January, in brief

Key news from January:

• The Biden administration announced it is pausing approvals of new liquified natural gas export terminals in order to review the climate, environmental, and economic costs of exporting more American fossil fuels. “Today’s pause is a common-sense step in America’s energy transition,” said Center for Western Priorities Executive Director Jennifer Rokala. “There’s no reason to build even more methane export capacity when the nation and the world are shifting away from fossil fuels.” The Biden administration is in the process of finalizing the Bureau of Land Management’s Oil and Gas Rule, which will ensure drillers on public lands post bonds sufficient to cover their cleanup costs and ensure future oil and gas leasing avoids conflicts with wildlife and communities. A separate proposed BLM rule would also address the waste of natural gas on public lands.

• Californians are calling on President Joe Biden to protect over 970,000 acres of federal land in the state using his power under the Antiquities Act. These areas include the proposed Chuckwalla National Monument, comprised of 660,000 acres of federal land next to Joshua Tree National Park; the proposed San Gabriel Mountains National Monument expansion, which would enlarge the existing monument by 109,000 acres near the City of Los Angeles; the proposed Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument expansion, which would protect 13,753 acres including Molok Luyuk, or Condor Ridge; and the proposed Medicine Lake Highlands National Monument, which would encompass 200,000 acres near Mt. Shasta.

• Domestic uranium mining has resumed at three locations in the U.S. after an eight-year hiatus. One of the mines is located in Arizona near the Grand Canyon. Formerly known as the Canyon Mine, the Pinyon Plain project is located within the footprint of the newly-designated Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni – Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument. Uranium mining near the Grand Canyon threatens water sources for the Havasupai Tribe. The designation of the monument prohibits the establishment of new mines within its boundaries, but the Pinyon Plain mine is grandfathered in. The other two mines are the La Sal and Pandora mines, located in southeast Utah. All of the mines are owned by international mining company Energy Fuels. E&E News reports that more mining projects are scheduled to come online in Colorado.

• The Biden administration announced a proposed rule that would require oil and gas companies to pay a fee for emitting methane, the second-most-abundant greenhouse gas behind carbon dioxide. Methane is 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere in the short term and is responsible for approximately one-third of the warming from greenhouse gases occurring today. The rule, announced by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), would charge large energy producers a fee of $900 for every ton of methane emissions that exceed emissions intensity levels set by Congress starting in 2024. The fee would increase to $1,200 in 2025, and $1,500 for 2026 and beyond. Known as the Waste Emissions Charge, this fee would represent the first time oil and gas companies would have to pay for emitting methane.

• The U.S. Forest Service withdrew a federal permit for a section of the Uinta Basin Railway project, a proposed 88-mile rail route that would transport crude oil from oil fields in eastern Utah to the Union Pacific railroad. If completed, the project would allow millions of gallons of crude oil to be transported through delicate ecosystems in the Rocky Mountains and along the Colorado River, which provides water for more than 40 million people across the West. This is the latest development in a string of events that have halted the construction of the railway. After the Surface Transportation Board approved the project in December 2021, the Forest Service approved a permit in 2022 that would allow a 12-mile section of the railway to be built through Ashley National Forest in Utah. In August 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals overturned the Surface Transportation Board's approval of the project. Now, with the Forest Service's withdrawal of the permit, proponents of the railway will have to think of new ways to revive the project.

What to watch for in February:

• Will President Biden designate another new national monument?

From the Center for Western Priorities:

Progress report: President Biden’s third year on public lands

President Joe Biden made substantial progress toward his conservation goals in 2023 and is on the precipice of being able to claim he is the most consequential first-term conservation president since Teddy Roosevelt, according to a new progress report from the Center for Western Priorities.

In the third year of his first term, President Biden made significant progress toward his administration’s goal of protecting 30 percent of the country’s lands and waters by 2030. He protected more than 1.5 million acres of public land using the Antiquities Act and made use of important tools like mineral withdrawals and land management plans to protect millions of acres of public land from mining, oil and gas drilling, and logging.

