under Section 1401 of the bill, which bars federal agencies from revoking, suspending, or changing any permit in effect on or after September 16, 2026, unless they prove one of five narrow exceptions by “clear and convincing evidence.”

“This bill represents a false choice between protecting public lands and fighting climate change,” said Center for Western Priorities Communications Director Kate Groetzinger. “If the Senate moves forward with this bill as written, it will be a slap in the face to voters across the country who just demanded a new direction in Washington.”

Quick hits Trump’s midterm collapse is good news for public lands

Public Domain

Utah Sen. Mike Lee wasn’t on the ballot but he’s losing an influential seat

Salt Lake Tribune

What does the blue wave mean for permitting reform?

Heatmap

From trail access to hunting rights, here’s how America voted on public lands

Outside

Trump touted his Reflecting Pool success. But new problems are visible

Washington Post | The Independent

Democrats eye inquiries into Trump actions on energy, public land

New York Times

Column: A very expensive night for Big Oil

HEATED

Editorial: Senators should say no to permitting deal with the devil

Durango Herald

Quote of the day

Once again, voters are demonstrating that protecting the places we love is a priority that transcends partisanship.”

—Will Abberger, vice president and director of conservation finance at Trust for Public Land

Picture This @usfws

Did you know there are two species of desert tortoises in the United States?

The Mojave Desert tortoise lives north and west of the Colorado River, including California, Nevada, Arizona and Utah, while the Sonoran Desert tortoise is found south and east of the river in Arizona.

Sonoran tortoises are typically more active during summer monsoons and often shelter among rocky hillsides, while Mojave Desert tortoises are more commonly found in desert valleys and washes.

Both play an important role in keeping desert ecosystems healthy. #deserttortoiseweek

Photo of a juvenile Sonoran Desert tortoise by USFWS

 

(Featured image: Chetro Ketl great kiva, Chaco Culture National Historical Park. Photo: National Park Service)

The post These places are at risk under the Senate permitting bill appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

From Chaco Canyon to the Arctic, BAAJA would make the Trump administration’s drilling, mining, and logging approvals nearly impossible to undo

The Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act is moving toward a vote in the Senate. Its sponsors are selling it as a fix for America’s antiquated electricity transmission system, and provisions in the bill would help build out the grid. But the bill, as currently written, also contains a number of dangerous provisions that would lock in the Trump administration’s attacks on our most vulnerable public lands.

What’s most at risk?

In New Mexico, the bill would lock in new oil and gas leases around Chaco Canyon. It could also lock in uranium mining plans around Chaco, Mount Taylor, and in the Chama watershed. It would lock in permits for the 522-mile Desert Southwest Pipeline, which would carve through Otero Mesa, a desert grassland home to more than 1,000 native species and thousands of archaeological sites.

In Utah, prospectors have filed more than 110 mining claims since Trump cut Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments by roughly 90 percent, and BAAJA could lock in any mining plans approved by the Trump administration inside the land Trump excised from the monuments. Valar Atomics’ Project Beehive would put 456 nuclear reactors and waste repositories on public land in central Utah, and BAAJA would lock those in if they’re approved before Trump leaves office.

In Arizona, any federal permits issued to Resolution Copper’s mine at Oak Flat would become nearly untouchable.

In Nevada, the bill could shield the Townsite data center outside Boulder City, the first AI data center approved on public land, if the Trump administration approves it.

In Colorado, it would lock in any oil and gas leases the administration sells on the Roan Plateau, where an upcoming lease sale includes over 4,600 acres atop a plateau that holds elk calving grounds and native trout habitat.

In Minnesota, the bill would shield any leases the administration issued to Twin Metals to mine upstream of the Boundary Waters, threatening the country’s most-visited wilderness area.

In Alaska, BAAJA would lock in oil leases on the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and around Teshekpuk Lake in the Western Arctic, as well as the Ambler Road, which the Trump administration approved and which would run through Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve. Finally, it would lock in any old-growth timber sales held by the Trump administration in Alaska’s Tongass National Forest once the administration’s Roadless Rule repeal is complete.

Our interactive map pinpoints these landscapes and explains exactly how they are threatened by BAAJA’s anti-public land provisions. This is not an exhaustive list. Almost all public land that lies outside of national parks or other permanently protected areas could be put at risk by BAAJA.

Dangerous provisions

Section 1401 of the bill bars federal agencies from revoking, suspending, or changing any permit in effect on or after September 16, 2026. The bill allows only five exceptions: a court order, fraud, the permit holder’s violation of the law or the permit’s terms, a request from the permit holder, or an urgent threat of harm based on new information. An agency that wanted to reverse an approval on public lands would have to prove that one of these applies by “clear and convincing evidence.” That’s a much higher bar than agencies currently face when trying to unwind the harmful actions of a previous administration.

Under Section 1401, if a project developer sued and the agency couldn’t meet that bar, a court would have to restore the previously approved permit and order the government to pay the developer 25 to 50 percent of what it had already spent on the project, from surveys and engineering to equipment and construction. UC Berkeley law professor Eric Biber calls this provision “a stealth repeal of a wide swath of federal regulatory law.” The Wilderness Society calls it “the final nail in the coffin for threatened landscapes.” Essentially, Section 1401 gives the Trump administration a generous runway of just over two years to lock in drilling, mining, and other development on public lands.

The environmental reviews that agencies do before issuing permits would be stacked in developers’ favor, too. Under Section 1106, an agency would have to toss out any alternative that doesn’t meet the developer’s own goals, so options like a smaller mine or a different pipeline route might never be studied. Agencies also wouldn’t have to consider any new science published after a review began, and they couldn’t delay a decision to wait for updated scientific analysis. The public would get a comment window of 45 to 60 days, which could be extended only if the developer agreed. If agencies disagreed over a project, the developer could take the dispute to the White House Council on Environmental Quality, whose decision would be final, could not be challenged in court, and could count as satisfying consultation requirements under other laws. And once a final review was done, agencies would have just 45 days to sign off on it.

The courts also wouldn’t be much help if BAAJA passes. Under Section 1110, a judge who finds that a federal land management agency skipped or botched an environmental review for a project on public land could not cancel the permit or stop the project from moving forward. The judge could only order the agency to redo the review, while drilling, mining, or logging continued. And even if the finished review revealed serious harm, Section 1401 would bar the agency from revoking or changing the permit. Former Council on Environmental Quality general counsel Justin Pidot says this reduces a court order to redo an environmental review to “essentially an empty paperwork exercise.”

Section 1402 makes it much harder for a future president to pause approvals for activities like drilling, data center construction, or coal mining on public lands. It says that if an administration slowed permits for a category of projects—like oil and gas drilling proposals—compared with the previous five years, developers could sue and collect 50 to 100 percent of their expected construction costs from taxpayers. For a president taking office in 2029, that baseline would be the Trump years.

Section 2215 would make it much easier for mining companies to dump waste rock and build roads on public land outside their claims. In 2022, a federal appeals court blocked Arizona’s Rosemont copper mine from dumping waste rock and tailings on over 2,000 acres of national forest land, ruling that the company’s claims there were invalid because no valuable minerals had been found on them. BAAJA would effectively reverse that ruling, letting companies occupy public land for waste whenever it is “reasonably necessary” to their operations, which Earthworks’ Aaron Mintzes says would give miners “a nearly unlimited amount of public lands for their waste dumps.”

Section 2301 would rewrite the National Historic Preservation Act, taking power away from Tribes. Under BAAJA, agencies could map out the area a project affects without consulting Tribes at all, and a Tribe would have just 30 days to object to an agency’s findings. If a Tribal preservation office missed a review deadline, the Interior Department could take over its work, which Tribal organizations call “deeply paternalistic.” Nine national and regional Tribal organizations, including the National Congress of American Indians, the Native American Rights Fund, and the National Association of Tribal Historic Preservation Officers, have registered their “strong opposition” to the bill as written.

Explore the interactive map

Data center threat

The bill could also help protect the data centers the Trump administration wants to build on public land. The Bureau of Land Management has received applications for at least 16 more data center proposals, yet it has not formally weighed whether data centers are a legal use of public land nor where they should be allowed to be built, if so. The administration sought to make an end run around federal law in approving its first data center on public land, an 80-acre data center near Boulder City, Nevada, by simply swapping out a solar farm’s right-of-way application for a data center without collecting public comment or conducting a new environmental review. An Interior department judge froze that project in September, and BLM has since asked the judge to set aside its approval. Under BAAJA, approvals like that would be much harder to unwind. Because Section 1401 doesn’t define “project,” a data center right-of-way could be locked in the day it is approved. And if a future administration put a pause on data center approvals in order to study their impacts, developers could collect up to 100 percent of their expected construction costs from taxpayers under Section 1402 of the bill.

