March, in brief

Key news from March

• At the 2023 Conservation in Action Summit, President Joe Biden used his power under the Antiquities Act to designate Avi Kwa Ame and Castner Range national monuments, protecting more than 500,000 acres of U.S. land and honoring the requests of Tribal Nations, including the Fort Mojave Tribe, one of the leaders of the campaign to protect the area surrounding Avi Kwa Ame. Biden also announced a memorandum directing Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo to establish marine sanctuary protections for all waters surrounding the Pacific Remote Islands—777,000 square miles of waters southwest of Hawaii. These protections will fulfill the President’s goal of protecting 30 percent of America’s oceans. Finally, Biden announced a new initiative to conserve, restore, and expand access to lands and waters through various proposals, including modernizing the management of America’s public lands, a plan to harness the power of the ocean to fight the climate crisis, a strategy to better conserve wildlife corridors, new funding for outdoor recreation access and wildfire risk reduction, and more.
   
• The Bureau of Land Management announced a 75-day public comment period on a proposed rule to balance its operations with a focus on conservation, recreation, and climate impacts across millions of acres of American public lands. The draft rule would clarify that restoring and protecting public lands is a use of the land within the framework of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA). FLPMA provides for the designation of Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACECs), an authority that has been underutilized since the law’s passage in 1976. The proposed rule would direct BLM staff to identify priority landscapes for protection and restoration using ACEC designations and use funds from the Inflation Reduction Act and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act for restoration projects. The proposed rule takes other steps such as formalizing the practice of “conservation leasing” for land restoration and protection, applying consistent scientific processes to land management practices, and engaging in meaningful consultation with Tribal nations.
   
• The Biden administration announced a series of land protection measures for Alaska after approving ConocoPhillips’ Willow oil and gas project, a “carbon bomb” that is projected to produce up to 287 million metric tons of carbon dioxide over the next 30 years. The move was followed by an announcement that the administration is withdrawing 2.8 million acres in the Beaufort Sea, putting the Arctic Ocean off-limits to new leasing when combined with previous protections. The administration also announced that it is initiating a rulemaking process to protect 13 million acres in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska from future oil and gas leasing. The administration must fast-track the new rules required to implement these protections if it hopes to avoid having them erased by Congress under a future administration. Finally, the administration revoked a land exchange deal made during the Trump administration that would have allowed a road to be built through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska.
   
• The House of Representatives passed H.R. 1, a sweeping energy package that would give Big Oil companies access to more federal public lands, gut the environmental review process, fast-track fossil fuel projects, expedite mining permits, and shut the public out of decision-making on oil and gas projects that are built in their neighborhoods. The bill would undo much of the progress the Biden administration has made to combat climate change. The president vowed to veto the bill, stating that “instead of protecting American consumers, it would pad oil and gas company profits—already at record levels—and undercut our public health and environment.”
   
• Senator Joe Manchin reversed his position on the nomination of Laura Daniel-Davis, President Biden’s nominee to be the Interior department Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management, writing in a Houston Chronicle op-ed that he would not advance Daniel-Davis to a third vote before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Manchin previously supported Daniel-Davis, calling her “incredibly well-qualified.” In response, Executive Director at the Center for Western Priorities Jennifer Rokala stated, “Senator Manchin’s flip-flop is baffling, hypocritical, and short-sighted. He has just given up whatever remaining leverage he had over the Biden administration’s oil and gas leasing plans. Laura Daniel-Davis is and will continue to be the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, with or without Manchin’s support for a promotion. But now the White House and Interior department have no reason to keep catering to Manchin’s whims.”

What to watch for in April:

• Public comments will be accepted for the proposed BLM conservation rule
• Will the Biden administration initiate rulemaking processes for oil and gas reforms or NPR-A protections?
• Will the BLM shrink second quarter lease sales to bring them in line with the intent of the Inflation Reduction Act?
• Catch the Center for Western Priorities team at the Society of Environmental Journalists conference in Boise!

Conservation Gridlock: 2023 Update

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

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

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

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

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

Aaron and Kate are joined by author and professor Natalie Koch, whose new book—Arid Empire: The Entangled Fates of Arizona and Arabia—explores the ways in which Arizona and Saudi Arabia have worked together to promote desert agriculture, and how that work is connected to a global obsession with engineering our way out of ecosystem collapse. Koch is a professor of geography and the environment at Syracuse University.

The announcement of two new national monuments formed the centerpiece of the White House Conservation in Action Summit on March 21, 2023. Biden designated Avi Kwa Ame and Castner Range national monuments using his authority under the Antiquities Act, protecting over half a million acres in perpetuity. Center for Western Priorities Campaigns and Special Projects Director Lauren Bogard and Executive Director Jen Rokala join Kate to talk about the new monuments and what made the campaigns to protect both Avi Kwa Ame and Castner Range so successful.

Arizona rancher takes an old approach to growing crops on the Gila River

Arizona Republic
 

Living with radioactive waste in the West

Colorado Sun
 

Opinion: How big of a climate betrayal is the Willow oil project?

New York Times
 

A government program hopes to find critical minerals right beneath our feet

Grist
 

A $125 million program to cut Colorado River water use shuffles forward with fractured support

Colorado Sun
 

In Montana, it’s youth vs. the state in a landmark climate case

New York Times
 

Opinion: National parks made my immigrant family American

Washington Post
 

Decades before Avi Kwa Ame, Tribal nations led the way to protect the Mojave Desert

High Country News
 

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

—Shanna Edberg, director of conservation programs at the Hispanic Access Foundation