The report also notes that while the Biden administration accomplished a host of pro-conservation reforms in 2023, it also sold a significant amount of public land out to Big Oil through its approval of the Willow Project. The project, which opponents describe as a “carbon bomb” in the Arctic, could produce 180,000 barrels of oil a year.

“President Biden made an epic comeback from last year in terms of protecting public lands,” said Center for Western Priorities Deputy Director Aaron Weiss. “The administration is going into this year with major conservation momentum, but the president’s public lands legacy depends on whether his administration is able to execute important rulemakings and whether the president himself is willing to pick up his pen and protect over a million more acres of public land.”

Road to 30 Postcards: Owyhee Canyonlands National Monument

The Center for Western Priorities has released the latest film in our Road to 30: Postcards campaign featuring the Owyhee Canyonlands in southeast Oregon. Covering millions of acres of sagebrush, river canyons, and geologic wonders, the Owyhee Canyonlands is the largest conservation opportunity in the American West. The vast, intact ecosystem is home to hundreds of bird species, mule deer, pronghorn, lizards and reptiles, and myriad plants and insects. Due to its remoteness, it boasts some of the darkest night skies in the lower 48. The region is the ancestral homeland of the Northern Paiute, Bannock, and Shoshone peoples.

Efforts to permanently protect the Owyhee Canyonlands from the threats of industrial development and climate change have been underway for decades. Lawmakers have repeatedly crafted and introduced legislation to provide greater protections for the region. Despite strong and broad-based support on the ground, their efforts have been stymied by congressional gridlock. The Protect the Owyhee Canyonlands campaign is calling on President Joe Biden to work with Oregon’s U.S. senators to use his authority under the Antiquities Act to designate a national monument if Congress once again fails to enact their legislation.

The film features Wilson Wewa, a Northern Paiute elder and traditional knowledge keeper, Julie Weikel, a retired large animal veterinarian and longtime Owyhee advocate, Karly Foster, Owyhee Campaign Manager with the Oregon Natural Desert Association, and Tim Davis, the founder and executive director of the Friends of the Owyhee. Each speaker shares their connection to this landscape and what makes it the greatest conservation opportunity in the country.

Kate is joined by I Ling Thompson, CEO of The Foundation for America’s Public Lands. The Foundation is the official charitable partner of the Bureau of Land Management. Its job is to engage with local communities and the public on behalf of the agency. Thompson discusses the challenges the BLM faces and how the Foundation plans to help, as well as how members of the public can engage with the Foundation.

Kate and Aaron are joined by Tony Caligiuri, president and CEO of Colorado Open Lands, a nonprofit land trust that exists to protect Colorado’s land and water resources. Colorado Open Lands works primarily with private landowners to place voluntary agreements called conservation easements on their property. Tony talks about how private land and water conservation works, as well as the vital role it plays in the national effort to protect 30 percent of U.S. land and water by 2030.

Great Basin Tribes want Bahsahwahbee site designated as a national monument

Associated Press
 

What the fight over a Nevada toad says about the future of green energy

Mother Jones
 

How coalbed methane carved up Wyoming sage-grouse habitat

WyoFile
 

Colorado River states rush to agree on cuts while Biden remains in White House

New York Times
 

How 3 Indigenous women are leading the way on climate change

The 19th/High Country News
 

Big 5 oil companies to reward shareholders with more than $100 billion in payouts

The Guardian
 

Report: National monuments are the heart of the West, and communities want President Biden to designate more of them

The Mountain Pact
 

Going outside in 2024? Start planning early

Backpacker
 

New Mexico plan to create fracking wastewater reserve faces opposition

Associated Press
 

Lithium liabilities: The untold threat to water in the rush to mine American lithium

Cronkite News

“When we get involved in endeavors to protect places like this, it means a lot to us because we're not only protecting the scenic quality of the land, we're protecting our homeland.”

—Wilson Wewa, Northern Paiute Tribe elder, Road to 30: Postcards