Locking in Trump’s DC makeover

BAAJA’s reach extends beyond the West. In Washington, DC, President Trump is renovating landmarks on public land. The National Park Service, which manages much of the capital’s public land, is carrying out many of these plans. At East Potomac Park, crews cut down at least 400 trees on the historic public golf course over a holiday weekend as Trump pushes to turn it into a venue for major championships. On Park Service land near Arlington National Cemetery, Trump plans to build a triumphal arch. And at the Kennedy Center, a federally owned memorial to President John F. Kennedy also located on public land, Trump is planning a massive renovation that he says could strip the building down to its steel frame.

Opponents are fighting each project in court, largely under the National Environmental Policy Act and the National Historic Preservation Act. In October, U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes halted the golf course work after finding that officials had rushed the tree-cutting plan to meet Trump’s demands for speed, then extended that order into a preliminary injunction. The District of Columbia and Virginia have sued to block the arch. Historic preservation groups have sued over the Kennedy Center project as well.

BAAJA could make it much harder to stop these projects. Under Sections 1110 and 2301 of the bill, a judge who found that the Park Service had skipped or botched an environmental or historic preservation review could not halt the project. The judge could only send the decision back for more study while chainsaws, bulldozers, and demolition crews kept working. By the time the agency finished its new review, the damage would be underway, and the Park Service could simply issue a new decision allowing the work to continue.

Explore the interactive map

What BAAJA would bar

Looking back, Colorado’s Thompson Divide shows what’s at stake if BAAJA passes as written. The 220,000-acre stretch of the White River National Forest draws more than 10,000 big game hunters a year and shelters native cutthroat trout. Beginning in the 1990s, the federal government sold oil and gas leases there that ranchers, hunters, and local governments fought for more than a decade. After a review found the leases had been improperly issued, the Obama administration canceled 25 of them, covering 33,000 acres. The main leaseholder, SG Interests, sued, and in 2018, the government settled for $1.5 million, ending the challenge and leaving the leases void.

Under BAAJA, that would not have been possible. Section 1401 would have barred the Interior department from canceling the leases unless a court ordered it, and Sections 1110 and 2301 bar courts from ordering the government to cancel a lease over a flawed environmental review. Even if the Interior department could have found a way to cancel the leases, the leaseholder could have sought 25 to 50 percent of the costs it had spent on them, instead of a negotiated amount.

Every leasing decision the Trump administration rushes through around Chaco, in the Arctic, or on the Roan Plateau could be just as flawed as the now-cancelled Thompson Divide leases. If BAAJA becomes law, a future administration that wants to overturn them would be essentially powerless to do so without a court order.

A false choice

As it’s currently written, BAAJA presents a false choice between lowering carbon emissions and protecting our most vulnerable public lands and cultural landmarks. Handing even more power to destroy our public lands to the Trump administration is clearly not worth the modest reduction analysts estimate BAAJA might have on climate-warming emissions.

It’s also worth noting that the climate math behind these analyses leaves public lands out. Rhodium Group’s modeling, which projects relatively modest emissions cuts, “does not include an attempt to reflect the permit certainty provisions of the bill.” Analyses by Resources for the Future and for the Solar Energy Industries Association model only the power sector. None counts the emissions from the drilling, mining, and gas-powered data centers the bill would lock in on public lands.

Right now, BAAJA contains a lopsided deal that would unnecessarily lock in decades of oil and gas infrastructure and allow corporations to pillage our public lands for their own profit. The incoming Congress will have significantly more leverage to pass a bill that speeds the grid buildout and unlocks stalled wind and solar projects, without sacrificing America’s public lands.

The post Map: The Senate permitting bill would lock in Trump’s assault on public lands appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

With Democrats in control of the House, U.S. RepresentativeJared Huffman of California is in line to chair the House Natural Resources Committee, which oversees virtually all federally managed land. Leading the committee has been his goal since he arrived in Congress in 2013, he told TIME in September.

Huffman has served on the committee throughout his congressional career, including two terms as chair of the Water, Oceans, and Wildlife Subcommittee. As ranking member, he co-introduced the bipartisan Great American Outdoors Act 250 to extend maintenance funding for national parks, and backed a spending bill that rejected the administration’s proposed $1.2 billion cut to the National Park Service.

As chair, Huffman has said the committee would investigate President Donald Trump and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum’s spending on vanity projects, including the White House ballroom and a planned 250-foot triumphal arch. He has also questioned why National Park Service money and staff were being concentrated in Washington D.C. while staff and services were cut across the rest of the park system: “This is real money that is being misprioritized.”

Huffman also plans to seek communications behind a proposed land swap that would give a private developer a parcel of Yosemite National Park for an access road. Responding to reports in September that the administration is considering more data centers on public lands, Huffman said, “These lands belong to the American people.”

Deb Haaland becomes first Native American female governor

Deb Haaland made history in New Mexico on Tuesday night as she was elected the nation’s first Native American female governor. Haaland served as U.S. secretary of the Interior under President Joe Biden, where she developed a track record of championing historic public lands protections and strengthening Tribal co-stewardship.

Quick hits Enviro lawyers say the permitting bill could aid Trump’s DC renovations

POLITICO

Deb Haaland makes history as first US Native American female governor

The Hill | Native News Online | Las Cruces Sun-News | Source New Mexico

A Tribe returns, joyful, to 51 acres in California’s San Gabriel foothills

Los Angeles Times

Colorado losing ground in fight to clean up record number of “orphaned” oil and gas wells

Colorado Sun

Trump cuts have left Tribes without millions of dollars for clean energy

Canary Media

Glacier projects shelved on National Park Service ‘low priority’ list

Flathead Beacon

Feds initiate 15-day review of Colorado’s wolf management authority, following Trump executive order

Aspen Times

Opinion: Is Yellowstone National Park (back) in its wild west era?

Outside

Quote of the day

This work represents more than land conservation. It represents our history, our identity, our connection, our ancestors and our responsibility to the future generations.”

—Rosalinda Ortega, a Tribal citizen of the Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians, Los Angeles Times

Picture This @nationalparkservice

It’s leaf-peeping season. The trees have made an effort, so the least we can do is go outside and stare at them.

Leaf peeping is the ancient human tradition of traveling long distances to look at leaves, take photographs, and stand in the middle of roads while saying, “Oh, wow, look at that one.”

Nobody knows exactly when this became a major event, but the trees seem okay with the arrangement. So get out there and see what all the rustle is about.

NPS photos

 

(Featured image: U.S. Representative Jared Huffman in a September post on X.)

The post Jared Huffman poised to chair House Natural Resources committee appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

It’s Election Day, and public lands have played a major role in candidates’ campaigns over the last several months.

Last year’s failed attempt by Utah Senator Mike Lee to sell off as many as 3.2 million acres of public land has shaped the platforms of candidates in both parties. In Colorado, U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper’s first broadcast ad says he helped defeat the sell-off attempt. In Wyoming, gubernatorial nominee Eric Barlow has promised to “safeguard our public lands.”

In Montana’s First Congressional District, ads for both candidates have focused on protecting public lands. Republican Aaron Flint has pledged to “keep public lands in public hands,” and Democrat Sam Forstag, a former U.S. Forest Service smokejumper, has said Montanans should be able to hunt, hike, and fish on public lands “without worrying that they’re going to be sold out from underneath us.”

This year, the Bureau of Land Management approved the first data center on federal public land—an 88.5-acre project in Nevada that has become a dominant issue in the governor’s race. Both candidates say data centers must follow state rules, including covering their own energy costs and protecting water supplies.

In Arizona, the federal government cut the state’s Colorado River supply by 27 percent. Water then became voters’ top concern for the first time in the Center for the Future of Arizona survey’s five-year history. Governor Katie Hobbs’s ads declare “Arizona’s water is for Arizonans,” and challenger Andy Biggs has said the state must fight for every drop it’s entitled to.

Eighty-five percent of Mountain West voters say issues involving public lands, water, and wildlife are important in deciding whether to support a candidate, according to Colorado College’s 2026 Conservation in the West poll.

Quick hits Trump’s arch faces new legal challenge from Virginia and D.C.

New York Times | Associated Press

‘We will be digging’: Lawmakers firm up plans to investigate Interior under Burgum

Politico Pro

Judge complicates construction timeline on Trump’s memorial arch project with multiple deadlines

Associated Press

Native American remains unearthed during Trump’s border wall construction

ProPublica

Arizona public land use in jeopardy, groups say. Here’s why

Arizona Republic

Trump administration is buoying nearly half of all U.S. coal plants

Washington Sun

What it takes to unfence the West

High Country News

Ryan GosWING wins BLM’s Bat Beauty Contest for the 4th time

The Oregonian

Quote of the day

With overwhelming support, Americans across the country have spent decades protecting our country’s most iconic landscapes like the Arctic, the Boundary Waters and Bears Ears National Monument. This bill puts those places—and millions of acres of other public lands—on a one-way path to industrial development, from oil and gas to data centers.”

