** Bernhardt successfully eviscerates BLM headquarters
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FRIDAY, MARCH 6, 2020
David Bernhardt testifies before the Senate Appropriations Committee, March 2020
More than half of the Bureau of Land Management employees whose positions were relocated out of Washington, DC have left the bureau. The Hill obtained new internal numbers ([link removed]) showing that 87 employees left BLM's DC office in the weeks after the reorganization was announced.
80 employees agreed to the move, but it won't be clear for several more weeks how many of those employees actually relocate, since agreeing to move gave them 120 days to report to their new duty location. That window closes later this month.
Former BLM employees, including top career official Steve Ellis, have warned for months ([link removed]) that this was the likely outcome—as well as the aim—of Interior Secretary David Bernhardt and acting BLM head William Perry Pendley.
“This is a huge brain drain,” Ellis told The Hill. ([link removed]) “There is a lot of really solid expertise walking out the door.”
Quick hits
** Documents show Trump appointees interfered with science on endangered whales to relax rules for oil drilling
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Roll Call ([link removed])
** BLM loses half of DC staff in headquarters relocation
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The Hill ([link removed])
** Senators work on energy bill amendments to expand renewables, but HFC limits could derail package
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The Hill ([link removed])
** Colorado coal town looks for a plan to reinvent itself
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CPR News ([link removed])
** Arizona town hires Bernhardt's lobbying firm as foreign developer pushes to build hotels and homes near the Grand Canyon
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Arizona Republic ([link removed])
** Judge: Ranch lost future grazing priority when previous owners lost permit
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Capital Press ([link removed])
** Opinion: Trump's NEPA attack will hit Alaska hardest
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Alaska Daily News ([link removed])
Quote of the day
You’ve got one of the world’s most endangered species involved, so you’d think it’s a time to be true to the science. You would hope science will prevail over politics here.”
—Catharine Wannamaker,
Southern Environmental Law Center ([link removed])
Picture this
** @GrandCanyonNPS ([link removed])
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The Colorado River and other erosional forces sculpted the southern edge of the Colorado Plateau to form Grand Canyon, revealing a beautiful sequence of rock layers that serve as windows into time. [link removed] ([link removed]) #Arizona ([link removed]) #GrandCanyon ([link removed]) #Hiking ([link removed])
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