August, in brief

Key news from August:

• President Joe Biden signed a proclamation to designate nearly 1 million acres of public land as Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni – Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument. Baaj nwaavjo means “where Indigenous peoples roam” in the Havasupai language, and i’tah kukveni means “our ancestral footprints” in Hopi. The monument will help protect the region surrounding the Grand Canyon from new uranium mining, a current and ongoing threat to Grand Canyon National Park, the Colorado River, and the Tribal communities that call the Grand Canyon region home. According to the proclamation, the 917,618-acre national monument includes lands currently managed by the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and the agencies will share "co-stewardship of the monument" with Tribal nations.

• The BLM has released its Blueprint for 21st Century Outdoor Recreation to chart a course for the agency’s significant and expanding role as a provider of outdoor recreation opportunities. The Blueprint is intended to guide the BLM’s investments and outreach activities, as well as the development of partnerships and programs to respond to current demand and also meet future outdoor recreation needs. The release of the Blueprint marks an important shift in how the agency will prioritize and support outdoor recreation, transitioning from a reactive to a proactive approach. “The guidance outlined in the Blueprint to develop new partnerships, expand outreach activities, and establish a culture of inclusion will hold the BLM accountable to realize its vision of successful and inclusive outdoor recreation across all BLM-managed public lands,” said Lauren Bogard, Director of Campaigns at the Center for Western Priorities.

• A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit from Utah politicians who challenged President Joe Biden’s restoration of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase–Escalante national monuments. Judge David Nuffer ruled, consistent with numerous prior cases, that since Congress granted the president the authority to designate national monuments on national public lands, “Congress knows how to restrict statutory presidential power.” Both Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante were designated as national monuments under the Antiquities Act: President Barack Obama designated Bears Ears in 2016 and President Bill Clinton designated Grand Staircase-Escalante in 1996. In 2017, President Donald Trump attempted to shrink them, but President Biden restored them to their original boundaries during his first year in office. The lawsuit contended that the Antiquities Act doesn’t grant the power to protect expansive landscapes, despite its use for this purpose multiple times since Theodore Roosevelt designated the Grand Canyon as a national monument in 1908.

• A Montana judge ruled in favor of young people who claimed the state violated their right to a “clean and healthful environment” by promoting the use of fossil fuels. Led by 16 children, teens, and young adults, this was the first U.S. youth-led climate lawsuit to go to trial. The win could inspire a wave of cases aimed at holding governments and fossil fuel companies accountable for their climate impact. Judge Kathy Seeley of the 1st District Court in Montana ruled that the state legislature violated the state constitution when it revised the Montana Environmental Policy Act to exclude consideration of climate emissions.

• The BLM is proposing new conservation areas in Colorado, Wyoming, and Idaho. In Colorado, newly proposed resource management plans (RMPs) from the Grand Junction and Colorado River Valley field offices propose new conservation designations on more than 100,000 acres of public land, while preventing new oil and gas leases on more than 1.6 million acres. The RMPs would also establish nine areas of critical environmental concern (ACECs). In Wyoming, the BLM released a draft RMP for 3.6 million acres of public land in the Rock Springs region. The draft RMP proposes 16 new ACECs and proposes expanding existing oil and gas closures in the Northern Red Desert and Big Sandy Foothills, areas that have low oil and gas potential. In southwest Idaho, over 120,000 acres of rolling grasslands will be better conserved thanks to a new Backcountry Conservation Area as part of the BLM's Four Rivers Field Office Resource Management Plan. The plan sets guidance for the management of fish and wildlife habitat, outdoor recreation, and livestock, as well as renewable energy development, mining, and drilling across approximately 783,000 acres of public land in southwest Idaho. The plan also closes areas with low and no potential of oil and gas development to leasing.

• The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released a proposal to designate a 5,617-square-mile area offshore of San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties in central California as Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary. The announcement follows a long advocacy campaign by the Northern Chumash people, who have been protecting and caring for California’s Central Coast since before the United States became a country. The proposed sanctuary would benefit marine life, the environment, the local economy, and the Chumash people. The proposed boundary for the sanctuary would stretch along 134 miles of coastline from Hazard Canyon Reef, south of Morro Bay, to an area just south of Dos Pueblos Canyon. This proposed designation is the first Indigenous-led nomination for a national marine sanctuary. To see part of the area that would be protected and hear from a Northern Chumash tribal member about why the designation is urgently needed, watch the Center for Western Priorities' short documentary about the proposed sanctuary.

What to watch for in September:

• Public comments on the BLM's oil and gas rule are being accepted through September 22.
• How would a potential government shutdown impact public lands?
• Will the Department of the Interior release its promised rule to increase protections for designated Special Areas within the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A)?
• Will the Interagency Working Group report on hardrock mining be released?
• Will President Biden designate another new national monument?

From the Center for Western Priorities:

Winning the West 2023 Poll Results

The latest “Winning the West” poll from the Center for Western Priorities shows that public lands conservation remains a winning election issue for Western voters in Arizona, Colorado, and Nevada. Overwhelming majorities say that national public lands, parks, and wildlife issues are not only important to them but that these issues will play an influential role in how they choose to vote.