—Tracy Stone-Manning, president of The Wilderness Society

Picture This @usinterior

Sand dunes and fall foliage? Name a better duo.

Golden aspens and towering sand dunes come together at @greatsanddunesnps in Colorado, to create one of the most spectacular autumn landscapes.

Home to the tallest sand dunes in North America, this incredible park is a one of a kind.

Photos by NPS

 

(Featured image: The Colorado River at Horseshoe Bend, Arizona. Photo by Charles Wang, Wikipedia)

The post Candidates across party lines are running on protecting public lands appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

A cabin the U.S. Forest Service ordered removed from Idaho’s Sawtooth National Recreation Area in 2024 is still standing, and the man whose company was told to take it down, Michael Boren, now oversees the agency as U.S. Department of Agriculture undersecretary for natural resources and environment, according to High Country News and Public Domain.

In November 2024, the Forest Service sent a cease-and-desist letter to Galena Mines LLC, then managed by Boren, after finding the cabin had been built nearly a mile north of the company’s mining claims. The letter ordered the cabin removed by July 1, 2025.

Since Boren’s arrival at USDA, the Forest Service has shown no sign of enforcing its order. A USDA spokesperson described the structure as a warming hut built by backcountry skiers “for public use as needed.” When asked about a video posted by American Hunters and Anglers showing the cabin’s door boarded over, the spokesperson said the hut “could be used in the event of a winter emergency.”

The cabin isn’t Boren’s first clash with the Forest Service. He built a 2,500-foot airstrip on his Hell Roaring Ranch inside the national recreation area, and described the work to the Army Corps of Engineers as “pasture improvement to eliminate gopher holes and weeds.” The Forest Service warned him in 2021 against further development, and Boren sued critics of the airstrip for defamation.

Boren’s 2025 ethics agreement and financial disclosure did not list Galena Mines. USDA said his family has had no ownership stake since May 2024, but Idaho business records list Boren as the company’s manager until February 2025, and Forest Service officials discussed the cabin directly with him in November 2024.

Judge orders inquiry into potential DOJ misconduct in D.C. golf course case

District Judge Ana Reyes has ordered an inquiry into potential misconduct by Trump administration officials over President Donald Trump’s plans to redevelop the East Potomac Golf Links in Washington, D.C. The move comes after she learned that the government has been working for weeks to submit the redesign plan to the National Capital Planning Commission, a detail the DOJ lawyers failed to disclose in recent hearings.

Earlier in October, the U.S. Department of the Interior cleared more than 400 trees from the golf course, which the agency described as part of a routine “tree maintenance plan.” Judge Reyes quickly intervened and ordered a halt to the cutting.

Quick hits Powerful House lawmaker raises Tribal concerns with permitting bill

Politico Pro

Judge orders an inquiry into potential DOJ misconduct in Trump’s golf course case

NPR | New York Times | The Hill

Opinion: Oil and gas leases on public lands

Las Vegas Review-Journal

Forest Service finalizes transfer of management of Maroon Bells

Aspen Daily News

San Juan River now forecast to rise 4 feet higher than 1911 historic flood in Pagosa Springs

Colorado Sun | Salt Lake Tribune

International tourists stayed away this summer, and Utah’s Mighty 5 felt it

KUER

Osage Nation speeds up orphan well cleanup as federal oversight recedes

Grist

Developer plans $113M housing project on former BLM land near Las Vegas

Las Vegas Review-Journal

Quote of the day

Our public lands should be managed for their many values, not endlessly kept available for oil and gas leasing until the deal finally becomes discounted enough for a speculator to take advantage of.”

—Angelyn Tabalaba, deputy director for the Nevada Conservation League, Las Vegas Review-Journal

Picture This @usinterior

St. Croix National Scenic Riverway winds through more than 200 miles of Minnesota and Wisconsin, offering some of the most scenic and least developed landscapes in the Upper Midwest.

Paddle beneath wooded bluffs, camp amid the Northwoods or cast a line surrounded by fall color. Along the way, watch for bald eagles and other wildlife that call the riverway home.

Photo by Craig Blacklock

 

(Featured image: Sawtooth National Forest near Stanley, Idaho. Katja Schulz, Flickr)

The post Trump appointee has illegal cabin in Idaho national forest appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

Senators Ron Wyden, Jeff Merkley, and Alex Padilla are demanding that Interior Secretary Doug Burgum stop attempting to put data centers on public lands, citing a lack of transparency around his meetings with data center developers and investors. Burgum met with dozens of technology and energy executives last year, including Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, according to the Washington Sun, which reviewed his calendar. “The timing of these meetings taking place concurrently with the administration’s efforts to pursue data center development on public lands raises serious questions about your involvement in these deals,” the senators wrote in a letter to Burgum this week.

The senators also warned about data centers’ water use, which could worsen drought across the West. “Effectively privatizing public lands owned by American taxpayers sends a clear message that the Trump administration continues to prioritize the profits of tech CEOs and shareholders over the American people that rely on public lands for hunting, fishing, recreation, and livestock grazing,” the letter states. The only data center BLM has approved so far, near Boulder City, Nevada, is on hold pending more environmental review.

In a second letter, Senator Wyden asked about the deal Burgum helped broker in March for Venezuela’s state-owned mining company to sell gold to commodities trader Trafigura. “Recent reports indicate that you played a pivotal role in brokering the sale of this gold, which is reportedly tainted by human rights abuses and environmental degradation,” wrote Wyden. Much of that gold has sat in storage because U.S. refiners have refused to process it.

In September, members of the House Natural Resources Committee requested Burgum’s official calendar and any lists of public lands his department had flagged as priorities for data center development. The Interior department declined to comment on this week’s letters, saying it does not comment on congressional correspondence through the media.

Quick hits Analysis finds elevated arsenic at uranium mine near Havasupai Tribe’s only water source

Native News Online | Inside Climate News | KNAU | Grand Canyon Trust

Trump administration moves to roll back Biden-era methane rules for oil and gas companies

KANW | NPR | Politico | CNBC

Permitting reform would de-fang bedrock environmental laws

The Landline/High Country News

Shell and Total post highest quarterly profit since 2022

Reuters

Who is responsible for Yellowstone’s water quality? After whiplash between Biden and Trump, EPA says Wyoming

WyoFile

Lawmakers target Burgum’s gold deals, data center push

Politico | Washington Sun

California lawmakers demand Interior department reverse pay cut for Yosemite park staff

Sierra Sun Times

A top Trump appointee was ordered to remove an unauthorized cabin from public land. Two years later, it’s still there

High Country News/Public Domain

Quote of the day

Havasupai Creek is not just a beautiful place on a map. It is the lifeblood of our homeland… If Havasu Creek is contaminated, there is no backup water system waiting for us. There is no second river we can turn to. We are asking that elevated arsenic be investigated, not normalized.”

—Melinda Yaiva, Chairwoman of the Havasupai Tribe, Native News Online

Picture This @carlsbadcavernsnps

Have you even flown through a cave in the dark to get your dinner?

The lowest known point of Carlsbad Cavern is called Lake of the Clouds at 1037 feet. This area is much warmer than the 56°F visitors encounter in the Big Room. These warm temperatures were chosen by the Cave Myotis (Myotis velifer) and sometimes the Fringed Myotis (Myotis thysanodes) as a maternity roost and bachelor pads. The bats take an arduous flight in order to get out in the evenings to eat insects. They travel past the lunchroom all the way up the main corridor and out into the evening.

Each year the Resources Department sets up an audio recorder that catches the different calls the bats make as they leave their roost sites. Echolocation call characteristics and identifying software are used to determine the bat species recorded. This information is helpful to researchers to determine what type of bats are currently roosting in this area of the cave and if there has been a change in residency. Cave myotis typically call in the 40 Kilohertz range and Fringed myotis make calls in the 20 Kilohertz range.

#carlsbadcavernsnationalpark#batweek#bats

Featured photo: Google Data Center in The Dalles, Oregon. Tony Webster/Wikimedia Commons

The post Lawmakers demand Burgum halt data center push on public lands appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

The Trump administration is attempting to authorize data centers on public lands before anyone has determined whether federal law allows it. In a new Westwise blog post, CWP Communications Director Kate Groetzinger explains that data centers aren’t on the list of uses the Federal Land Policy and Management Act authorizes through rights-of-way, so BLM would have to rely on a catch-all provision in the law for facilities “in the public interest.”

BLM’s first approval, near Boulder City, Nevada, reused a 2023 solar right-of-way with no new environmental review or public comment period. In September, an Interior department administrative judge froze the project, finding that BLM “acted arbitrarily or capriciously when it determined that the data center project is ‘substantially the same’ as the solar plant project for purposes of its NEPA analysis.” Groetzinger argues that the Interior department should pause approvals until a public review settles whether data centers belong on public lands at all.

