Public lands and energy news from the Center for Western Priorities
Look West: Public lands and energy news from the Center for Western Priorities
** Climate change spurs update to wildlife refuge policy and management
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Friday, February 2, 2024
Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Source: Hillebrand/USFWS Flickr ([link removed])
In the face of climate change and biodiversity loss, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) announced ([link removed]) it is working on new rules to help national wildlife refuge managers more effectively address climate change impacts by updating current management strategies that were based on stable conditions.
The agency is proposing ([link removed]) to both revise the existing Biological Integrity, Diversity, and Environmental Health (BIDEH) policy and implement a new rule that will guide management of national wildlife refuges. According to the FWS ([link removed]) , “Climate change is transforming historical species composition and ecological function of habitats, creating new challenges to traditional wildlife management strategies that were based on stable, stationary baseline conditions.”
The FWS concedes that historical conditions may need to “serve as a reference point” rather than an end goal ([link removed]) , given the impacts of climate change, which would alter the targets a refuge manager might set for the restoration of habitat or wildlife populations. “This proposed language would untether current and future management actions from sustaining historical conditions that may no longer be possible on many refuges,” the FWS said ([link removed]) .
The National Wildlife Refuge System ([link removed]) spans 850 million land and marine acres across a network of 570 national wildlife refuges and 38 wetland management districts. According to the agency ([link removed]) , there is a national wildlife refuge within an hour’s drive of most major metropolitan areas, and more than 67 million Americans visit refuges every year.
Fort Yuma Quechan Indian Tribe calls for creation of Kw'tsán National Monument
The Fort Yuma Quechan Indian Tribe is calling on President Joe Biden ([link removed]) to protect more than 390,000 acres of the Tribe’s homelands located in Imperial County, California as the Kw'tsán National Monument ([link removed]) . The land within the proposed monument area is currently managed by the Bureau of Land Management and contains incredible cultural, ecological, recreational, scenic, and historic values ([link removed]) that the Tribe is asking be preserved for the benefit and enjoyment of present and future generations. “The Kw'tsán National Monument is directly adjacent to our reservation but encompasses the heart of our aboriginal homelands,” said Fort Yuma Quechan Indian Tribe Council Member Donald W. Medart, Jr.
([link removed]) “This national monument will protect the trails, desert life, petroglyphs, geoglyphs, and lithics that we have in our surrounding desert. The Quechan people have been in this area since time immemorial, and we intend to protect these lands until the end of time.”
** Quick hits
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New Mexico unveils 50-year water plan
Source NM ([link removed]) | E&E News ([link removed])
BLM's dual mission to pursue solar energy development and protect landscapes
Grand Junction Daily Sentinel ([link removed]) | E&E News ([link removed])
Climate change spurs update to wildlife refuge policy and management
E&E News ([link removed]) | USFWS press release ([link removed])
Colorado regulators reject two drilling plans deemed too close to people and pronghorns
Colorado Sun ([link removed])
How did mountain lions become a bargaining chip in debate over Utah's public lands?
The Corner Post ([link removed])
Canadian company to go after millions of pounds of Wyoming's uranium
Cowboy State Daily ([link removed])
Study: Colorado's shortgrass prairies at risk of dying off as extreme droughts become more common
Colorado Sun ([link removed])
Interior warns lawmakers of unintended consequences of mining legislation
E&E News ([link removed])
** Quote of the day
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” Nevada is the Saudi Arabia of sunlight in the USA.”
—Scott Sklar, director of the George Washington University Solar Institute, E&E News ([link removed])
** Picture This
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@nationalparkservice ([link removed])
Signs and waysides are perhaps the most frequently used means of communicating with park visitors. They have a variety of functions. They welcome, direct, warn, inform, and more.
Next time you’re in a park, take notice of the signs around you! The one pictured lets you know when it last snowed. Cool.
Image: A wayside completely covered in snow hiding any information at @garfieldnps ([link removed]) in Ohio.
#winter ([link removed]) #ohio ([link removed]) #signs ([link removed]) #waysides ([link removed]) #snow ([link removed]) #winterwonderland ([link removed]) #information ([link removed])
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