Key news from April
- Members of the Havasupai Tribe, Hopi Tribe, Hualapai Tribe, and others joined Arizona Representative Raúl Grijalva and Senator Kyrsten Sinema to outline their proposal for Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni Grand Canyon National Monument. The proposed monument covers over 1.1 million acres of land adjacent to Grand Canyon National Park. Designating the proposed area as a monument would permanently protect the area’s water, wildlife, sacred spaces, and ancestral homelands from new uranium mining and would honor more than a dozen Tribes' cultural ties to the area. Baaj Nwaavjo means “where tribes roam” for the Havasupai Tribe, and I’tah Kukveni means “our footprints” for the Hopi Tribe.
- President Biden signed a new executive order, Revitalizing Our Nation's Commitment to Environmental Justice for All. The order directs all federal agencies to incorporate environmental justice into their missions, assess their environmental justice efforts, and develop and implement strategic environmental justice plans. Agencies will now be expected to identify and address gaps in research and data, including on cumulative impacts, and to make that research and data more accessible to the public. The order also creates a new Office of Environmental Justice within the White House Council on Environmental Quality; the new office will coordinate environmental justice efforts across the federal government.
- The Biden administration released two potential plans to stabilize the Colorado River, which is dwindling due to climate change-driven drought as well as overuse by the seven states that rely on it for much of their water. The options are to either use the existing water priority system to make cuts or to cut the same percentage across the board. States, Tribes, and other water users have until May 30 to comment on the two options. Federal officials are expected to announce a formal decision this summer.
- Despite the tremendous bipartisan popularity of outdoor recreation, access, and conservation in Montana, Congressman Matt Rosendale has introduced bills that propose to defund the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), which uses royalties from offshore oil and gas drilling to pay for conservation and recreation projects around the country, including in Montana. After being underfunded for several years, LWCF was permanently fully funded in 2020 through a bill that all members of Montana's bipartisan Congressional delegation voted for, President Donald Trump signed into law, and 75 percent of Montana voters support. Rosendale himself praised the bill at the time in a campaign press release and states his support for "protecting and expanding access to our public lands" on his campaign website.
- The Interior Department announced a variety of funding investments, including: $125 million for land and water restoration projects; $140 million for water conservation and restoration projects; and $35 million for projects, such as culvert and dam removal, to address migration for fish and other aquatic and terrestrial species. The Interior and Agriculture Departments also released a joint report on mature and old-growth forests on lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service. The Forest Service also announced a proposed rulemaking for national forest and grassland climate resilience, and U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced a pilot program to both improve habitat connectivity for wildlife and prevent wildlife-vehicle collisions.
What to watch for in May:
|
|
|
From the Center for Western Priorities:
|
|
2022 Spills Tracker
Oil and gas companies in New Mexico and Colorado reported an increase in drilling-related spills in 2022
Across the West, spills from oil and gas extraction take a toll on lands, waters, wildlife, and communities. In Colorado, New Mexico, and Wyoming—the Mountain West’s top oil and gas-producing states—companies report thousands of spills each year, which release toxic materials such as crude oil and polluted water.
According to a new analysis by the Center for Western Priorities, companies in New Mexico and Colorado reported an increase in drilling-related spills in 2022 as compared to 2021, while the number of reported spills in Wyoming went down as compared to 2021. Operators in New Mexico also reported a record number of methane waste events as compared to 2021 (the first year for which this data was available due to improved reporting requirements).
“Oil and gas companies in both New Mexico and Colorado appear to be polluting more than ever, while posting record profits,” said Kate Groetzinger, Communications Manager at the Center for Western Priorities. “The number of drilling-related spills and amount of methane wasted by the oil and gas industry should be going down each year, not up.”
|
|
Bill sponsored by recipients of contributions from mining industry would make sure companies can dump mine waste on public lands
|
|
|
The North Dakota senator is confused about a public lands plan that doesn’t affect his state
|
|
|
|
Kate and Aaron are joined by clean energy consultant Rob Gramlich, founder and president of Grid Strategies LLC, to talk about the need to ramp up renewable transmission capacity in the U.S. Gramlich tells us what the Inflation Reduction Act did and didn’t do when it comes to transmission, as well as how Congress can incentivize the construction of transmission lines to meet the growing need—without weakening America’s bedrock environmental laws.
|
|
|
Kate and Aaron are joined by the co-chairs of the America the Beautiful for All Coalition, a new group that came together to ensure conservation benefits marginalized and overly burdened communities. Nse Witherspoon, executive director of the Children’s Environmental Health Network, and Mark Magaña, founder and CEO of GreenLatinos, talk about their coalition’s 2023 policy agenda as well as funding opportunities for groups that are working toward a more just and equitable conservation movement.
|
|
Are oil and gas leasing reforms being implemented in Nevada?
The Nevada Independent
California’s race against time to build power lines
Los Angeles Times
Arizona revokes water well drilling permits for Saudi-owned farm
Associated Press
The real-world costs of the digital race for bitcoin
New York Times
San Carlos Apache call for international intervention over copper mine at Oak Flat
High Country News
How to explore the 3 newest national monuments
Washington Post
Judge affirms stricter interpretation of federal mining law
Associated Press
A ‘seismic shift’ for public lands?
High Country News
Babbitt: We have one last chance to save the Colorado River
New York Times
Meet the Black Coloradans who are making outdoor recreation more accessible
Colorado Sun
|
|
“We ranch, recreate, hunt and run small businesses throughout the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument. The Missouri River is the lifeblood of our agricultural, cultural, and economic well-being. We’ve experienced firsthand that with the monument designation, we’ve had better access, a more informed public, and better managed landscapes for the benefit of all.”
—Haley Miller, owner of Upper Missouri River Guides, and Harvey Nyberg, Montana Wildlife Federation Board Emeritus; Daily Montanan
|
|
The Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument includes some of the most scenic and biologically diverse landscapes in northern California. The views range from rolling, oak-studded hillsides to steep creek canyons and expansive ridgelines. Photo by Anthony Southwood
|
|
|
|
|