BLM spent years on programmatic planning for wind and solar before approving projects at scale. Data centers have undergone no such review process and have not received congressional authorization, yet BLM is currently considering authorizing a data center in Idaho. CWP has identified at least 17 active data center proposals on BLM land across six Western states.

Trump hasn’t been advancing new wind farms during permitting talks

As lawmakers negotiate a permitting deal, the White House has promoted its progress in clearing a backlog of wind projects stalled in airspace reviews. Every project advanced so far is a repowering of an existing wind farm, and two were single turbines, Heatmap reported. Politico reported in September that the administration committed to approving about 30 projects awaiting a Pentagon countersignature. In an October 20 court filing, wind trade groups said none of those 30 had cleared Pentagon review. “To date, the administration has moved forward only a handful of the total number of projects they agreed to approve,” said Frank Macchiarola, American Clean Power’s chief advocacy officer. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse has warned that attacks on wind projects could undermine a final deal.

Quick hits Opinion: Grand County’s future depends on keeping public lands public

Moab Times-Independent

How much are Trump’s pro-coal policies costing us?

Canary Media

What will BAAJA do? Whatever the Trump administration wants

Earthjustice

New Mexico students walk out of classes to protest data centers, permitting bill

Source NM

North Dakota’s federal oil and gas leasing, and what it has cost taxpayers

Taxpayers for Common Sense

Editorial: Hands off public lands

Grand Junction Daily Sentinel

Big Bend is going to the Supreme Court

National Park History

Hegseth says Trump’s arch will be ‘generational national defense opportunity’

Washington Post | Politico

Quote of the day

You, the adults, the ones supposed to be fighting for us, you may get the privilege of dying of old age, but our children will die from climate change.”

—Isabelle Taylor-Ault, high school student at New Mexico School for the Arts, Source NM

Picture This @whitesandsnps

They say “take only pictures, leave only footprints” – and, boy, do we have a lot of footprints!

Eventually though, all are wiped away by the wind and the dunes start fresh. The renewal of the dunes is one of the most magical things about White Sands National Park. That does mean though, that you should never rely solely on your tracks to get you back to your vehicle! Footprints can get wiped away in a matter of minutes on a windy day, and you’re going to want a man-made object in sight to navigate yourself.

For more information on how to hike smart, please visit our website: https://www.nps.gov/whsa/planyourvisit/safety.htm

Photo credit: NPS

 

Featured photo:The Utah Data Center at Camp Williams in Bluffdale, Utah. Source: ParkerHiggins (Electronic Frontier Foundation)

The post Is the Trump administration illegally authorizing data centers on public land? appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

Former Biden climate adviser John Podesta says the Senate’s bipartisan permitting bill would let President Donald Trump approve projects on public lands that courts could not reverse, even if the approvals break the law. Podesta made the remarks Friday at a University of Colorado Boulder symposium, according to a recording obtained by Heatmap. He applauded the parts of the bill that would allow new long-distance transmission construction, but criticized the bill’s reforms to fossil fuel permitting and federal land development.

The bill would bar agencies from altering federal permits issued after September 2026 and from denying or delaying permits in a way that shows a “pattern of disparate treatment” against specific projects. Podesta said this would mean the Trump administration could permit development, even illegally, in places including near Chaco Culture National Historical Park in New Mexico, the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in Minnesota, and Bears Ears National Monument in Utah. Podesta said lawmakers should pass the bill in the lame-duck session only if they fix those provisions.

“I think they have handed Trump not just a loaded gun, but they’ve handed him a loaded Howitzer to go after public lands, to permit stuff that even if it’s illegal can’t be reversed by the courts,” said Podesta. “They’re going to have a permit gorge like you’ve never seen, not really caring about whether they’re going through the legal steps to do it, and under this bill, those can’t be reversed.”

Trump moves to loosen methane rules for the leakiest oil and gas wells

President Trump on Tuesday unveiled a proposal to weaken federal methane rules for oil and gas operations, including wells on public lands. The rule would set looser standards for low-producing “marginal” wells, which produce about seven percent of the nation’s oil and gas but roughly half its methane emissions, and would repeal the Super Emitter Program, which requires companies to respond to credible reports of major leaks.

“The Trump administration is giving oil companies a free pass to spew methane across the country, and the Senate permitting bill would make that pass permanent,” said Aaron Weiss, executive director of the Center for Western Priorities.

Quick hits Trump’s arch would cast a shadow over Arlington Cemetery

Washington Post

Trump loosens rules for oil firms on methane

New York Times | Bloomberg | The Hill | The Verge | Politico | Washington Post | Center for Western Priorities [press release]

A missing Wabanaki marker in Maine and the fight over what stories national parks should tell

Associated Press

Burgum signs order to expand grazing on public lands

Bloomberg Law | WIBW | KFYR | Western Watersheds Project

Opinion: Instead of asking what we can take from our public lands, we should first ask what we owe them

Ground Shift

The quiet collapse of America’s wildlife refuges

RE:PUBLIC/MeatEater

Conservationists sound the alarm on Trump’s Endangered Species Act changes

Harvest Public Media

The creepiest ghost stories from America’s national parks

Outside

Quote of the day

What if we began with reverence? Essentially, what is our righteous relationship to land? I’m not talking about worship, sentimentality, total exclusion, or leaving every piece of landscape untouched. I mean that some things in this world have value beyond what we take from them, and we can honor that without taking sides.”

—Jim Enote, Zuni Tribal member, CEO of the Colorado Plateau Foundation, and Board Chair for the Grand Canyon Trust, Ground Shift

Picture This @grandcanyonnps

Hikers can once again explore several inner-canyon trails. These trails have reopened following repairs after trail damage caused by recent flooding.

The South Kaibab Trail below The Tipoff and the entire River Trail, connecting the South Kaibab to the Bright Angel Trail, has reopened to hikers. The Bright Angel Trail between Mile-and-a-Half Resthouse and Havasupai Gardens has reopened to hikers only. This section will remain closed to stock use as crews continue to repair additional trail damage.

Emergency response times may be delayed in the inner canyon, and rescue is not guaranteed. Hikers should assess their abilities, prepare for changing conditions and understand the risks before beginning their trip.

go.nps.gov/gc-hkm

NPS Photo – South Kaibab Trail below Cedar Ridge.

 

 

Featured photo: Blythe Solar Project, California. BLM

The post Podesta says permitting bill would shield illegal approvals on public lands appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

Weaker rules for new wells would lock in years of increased methane pollution if Senate permitting bill passes

DENVER—President Donald Trump will roll out plans today to weaken the Environmental Protection Agency’s 2024 methane standards for oil and gas operations, according to reporting in The Hill and Bloomberg. The proposal would scrap the Super Emitter Program, which requires operators to investigate and fix leaks of 100 kilograms of methane per hour or more once satellites or certified third parties flag them. It would also create separate, looser standards for low-producing “marginal” wells and revisit the phaseout of routine flaring at new oil wells. The changes would apply to oil and gas wells nationwide, including those on public lands.

Marginal wells produce roughly 7 percent of U.S. oil and gas but account for about half of the industry’s methane from oil and gas production, and nearly 80 percent of oil and gas wells in the U.S. qualify as marginal. The 2024 rule Trump is proposing to weaken was projected to keep 58 million tons of methane out of the atmosphere through 2038, the climate equivalent of taking 28 million gas-powered cars off the road.

The methane giveaway comes as the Senate plans to take up the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act the week after the election. The sweeping permitting bill would make Trump-era approvals on public lands nearly impossible to revisit. Section 1401 of the bill bars agencies from taking any new action that would “revoke, rescind, withdraw, terminate, suspend, amend, or alter” a federal permit in effect on or after September 16, 2026. Agencies could do so only by proving an exception with “clear and convincing evidence,” and if they lost in court, taxpayers would owe the developer 25 to 50 percent of everything it had spent. The bill also explicitly shields every drilling permit that results from the 2025 reconciliation law’s mandatory oil and gas lease sales.

The Interior department is pursuing a parallel rollback. In June, the Bureau of Land Management proposed scrapping most of its 2024 methane waste rule, including the requirement that drillers file a waste minimization plan with each drilling permit application. Permits approved without those conditions would fall under Section 1401 of the Senate permitting bill. If it passes, a future administration that tries to add methane leak detection or flaring requirements to existing wells would have to prove an exception by “clear and convincing evidence” and could owe the operator 25 to 50 percent of its costs if it lost in court. Section 1401 of the bill also bars any agency action that would “interfere with or prevent the construction or operation at full capacity” of a permitted project, language that would likely block new pollution standards from reaching wells that are already permitted.

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

“The Trump administration is giving oil companies a free pass to spew methane across the country, and the Senate permitting bill would make that pass permanent.

