May, in brief

Key news from May:

• U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich of New Mexico and Congressman Raúl M. Grijalva of Arizona introduced legislation to overhaul the General Mining Act of 1872, which still governs hardrock mining on federal lands, despite being completely irrelevant to today’s technologies and practices. Their Clean Energy Minerals Reform Act (CEMRA) proposes several urgently needed and long-overdue reforms to the current law, including establishing a rental and royalty structure for hardrock mining, creating a modern leasing system similar to that for oil and gas, setting realistic reclamation standards and bonding requirements, requiring meaningful consultation with Tribes and communities, and creating processes for the withdrawal of lands that are inappropriate for mining.
   
• The three Colorado River Lower Basin states—Arizona, California, and Nevada—have agreed to voluntarily conserve three million acre-feet of water over the next three years, in exchange for $1.2 billion in compensation from the federal government. That amounts to around 13 percent of the states’ total allocation from the river. Most of the cuts, 2.3 million acre-feet, will come from water districts, farm operators, cities, and Native American Tribes that have agreed to take less water in order to qualify for federal grants offered under the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. Arizona, California, and Nevada will decide where the remaining 700,000 acre-feet of cuts will come from in the coming months. If the states don’t identify those additional cuts, the Interior Department says it will withhold the water.
   
• Nevada Senator Catherine Cortez Masto and Representative Susie Lee reintroduced the End Speculative Oil and Gas Leasing Act of 2023. The bill would require the Bureau of Land Management to assess the actual oil and gas development potential of BLM lands before any leasing could occur, and would ban future oil and gas leasing on most U.S. public lands that have low or no potential to produce oil. “The BLM is wasting time, money, and resources leasing land to oil and gas companies that we know has little actual potential for development,” said Senator Cortez Masto.
   
• The United States Geological Survey rejected a bid by members of Congress and the copper industry to add copper to the United States' Critical Minerals List. The Critical Minerals List is a federal list of non-fuel minerals deemed critical to national or economic security but vulnerable to supply chain disruptions. Were copper to be added to the list, it could help expedite domestic mining projects, such as the Resolution Copper Mine proposed at Oak Flat. The San Carlos Apache Tribe, which considers Oak Flat to be a sacred site, Earthworks, Patagonia, and the Arizona Mining Reform Coalition sent a letter to the USGS in April asking it not to list copper as a critical mineral, alleging errors in the Copper Development Association's study.
   
• Senator Michael Bennet and Representative Joe Neguse reintroduced the Colorado Outdoor Recreation and Economy (CORE) Act. The bill would protect over 420,000 acres of public land in Colorado, establish new wilderness areas, and safeguard existing outdoor recreation activities. The bill has previously passed the House several times but never the Senate. Last fall, President Joe Biden used his authority under the Antiquities Act to designate the Camp Hale-Continental Divide National Monument and his administration initiated a mineral withdrawal for the Thompson Divide area, two key pieces of the original CORE Act. Even so, Senator Bennet stressed there is more work to be done, saying, “The CORE Act remains a testament to the hard work of Coloradans who care deeply about protecting our public lands for our economy, our heritage and our way of life. We have to get this done.”

What to watch for in June:

• June 8 is the 117th anniversary of the Antiquities Act
• Capitol Hill Ocean Week is June 6-8
• Public comments are being accepted for the proposed BLM conservation rule
• Will the Interior Department publish a draft rule to lock in reforms to the oil and gas leasing system?
• Will the Interagency Working Group report on hardrock mining be released?

Road to 30 Postcards: Molok Luyuk

When President Barack Obama designated the 330,000-acre Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument in 2015, he protected a landscape rich with ecological diversity and recreational opportunities in northern California. But nearly 14,000 acres of public lands just to the east of the monument remain in need of greater protection.

The Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation is asking President Joe Biden to expand Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument to include the 13,753 acres of ridgeline known to the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation as Molok Luyuk (pronounced Ma-lok Lou-yoke). Molok Luyuk means “condor ridge” in the Patwin language, an homage to the birds that once flew there.

“Our hope is also to see the return to an Indigenous name for these lands,” Tribal Chairman Anthony Roberts wrote in March.

Learn more about the effort to protect Molok Luyuk in the Center for Western Priorities' latest Postcard in our Road to 30 series, highlighting the opportunities and ways President Biden can put America on track to reach the goal of protecting 30 percent of America's lands and waters by the end of the decade.

Aaron and Kate are joined by Grace Wu, an assistant professor in the Environmental Studies Program at UC Santa Barbara, to talk about her research on balancing renewable energy development and conservation in the West. The study examined the potential habitat loss and land use impacts of developing the complete set of onshore wind, offshore wind, large-scale solar, distributed solar, transmission, and bioenergy resources needed to reach economy-wide net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 for the 11 western US states.

Kate and Aaron are joined by journalist Danielle Prokop and photographer Diana Cervantes to talk about their recent series documenting drought on the Rio Grande River, which runs from Colorado, through New Mexico, to Texas. Danielle and Diana produced the series for Source New Mexico, a statewide non-profit journalism outlet.

Kate and Aaron are joined by Alli Henderson, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, and Blaine Miller-McFeeley, a senior legislative representative at Earthjustice, to talk about the recently-introduced Mining Regulatory Clarity Act—or, as Miller-McFeeley has renamed it, the Dirty Mining Trumps All Other Uses Act.

The phantom ‘non-profit’ run by a shady ex-Trumper

HuffPost
 

Breaking down the "breakthrough" Colorado River deal

Land Desk
 

Opinion: Biden's national monuments are a great start—let’s do more

Nevada Independent
 

At Zion National Park, too many people, too little management

Salt Lake Tribune
 

Study: Climate change is pushing the Sonoran Desert toward a weedier, barren future

Desert Sun
 

Outdoor Alliance releases road map for expanding recreation and battling climate change

National Parks Traveler
 

Track to trouble? Rail safety concerns rise with prospects for new oil car traffic

Grand Junction Daily Sentinel
 

From "Walker Ridge" to "Molok Luyuk": Protecting a haven for California biodiversity

CapRadio
 

The skeletons in Big Oil's closet are driving lawsuits around the world

New York Times
 

Study: Big Oil's emissions responsible for 40 percent of land burned by Western wildfires

Los Angeles Times
 

“As hunters, we have a vested interest in making sure that species in decline are properly managed to ensure their recovery. That’s why I am such a strong supporter of the proposed BLM conservation rule. The surest way to restore the health of big game species is to improve their habitat.”

—Russell Kuhlman, executive director of the Nevada Wildlife Federation, Nevada Independent