Heading into next year’s elections, 87 percent of Western voters—with strong majorities across parties—say a candidate’s support for conservation plays an influential role in how they choose to cast their ballots. Specifically, 71 percent of Western voters say they are more likely to support a candidate who prioritizes public lands from being taken over by private developers and oil and mining companies. 71 percent also say the same thing about a candidate who supports protecting and investing in national parks and monuments.

In regard to the Biden administration, 74 percent of Western voters say doing more to protect and conserve public lands, parks, wildlife, and national monuments would make them view the administration more favorably. That view is held by 93 percent of Democrats, 76 percent of Independents, and even 53 percent of Republicans.

Local monument proposals are popular among voters in the states surveyed. The poll found that 79 percent of voters in Arizona support the recently designated Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni–Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument. 84 percent of voters in Colorado support the Dolores River Canyon Country national monument proposal, and 77 percent of voters in Nevada support the Bahsahwahbee national monument proposal (locally known as Swamp Cedars).

“Outdoor voters are up for grabs for candidates who support the environmental issues of today,” said pollster Lindsay Vermeyen, Senior Vice President at Benenson Strategy Group. “This means candidates who are willing to designate more national monuments, prioritize renewables and long-term sustainability, as well as protect our Western way of life.”

Backyard Problems: The toxic legacy of extractive industries in the West

Across the West, the legacy of mining and oil and gas extraction has left dozens of toxic messes that have yet to be cleaned up, and pollution and contamination that may never be fully eliminated.

A new report from the Center for Western Priorities, Backyard Problems, looks at a number of these toxic sites to highlight the risks involved with mining and drilling in the West, making a strong case for strengthening environmental safeguards and reforming outdated laws in order to better protect Western communities and the environment. These outdated laws include the 151-year-old General Mining Act of 1872 and the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920.

Rachael Hamby, Policy Director at the Center for Western Priorities and one of the report authors said, “Westerners’ backyards are littered with contamination left behind by mining and oil and gas companies that made toxic messes and then walked away. After more than 150 years of mining and drilling, we’ve had more than enough time to learn from the mistakes of the past. Yet when it comes to the laws that govern resource extraction, very little has changed.”

The Biden administration is currently updating federal rules that govern how drilling occurs on public lands, as well as creating a federal rule to better balance conservation with extractive activities on public lands. The report shows why these efforts are necessary and urgent, underscoring that the rules must be enforced to be effective. Finally, the Backyard Problems report makes the case for increasing bonding requirements for both drilling and mining projects so that taxpayers are not stuck with the cleanup costs. “It’s time to bring our laws and policies into the 21st century to protect Western communities and landscapes from irresponsible mining and drilling,” said Hamby.

Kate and Aaron are joined by pollster Lindsay Vermeyen, senior vice president at Benenson Strategy Group, and Center for Western Priorities Executive Director Jennifer Rokala to dig into the results of our 2023 Winning the West poll. Spoiler alert: Western voters really love public lands, and they want to see them protected. Kate and Aaron also recap some of the great public lands and conservation news that came out in August.

Aaron and Kate are joined by I Ling Thompson, vice president of strategy and engagement at the Trust for Public Land, to discuss a new report from the Trust called the Power of Parks to Promote Health. The report looks at the myriad ways urban parks improve human and environmental health, as well as how cities and park managers can ensure parks are used to their full potential. Thompson also touches on how new parks are funded and how the construction of new parks can benefit low income communities without displacing them.

In a special Road to 30: Postcards episode, Aaron and Kate talked to two members of the Havasupai Tribe about the new Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni — Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument. The monument partially surrounds and helps protect the Grand Canyon National Park, as well as the communities that live in and near the canyon, from uranium mining. The monument was proposed by a large group of tribes called the Grand Canyon Tribal Coalition, which includes members of the Havasupai, Hopi, and Hualapai Tribes, as well as the Kaibab Paiute Tribe, the Las Vegas Band of Paiute, the Moapa Band of Paiutes, the Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah, the Navajo Nation, the San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe, the Yavapai-Apache Nation, the Pueblo of Zuni, and the Colorado River Indian Tribes. Carletta Tilousi, a former tribal councilwoman who has helped lead the effort to establish the monument, and Stuart Chavez, a former tribal councilman who serves on the Havasupai Anti-Uranium Subcommittee, talk about their involvement in the fight for the monument and how it will help protect their homeland.

An antiquated law rules mining in the West

High Country News
 

National parks drove record spending last year

National Park Service
 

Fishing, hunting groups say members can build support for new national monuments

Boise State Public Radio
 

Opinion: Protect entire Dolores River Canyon Country as national monument

Durango Herald
 

Analysis: Big Oil holds nearly half of federal drilling leases

Accountable.US
 

More voters than ever—regardless of political affiliation—are worried about land and water conservation in the West

Colorado Sun
 

White House to agencies: Tally projects’ financial damage to ecosystems

E&E News
 

Report: Private equity is getting into oil and gas

Public Citizen
 

Hawaii wildfires tragic example of danger posed by nonnative fire-prone grasses

Washington Post
 

Western states will not lose as much Colorado River water in 2024, despite long-term challenges

The Hill

“If we are not telling a story about public lands where people feel seen, where people’s experiences are validated, and where we’re being authentic—and just acknowledging some of the atrocious things that happened with regards to how land has been conserved in this country—then people are going to continue to feel alienated by the conservation movement.”

—Liz Vogel, education and youth engagement director at The Wilderness Society, Grist