“Every drilling permit and stripper well that the Trump administration rubber-stamps over the next two years would be shielded from future safeguards, and the next president could be on the hook to compensate drillers just for asking them to fix their leaks. Senators should slow down and fix the permitting bill to avoid locking in decades of pollution allowed under the Trump administration’s assault on America’s air and water.”

Learn more:

• The Senate permitting bill would lock in data centers and nuclear waste on public lands. It only gets worse from there – Westwise
• Trump plans to loosen methane rules for low-producing, high-emitting oil wells – The Hill
• Trump Targets Methane Curbs on Oil and Gas in a New Climate Rollback – Bloomberg

The post Trump plans to roll back methane regulations for all oil and gas wells in the U.S. appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

The BLM is using a shortcut that could come back to bite the AI industry

In June, the Bureau of Land Management approved the first AI data center on America’s public lands. It didn’t write a new rule, hold a public comment period, or prepare a new environmental review. It amended a right-of-way BLM granted in 2023 for a solar farm near Boulder City, Nevada, and let the developer, Townsite Solar 2, swap out its solar panels for an 80-acre data center with a substation, battery storage, and biodiesel backup generators—a very different project with different environmental impacts and energy needs. Boulder City had already voted not to approve the project on city land, so the developer attempted an end run around the community by pivoting to public land.

In September, an Interior department administrative judge froze the approval, finding BLM likely acted “arbitrarily or capriciously” when it treated a solar farm and a data center as substantially the same project. Weeks later, the BLM asked a judge to set aside the approval to allow the agency to reconsider the application. Meanwhile, the agency has received applications for at least 16 more data center proposals, following a July 2025 executive order directing the Interior department to identify national public land for data centers. The BLM is reportedly now considering approving one of those applications, a 3,700-acre data center campus on public land outside of Twin Falls, Idaho.

The legal problem with putting data centers on public lands runs deeper than one rushed review. BLM’s governing law, the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, lists what rights-of-way on public lands can be used for: water systems, pipelines, electric generation and transmission, communications, roads, and railroads. Data centers aren’t on the list. To approve them, BLM would likely have to rely on a catch-all allowance in the law for “other systems or facilities which are in the public interest.” A warehouse full of servers primarily benefits private industry, not the general public. For industrial and commercial uses like that, BLM uses a different tool: leases under Section 302 of FLPMA. Marinas, recreation businesses, farms, and equipment staging yards are some examples of uses BLM authorizes with leases and permits.

Right now, the Trump administration is attempting to authorize data centers through right-of-way applications, which would require stretching a provision no court has ever applied to this type of project on public lands. What’s more, the BLM has yet to formally determine whether data centers are even a legal use of public land. This is clearly the wrong approach, but is there a right one? BLM has faced new technologies before, and history illustrates how this could work.

Geothermal

In the late 1960s, no one knew whether underground steam on federal land counted as water or as a mineral. Meanwhile, California’s Geysers field was already producing geothermal electricity. Pacific Gas and Electric built an 11-megawatt plant there in 1960, running on steam from geothermal wells on private land. Developers wanted to drill on public land too, but the Interior department said it had no authority to lease it, telling Congress that geothermal steam was water governed by state law. Congress responded by passing the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970, which made geothermal a leasable resource like oil and gas. Congress revised the law in 2005, making competitive lease sales the norm and creating a plan for splitting royalties generated from geothermal energy sales with states and counties.

BLM built its geothermal program on that foundation. Companies bid on leases at auction, pay rent and royalties, and need separate approvals to drill, build a power plant, and begin commercial operation—much like BLM’s oil and gas leasing process. In 2008, BLM and the U.S. Forest Service completed a programmatic environmental review that amended 114 land use plans to determine where geothermal leasing could occur.

Data centers have none of this authorization. Congress has not addressed whether they belong on public land, BLM has not done a programmatic review mapping where they should go, and there is no structure in place to ensure data centers pay out royalties to the federal government or to the cities, states, or counties that host them.

McGinness Hills, the largest geothermal complex in Nevada, has about 138 megawatts of capacity. Source: BLM/Flickr

Wind

Wind didn’t need its own statute, since FLPMA already lists “systems for generation, transmission, and distribution of electric energy” as a right-of-way use, and turbines clearly fit that description. BLM initially approved wind projects case-by-case, and by 2002 it was managing about 25 wind rights-of-way in California and Wyoming, generating roughly 500 megawatts. As interest grew, the agency issued an interim wind policy that year, then paused to create a permitting plan before allowing the industry to scale up.

In 2005, it finished a programmatic environmental impact statement that amended 52 land use plans in nine states and set rules to protect birds, bats, and other wildlife. Projects still require site-specific review, typically starting with short-term grants to test the wind before receiving full approval.

Unlike data centers, wind had a clear legal footing under FLPMA and BLM still paused to plan for it before approving projects at scale.

Solar

Solar is the closest parallel to today’s data center scramble. By 2008, about 130 applications for solar projects on BLM land had piled up and none had been approved. BLM briefly froze new applications while it studied the issue, then reversed course after industry objected, and went back to the drawing board.

That work became the 2012 Western Solar Plan, a programmatic review conducted by the Interior department along with the Department of Energy that amended 89 BLM land use plans. It sorted public land into three categories: 17 Solar Energy Zones where BLM steered development, about 19 million acres of “variance” land where developers could still apply and receive extra scrutiny, and areas closed to utility-scale solar energy development. In 2016, BLM adopted rules for competitively leasing land inside the Solar Energy Zones. An updated plan in 2024 eliminated the variance category, replacing it with more than 31 million acres open to applications, mostly near existing transmission lines. Congress set targets along the way for solar development on public lands but never had to authorize solar, because FLPMA explicitly names electric generation as a valid use of public lands.

In this case, BLM faced a flood of solar applications, then spent years doing planning and collecting public comment to figure out how to handle them. Data center applications are creating a similar pressure on the agency, and the Trump administration’s answer has been to approve the first one through a modified solar permit, a lazy strategy that quickly failed. If data centers are determined to be a valid—and appropriate—use of public lands under FLPMA, BLM must follow a similar planning process to develop a fair and responsible structure for them.

This solar array in California is similar to the approved Crimson Solar Project, located on BLM land in California. Photo courtesy of Recurrent Energy. Source: BLM/Flickr

Are data centers even a legal use of public land?

Wind and solar energy development each arrived on public lands with a clear legal basis under FLPMA, and BLM still paused to determine where each belonged and created processes before approving projects at scale. Congress authorized geothermal development on public lands, and BLM created a leasing system for it. Data centers have no congressional approval, no clear standing under FLPMA, and no permitting process in place. The administration would have to rely on a catch-all right-of-way provision written for “necessary” facilities “in the public interest” to approve private server farms, some powered by new natural gas plants or nuclear reactors. Whether AI data centers serve the “public interest” is an open question—but poll after poll suggests that Americans think they do not.

This raises two important questions. First, are data centers a legal use of public land under federal law? And second, are they an appropriate one? If the courts rule that data centers don’t fit FLPMA’s definition of a legal use, every approval issued by BLM would be invalid, and a future administration could revoke them.

Interior should pause new data center approvals until both questions are answered, and the public should have a real say in determining the appropriateness of putting data centers on public lands. BLM should conduct a programmatic review to determine this, with a robust public input process, that looks at the water, energy, and habitat impacts of putting data centers on public lands and asks whether data centers are a valid and appropriate use of public lands. If the answer is no, BLM should throw out the data center applications it has already approved and stop reviewing new ones.

If the answer is yes, BLM would still have to revise land use plans across the country before it moves forward with approving individual data centers. Each BLM field office has a Resource Management Plan that designates where pipelines, power lines, and energy projects can go. BLM would need to amend these individual land use plans to determine where data centers can go through a transparent public process before attempting to approve any more.

If the Trump administration begins revising land use plans before engaging in a high-level review to determine if data centers are a legal and appropriate use of public land, any data center approvals that follow would still be in legal limbo.

Aerial view of the Google Data Center in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Source: Chad Davis/Wikimedia

The permitting bill could lock it all in

Much of this may not matter if the Senate permitting bill passes. The Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act is expected to come up for a vote on the Senate floor after the November election and would bar agencies from revoking, suspending, or altering any project, action, or federal authorization or permit in effect on or after September 16, 2026, except under extremely rare circumstances proven by “clear and convincing evidence.” What counts as a project, action, authorization, or permit under the bill is extremely broad, so a data center approved on public land under the current ad hoc process BLM is using could be locked in for good, unless it’s ruled by a court to be an illegal use of public land.

The permitting bill could also make a moratorium on data centers prohibitively expensive. As it’s written, if a future administration slows an entire category of projects, developers could collect 50 to 100 percent of their expected construction costs from the Judgment Fund, a Treasury account that pays out without a vote of Congress. A pause on data center application approvals while Interior weighs whether they belong on public lands is the kind of slowdown that could trigger those payments.

Finally, the bill would limit the public’s ability to push back against data centers. Challengers would have only 150 days to sue, and a court that finds a BLM environmental review for a data center is flawed could order it to be redone, but couldn’t halt construction from moving forward. The bill would also rewrite the National Historic Preservation Act so agencies like the BLM judge what counts as harm to sacred sites and consult Tribes only after reaching their conclusions.

The stakes are incredibly high, and things are moving quickly. Trump’s Interior department needs to stop all efforts to approve data centers until it determines whether they are an appropriate and legal use of public lands, and if so, how to assess and approve them responsibly, ensuring communities both have a say in whether data centers end up in their backyards and receive financial benefits from them. If the department fails to do so, it could face a massive wave of public backlash as Americans realize they can’t rely on the federal government to protect their communities or their national public lands.

Feature image: The Utah Data Center is a 1.5 million-square-foot National Security Agency facility located at Camp Williams in Bluffdale, Utah; Source: ParkerHiggins (Electronic Frontier Foundation)/Wikimedia

The post Is the Trump administration illegally authorizing data centers on public land? appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

The Trump administration claims that repealing the Roadless Rule will bring timber jobs back to struggling small towns, but loggers and mill owners in Oregon say the policy won’t fix the industry’s biggest problems.

Oregon timber industry workers say diesel prices, the rising cost of equipment and parts, and a shortage of workers are bigger problems than access to roadless forests. Sean Smith, CEO of Starfire Lumber, supports the repeal but told NPR that record diesel prices and inflation are more pressing concerns. Jeff Brink, a second-generation logger, said that finding workers is a challenge. “Right now, there’s not a ton of people that want to wake up at 2 a.m. and drive a log truck for the same price that you could go work at McDonald’s for,” said Brink.

Industry experts project the repeal would raise federal timber sales by just five to 10 percent, and the Forest Service’s own analysis projects similarly modest gains. The agency’s draft environmental impact statement projects $5 million to $11 million a year in new timber revenue nationwide, and concedes that revenue “would not be sufficient to cover the costs of constructing and maintaining all new roads.” The Forest Service already has a $7 billion road maintenance backlog. The same analysis finds that “as the density of roads increases so does the probability, number, and frequency of wildfire ignitions.”

The public has already weighed in and is nearly unanimously opposed to the repeal. Of the 370,238 comments posted during the comment period that closed October 6, 99.1 percent opposed repealing the rule, according to a Center for Western Priorities analysis.

Quick hits The Trump administration wants to fill thousands of acres of public land with AI data centers

TechRadar

Opinion: Diné leaders demand the return of Bears Ears, fully intact

High Country News

Cut off from the Cutoff

RE:PUBLIC

Judge extends court-ordered block on Trump’s renovation plans for public golf course in Washington

Associated Press

Federal hunting order could aid corner-crossing case, stir lead ammo debate in Montana

Flathead Beacon

BLM evaluating pitch for second data center on public land in Idaho

Idaho Statesman

What Trump’s golf course plan takes away from D.C. residents

New York Times

Opinion: Go outside — there’s so much of the physical world left to explore

Deseret News

Quote of the day

The claim that they’re going to do all this new road building and logging in roadless areas on behalf of wildland firefighters, and make it more efficient for them, is just a big lie. Not in our name you don’t.”

—Timothy Ingalsbee, retired federal firefighter and executive director of FUSEE, NPR

Picture This @canyonlandsnps

Hoping to sneak a peak at some bighorn sheep?

Luckily for you, October is one of the best times of the year to spot one of these fascinating creatures. This month marks the beginning of their fall rut, or the season where male bighorn sheep come clashing together, battling one another for the opportunity to show off their strength and impress potential mates.

During these intense battles, male bighorn sheep will lower their heads and ram their horns together, delivering over 2,000 pounds of force! How crazy is that?! Luckily for these sheep, their skulls are well adapted to handle such forces. The keratin sheath that makes up these curled horns actually flexes slightly under impact to absorb some of this shock. On top of this, their thick, layered skulls also work to spread out these immense forces and minimize the chance of major head injuries.

Thanks to this increase in bighorn sheep activity, October is a great time to see one of these creatures in the wild – but don’t get too close! You don’t have the same headgear to handle a hit from one of these powerful animals.

NPS Photo/S Goodwin 

Featured photo: Logging on the Idaho Panhandle National Forest, USFS

The post Loggers say Roadless Rule repeal won’t solve their biggest challenges appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

Tribal leaders are campaigning against the Senate permitting bill after a tense meeting with Senator Martin Heinrich, one of the bill’s sponsors and a longtime ally of Tribal nations. The All Pueblo Council of Governors (APCG) opposes the bill’s overhaul of Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, which requires federal agencies to consider how their projects would affect historic and sacred sites and to consult Tribes before approving them.

The bill would let agencies assess historic sites and project damage on their own and consult Tribes only after drafting their conclusions. Tribal historic preservation offices that miss new deadlines could lose funding, and Interior could take over their work. Nine Tribal organizations had previously asked the bill’s sponsors to strip the language.

Joey Sanchez, APCG’s chairman, attended the meeting and said Heinrich told participants that “only technical” changes would be made to the bill. “While he did not respond to requests that he offer substantive amendments such as striking the Section 106 provisions, it was clear that he was unwilling to do so,” said Sanchez. Heinrich’s office disputed that account, saying the senator told Tribal governors he was open to bipartisan amendments.

The National Association of Tribal Historic Preservation Officers said it “will continue to oppose this bill and call on Senator Heinrich and his colleagues to remove the title of the bill that covers historic preservation and draft a new one.” The Senate is expected to vote on the bill when lawmakers return after Election Day.

From lead paint to DNA tests: surprising discoveries from America’s national parks

In a new episode of The Landscape, Kate and Aaron talk to Robert Lull, author of the book Our Natural Lab: Remarkable Stories of Science from America’s National Parks, about the amazing discoveries that have come out of science that took place in our national parks. Kate and Aaron also talk about the negative impacts the Senate permitting bill, also known as the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act, could have on public lands.

Quick hits AI gets people into trouble in the backcountry

High Country News

In U.S. gas talks with Kremlin, hidden financing for Alaska project emerges

New York Times

Poll finds 81 percent of Coloradans against public lands drilling

Aspen Daily News

Opinion: Proposed grazing rules would hurt Western cattle ranchers

Colorado Newsline

How Trump gave the worst polluters a free pass

New York Times

America’s newest national park sparks debate

Outside

Rollins says USDA is ‘full-bore ahead’ on Forest Service reorganization

PBS | The Hill

Opinion: Forest Service chief celebrates historic selloff of national forests, tells employees to feel proud

More Than Just Parks

Quote of the day

The American people don’t entrust their national treasures to public institutions so that some industry insider can auction them off to his former colleagues and congratulate himself for it.”

—Will Pattiz, More Than Just Parks

Picture This @usinterior

Somebody turned the saturation up on Mount Rainier.

Autumn has transformed the slopes of @mountrainiernps into a breathtaking patchwork of red, orange, yellow and green.

If you’re planning a fall adventure, check the forecast and park conditions before you go. Weather in the mountains can change quickly.

Photo by Filo Merid/NPS

 

 

Featured photo: Chetro Ketl at Chaco Culture National Historic Park. National Park Service

The post Tribal groups break with Heinrich over permitting bill appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

In this episode, Kate and Aaron talk to Robert Lull, author of the book Our Natural Lab: Remarkable Stories of Science from America’s National Parks, about the amazing discoveries that have come out of science that took place in our national parks. Kate and Aaron also talk about the negative impacts the Senate permitting bill, also known as the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act, could have on public lands.

News

• The Senate permitting bill would lock in data centers and nuclear waste on public lands. It only gets worse from there – Westwise
• Senate permitting bill would cut the public out of public lands and lock in Trump-era data center, nuclear, and fossil fuel approvals – CWP
• Over 100 Groups Oppose Sweeping Attacks on Public Lands in Permitting Bill – Center for Biological Diversity

Resources

• BLM Data Center Tracker
• Watch this episode on YouTube

Produced by Aaron Weiss, Lauren Bogard, Kate Groetzinger, and Lilly Bock-Brownstein
Feedback: podcast@westernpriorities.org
Music: Purple Planet
Featured image: Grand Prismatic Spring, Yellowstone National Park; Source: Dietmar Rabich/Wikimedia Commons

The post From lead paint to DNA tests: surprising discoveries from America’s national parks appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

The Justice Department asked federal judges this week to revoke Interior’s approvals for three offshore wind farms, including Revolution Wind, which has been delivering power to New England’s grid since March. The DOJ also targeted the 2.2-gigawatt Maryland Offshore Wind and 2.6-gigawatt New England Wind projects.

The requests land weeks before a Senate vote on a bipartisan permitting bill that would bar agencies from altering any permit in effect on or after September 16, 2026, without “clear and convincing evidence.” Under that framework, Trump’s wind and solar cancellations would stand, while the data centers, drilling, and nuclear projects Interior Secretary Doug Burgum approves over the next two years would be nearly impossible for a future administration to undo.

Tony Irish, a former Interior associate solicitor, called it “outrageous for Secretary Doug Burgum to take active energy production off the grid in New England as winter approaches.”

Over 100 groups oppose attacks on public lands in permitting bill
More than 100 groups urged Congress in a letter Thursday to reject the Senate permitting bill from Senators Whitehouse, Heinrich, Capito and Lee due to its negative impacts on public lands.

The coalition warns it would fast-track mining, drilling, logging, and gas pipelines across hundreds of millions of acres of public lands, from the Arctic to Bears Ears. Mining companies, including foreign-owned firms, would gain rights to permanently seize public land for roads and waste dumps, and Tribal consultation would become optional. It would also lock in data center development and nuclear waste storage on public land, according to an analysis of the bill by Center for Western Priorities Executive Director Aaron Weiss.

Quick hits Analysis warns bipartisan Senate permitting bill would lock in Trump-era data center, fossil fuel approvals

Common Dreams

Will $1 billion for the Great Salt Lake materialize? Senator Curtis says he’s working on it

Utah News Dispatch 

US Park Police spend $343,000 on mobile surveillance cameras in Washington DC

The Guardian

Lawyers say DOJ watchdog won’t probe failed Reflection Pool prosecution

MS NOW

Agriculture secretary says agency is moving ahead on Forest Service reorganization

Associated Press | The Hill

Environmental groups sue EPA over weedkiller polluting Western waterways

KUNR

Yellowstone receives largest donation in park service history

Boise State Public Radio

Geothermal lease sale on federal land in Nevada nets $4.8M

Utility Dive

Quote of the day

Senator Heinrich says his bill ‘will age very well over time.’ As it’s currently written, it will indeed age, locking in data centers and a new nuclear legacy on our public lands for generations—after all, the half-life of plutonium-239 is about 24,000 years… Senator Heinrich should pump the brakes on this bill during the lame duck session and work with leaders in the next Congress to get it right.”

—Aaron Weiss, executive director of the Center for Western Priorities

Picture This

@mypubliclands

More trails, more ways to explore!

We’re thrilled to announce the completion of the North Fruita Desert Trails Master Plan, with the grand opening of K2-Play, a brand new, 3-mile mountain biking trail along the stunning Book Cliffs. This milestone marks the final phase in a nearly 30-mile expansion of the 18 Road trail system, made possible by years of teamwork among public land managers, local partners, trail builders, and dedicated volunteers.

This project is a shining example of how partnerships can create new recreation opportunities, boost local communities, and ensure our public lands remain accessible and vibrant for generations to come. Whether you’re a seasoned rider or just starting out, there’s something for everyone to discover!

Feature image: The Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind pilot project, Source: Photo by Stephen Boutwell/BOEM

The post DOJ moves to kill offshore wind permits as Congress weighs permitting bill appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

Bill would give Interior Secretary Doug Burgum a two-year window to approve projects a future president could not undo

DENVER — A bipartisan permitting bill headed for a Senate vote right after the election would give President Donald Trump and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum two years to approve data centers, nuclear facilities, and fossil fuel projects on public lands, then make those approvals nearly impossible to reverse, according to a new analysis from the Center for Western Priorities.

The Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act, written and sponsored by Senators Mike Lee, Shelley Moore Capito, Martin Heinrich, and Sheldon Whitehouse would be disastrous for public lands:

• Industry lock-in: Section 1401 bars agencies from altering any permit in effect on or after September 16, 2026, unless they meet a “clear and convincing evidence” standard far higher than agencies normally face.
• Public lock-out: Courts could no longer pause projects with botched environmental reviews. Construction would continue while reviews are redone, agencies could not act on what they find, and challengers would get just 150 days to sue.
• Taxpayer price tag: Section 1402 would make taxpayers pay developers 50 to 100 percent of construction costs if a future administration slows a whole category of projects, such as gas plants or nuclear fuel facilities, with money drawn from a Treasury fund that requires no vote of Congress.

Burgum’s Interior Department is already reviewing applications for around 17 data centers on public lands, and it attempted to approve the first one by skipping environmental review and public comment entirely. If this bill passes, that could become the norm for permitting data centers on public lands. The bill would shield permits issued by the Trump administration for everything from drilling to nuclear waste storage on public lands from revocation by a future administration, while Trump’s cancellations of wind and solar projects would remain in place. The bill also rewrites the National Historic Preservation Act, drawing opposition from nine national Tribal organizations and the All Pueblo Council of Governors.

The Center for Western Priorities released the following statement from Executive Director Aaron Weiss.

“Senator Heinrich says his bill ‘will age very well over time.’ As it’s currently written, it will indeed age, locking in data centers and a new nuclear legacy on our public lands for generations—after all, the half-life of plutonium-239 is about 24,000 years.

“Any permitting deal passed under this administration must strengthen the guardrails that keep Burgum and Trump in check, not hand them a blank check. Senator Heinrich should pump the brakes on this bill during the lame duck session and work with leaders in the next Congress to get it right.”

Read our full analysis of the bill on Westwise.

Learn more:

• New map tracks data center applications moving through BLM’s pipeline – Center for Western Priorities
• 6 threats to public lands in the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act – The Wilderness Society
• NRDC Assessment of BAAJA, the 2026 Permitting and Transmission Bill – National Resources Defense Council
• Hard Questions About the Permitting Bill – National Resources Defense Council

 

Feature image: The Utah Data Center located in Bluffdale, Utah; Swilsonmc/Wikimedia Commons 

 

The post Senate permitting bill would cut the public out of public lands and lock in Trump-era data center, nuclear, and fossil fuel approvals appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

A bipartisan permitting bill headed for a Senate vote right after the election would give President Donald Trump and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum two years to approve data centers, nuclear facilities, and fossil fuel projects on public lands, then make those approvals nearly impossible to undo. While the bill would help speed the country’s grid buildout, it currently contains three provisions that would be disastrous for public lands, writes CWP Executive Director Aaron Weiss.

Section 1401 of the bill bars agencies from altering any permit in effect on or after September 16, 2026, unless they meet a “clear and convincing evidence” standard far higher than agencies normally face. Courts could no longer pause projects with botched environmental reviews. Construction would continue while the review is redone, and agencies can’t act on the review findings. Opponents of federal actions would get just 150 days to sue. Section 1402 would make taxpayers pay developers 50 to 100 percent of construction costs if a future administration slows a whole category of projects, like gas plants or nuclear fuel facilities, essentially locking in the priorities of the Trump administration.

Meanwhile, the Bureau of Land Management is currently considering at least 35 data center-related applications covering more than 24,000 acres across six Western states. The bill would essentially shield permits for everything from data centers to drilling issued by this administration from reversal by future administrations. Trump’s cancellations of wind and solar projects, meanwhile, stay in place. The bill, as written, also weakens the National Historic Preservation Act, over objections from nine Tribal organizations and the All Pueblo Council of Governors.

Senator Martin Heinrich, who’s co-sponsoring the bill, once said every person “deserves a chance to provide input” on public land management. His bill, as written, gives Burgum and Trump a green light to cut them out. Read more in the latest post on Westwise.

GAO to probe Trump mineral deals

Federal watchdogs plan to investigate what safeguards the Trump administration is abiding by when taking financial stakes in mining companies and separately examine the Interior Department’s decision to create a new division overseeing offshore energy development. Senator Heinrich and Representative Jared Huffman requested the review from the Government Accountability Office.

Quick hits Trump officials ask Supreme Court to let border security project resume in national park

Washington Post

Judge halts U.S. Forest Service reorganization, ruling it is ‘overwhelmingly likely’ that plans violated federal law

Summit Daily

Trump administration plans to begin work on massive arch in two weeks

Washington Post

Burgum discusses Colorado River plan, calls Arizona’s water cuts ‘completely manageable’

13 News

The future of wolf protections in the West hangs on the Ninth Circuit

High Country News

Trump’s East Potomac Golf Course renovations face a growing legal fight

TIME

What’s behind the $105 million donation to Yellowstone National Park?

Mountain Journal | Wes Siler’s Newsletter

Poll: 96% of Coloradans support conserving public lands

9News

Quote of the day

It is overwhelmingly likely that the USDA’s planned closures and relocations violate Congress’s express restriction on those activities… There is no public interest in allowing the government to violate federal law.”

—U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria, Summit Daily

Picture This

@usinterior

Hot moose summer is over. Welcome to cool moose fall.

At @grandtetonnps, autumn means the moose rut is underway. Bull moose roam in search of females, size up their competition and sometimes put those massive antlers to the test.

Romance, rivalry and really big antlers. Fall has arrived in the Tetons.

Photo by Kevin Yu Shi

Feature image: Spent nuclear fuel at the Hanford Nuclear Site, Wikimedia Commons

The post The Senate permitting bill would lock in data centers and nuclear waste on public lands appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

President Trump signed legislation Tuesday making Chiricahua America’s 64th national park, the first new national park in six years.

Nicknamed the “Wonderland of Rocks,” Chiricahua is known for its balanced boulders, rhyolite pinnacles, and other rock formations. It’s one of several sky islands in southeastern Arizona, which are isolated mountain ranges that rise up out of the surrounding desert “sea” and provide important habitat to species including black bears, jaguars, and more than half of the continent’s birds.

President Calvin Coolidge protected Chiricahua, located in southeastern Arizona, as a national monument in 1924. The park’s boundaries stay the same, and the law protects Tribal access for traditional ceremonies on land that was once home to the Chiricahua Apache. At least five similar bills stalled before Representative Juan Ciscomani and Senators Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego pushed this one through.

Local leaders are counting on a tourism bump. “More visitors can mean more customers for our hotels, restaurants, and small businesses,” Willcox Mayor Greg Hancock said.

Whether the Park Service can handle them is another matter. Agency officials declined to say whether they will add staff after deep workforce cuts under Interior Secretary Doug Burgum. Additionally, the park currently needs mold abatement in employee housing as well as other repairs, according to a review of park service projects by the Center for Western Priorities.

62 percent of national forests within half-mile of backcountry roads

A new map created by The Wilderness Society finds 310,860 miles of road or other routes in national forests are currently open to motorized vehicles—enough to drive to the moon and a quarter of the way back.

Despite the staggering amount of miles already open to off-road vehicles, motorcycles, and snowmobiles, the Trump administration is proposing to open even more of our national forests to motorized vehicles by revising the agency’s Travel Management Rule. The revision would flip the current “closed unless designated open” system on its head so all routes, including hiking and biking trails, would be open to motorized use unless marked closed.

Quick hits New map reveals extent of data center applications on public lands in the West

Reuters | KLAS | KHQ | KVOA

Court upholds EPA’s authority over Tribal lands in Oklahoma

Native News Online

As Trump wages golf course war, DC residents fear loss of access

New York Times

Report: New data shows how New Mexico can leverage satellites to find and fix oil and gas emissions

Big Gas Polluters

Company powering Google’s data center gives $105 million for Yellowstone conservation

Cowboy State Daily

NRDC says permitting deal is ‘deeply flawed,’ calls for changes

Politico Pro

14 bears were euthanized at one Montana home. Wildlife experts explain what went wrong

Outside

Lawmakers could face a data center backlash if permitting reform bill passes

HuffPost

Quote of the day

The Chiricahuas deserve national park status. They are one of America’s most spectacular and wild places… That said, this designation will bring more visitors, which will require more resources. Doug Burgum and Congress need to fully fund our park system, rather than starving it.”

—Aaron Weiss, executive director of the Center for Western Priorities, Politico Pro

Picture This

@usinterior

America’s newest national park is rock solid!

Chiricahua is officially our 64th national park.

Known as the “Wonderland of Rocks,” this spectacular Arizona landscape was shaped by massive volcanic eruptions and millions of years of erosion, creating the towering rock pinnacles that define Chiricahua today.

But there’s much more to this place than the rocks. Chiricahua National Park is home to an incredible diversity of plants and wildlife and preserves thousands of years of human history, from Indigenous peoples and Chiricahua Apaches to Buffalo Soldiers, pioneers, ranchers and the Civilian Conservation Corps.

A new name for a place Americans have treasured for generations.

Photos by Sean Parker | @seanparkerphotography

Feature image: Massai Point in Chiricahua National Park; Source: nps.gov

The post Chiricahua becomes America’s 64th national park appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

BLM is currently considering at least 35 applications for data centers and related infrastructure on public lands in six Western states, covering more than 24,000 acres

DENVER — The Bureau of Land Management appears to be considering at least 17 applications to build data center campuses on public land in the West, according to a new interactive map from the Center for Western Priorities. Our BLM Data Center Tracker, built from the agency’s own land records, also identifies at least 13 likely applications for infrastructure to support AI data centers, including access roads, water pipelines, telecom lines, and transmission lines.

Altogether, the map shows 35 active data center-related applications covering more than 24,000 acres in Arizona, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming. Last month, press reports and a congressional letter put the number at roughly 12 proposals over 17,600 acres.

What the map shows

Of the 35 active cases on the map, it appears 17 are applications for a data center campus, identifiable by “Data Center,” “Gigasite,” or “Project” in the case name. Because some of these cases seem to be colocated the 17 applications may represent fewer distinct projects. Another 13 applications appear to be for supporting infrastructure, and five cannot be classified into either category based on publicly available information. The best way to use the map is to click into individual cases and read the text associated with the application.

Some of these proposals dwarf a typical data center. NPR reported that Valar Atomics’ Project Beehive in eastern Utah would cover more than 9,000 acres and be powered by small modular nuclear reactors, a technology that has not yet been deployed at commercial scale. A single developer, Copia, has filed 16 site and infrastructure proposals across five states, including an application associated with a 2,520-acre parcel near Las Vegas.

A rush with no rules

Unlike for solar, wind, drilling, or mining, there is no established permitting process for building data centers on public land. This absence hasn’t slowed the administration’s rush to build them, though. In June, BLM permitted a 167-megawatt data center near Boulder City, Nevada, without an environmental review. The Interior Board of Land Appeals halted the project in September after Boulder City and conservation groups challenged it. This week, a judge sent the project back for a proper environmental review.

On September 24, Representatives Jared Huffman, Dina Titus, and 13 other members of Congress sent Interior Secretary Doug Burgum 18 questions about data centers on public lands, including whether the public will be able to weigh in on these proposals. They asked for answers by October 8.

The public’s view on data centers is clear. In a July poll of likely Wyoming voters, more than 90 percent of respondents said data centers are not an acceptable use of public lands. Nationally, Pew Research Center found the share of Americans who say data centers are mostly bad for the environment rose from 39 percent in January to 54 percent in September.

The Center for Western Priorities released the following statement from Deputy Director Lauren Bogard:

“Data centers are not like oil, gas, or minerals, which are extracted from public lands because that’s where they exist. Unlike mining or drilling, there are no natural resources that make it necessary to develop data centers on public lands, and there is no reason to assume data centers belong on them.

“Before even considering putting data centers on public lands, the Trump administration should be obligated to solicit public feedback on this idea. None of these projects should move forward without a permitting framework that lets communities decide where, how, or if data centers get built. That process must include robust, site-specific environmental review and public input opportunities, as well as meaningful, negotiated community benefits that ensure the public is compensated when private companies profit from public lands.”

Methodology

Application (or case) data used to build the map comes from BLM’s Mineral & Land Records System, accessed through its public ArcGIS service across all four application statuses: pending, authorized, interim, and closed. Because BLM has no “data center” category for right-of-way cases, CWP runs two searches: one matching case and applicant names against terms such as “data,” “hyperscale,” “gigasite,” and “modular reactor,” and a second matching applicant names against developers confirmed to be active in the sector. The second search exists because early-stage cases are often filed with no name at all, under LLCs with names that give no hint of their purpose.

Each search returns roughly 300 raw hits, most of them false positives such as legacy radio licenses that use the acronym “SMR.” CWP’s pipeline reviews every hit against corporate records and press coverage. Parcel boundaries come directly from BLM’s survey data. The map is refreshed regularly and was last updated October 16.

This tracker provides a baseline count. An application with no name and an unidentified applicant won’t appear in this count, so the real number of data center-related applications received by BLM may be higher than this map shows. BLM often records zero acres for early-stage applications, so the map likely also undercounts acreage. Finally, a right-of-way application (which all of these are) is a request, not an approval, and pending cases may be withdrawn by the developer or denied by BLM.

Note: The public-facing API used to pull this data from BLM’s Mineral & Land Records System is unavailable as of October 20 at 10am MDT. The map reflects BLM data as of October 16, 2026, and CWP will refresh it (if possible) once the system is back online.

Data and full methodology: https://github.com/Center-for-Western-Priorities/blm-data-centers

Learn more:

• The Trump administration is trying to build data centers on public lands – Westwise
• Data Center Doug wants to “manufacture intelligence” on your public lands – Westwise
• Democrats Demand Answers on Trump Plan to Build Data Centers on Public Lands – Truthout
• Trump Is Considering More Data Centers on Public Lands Than Previously Known – Washington Sun
• The Wilderness Society calls for AI data center moratorium on public lands – The Wilderness Society

The post New map tracks data center applications moving through BLM’s pipeline appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.