Key news from June:
- Senator Michael Bennet of Colorado visited the proposed Dolores Canyons National Monument in southwest Colorado. The senator met with stakeholders, Tribes, and the general public, and participated in other activities to learn more about the region, which is the largest and most biodiverse stretch of unprotected public land in Colorado. Bennet heard from monument proponents and opponents at a public hearing in Nucla, Colorado, where he signaled his support for some form of landscape protection, saying, "In this beautiful gym tonight, what I was thinking about was the people that might be here 30 years from now, and 50 years from now, and 100 years from now, and 150 years from now, what it would be like if we could find a way to do our job together, to try to establish a vision for what this all ought to look like in the future, that's a vision that can actually be shared... I certainly, as somebody who's worried about this place looking like Moab, I'm worried that if we don't do anything about it, that we run a big risk that that's the way it's going to look. So, I think we should continue to have the conversation that we're having."
- Members of the Yocha Dehe and Kletsel Dehe Tribes signed a historic co-stewardship agreement with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) at an event celebrating the recent expansion of California's Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument. On May 2nd, President Joe Biden signed a presidential proclamation to add more than 13,000 acres of federal public land to the monument to safeguard generations of Tribal origin stories and protect wildlife corridors and rich biodiversity in the region, as well as rename the “Walker Ridge” parcel to “Molok Luyuk.” To see pictures and learn more about the Molok Luyuk area and the people behind the effort to protect it, check out the Center for Western Priorities' Road to 30: Postcards blog post.
- Department of the Interior officials attended a community meeting to gather feedback on the proposal to designate Chuckwalla National Monument, signaling that the administration is interested in moving forward with a monument designation. Attendees included BLM Director Tracy Stone-Manning and Acting Deputy Interior Secretary Laura Daniel-Davis. An estimated 700 people attended the meeting, and 86 percent of those who spoke were in support of the proposal. The proposed Chuckwalla National Monument would protect approximately 660,000 acres just south of Joshua Tree National Park, including land important to the Fort Yuma Quechan Indian Tribe, the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians, and the Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians.
- The U.S. Supreme Court announced that it will review a lower court's ruling that blocked the Uinta Basin Railway. Formally proposed in 2019, the Uinta Basin Railway is intended to connect oil fields in eastern Utah to the national rail system, enabling the oil to be transported to refineries. Currently, oil from this region is transported by tanker trucks. If the railway were to move forward, it would more than double the total amount of oil transported in the U.S. as of 2022, and would result in a tenfold increase of hazardous material transport through sensitive areas, including along the Colorado River in western Colorado.
- Interior Secretary Deb Haaland designated four new national recreation trails in four different states, adding over 33 miles to the National Trails System. The trails span public and private lands in Oregon, Texas, Utah, and West Virginia and can be used for hiking, biking, horseback riding, off-highway vehicles, and river tubing. “Every American deserves to have a safe and nearby place to experience nature,” said Secretary Haaland. “The National Trails System improves access to the outdoors while providing significant impacts to local economies.”
What to watch for in July:
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Summary of all the public lands and natural resource issues considered by legislators in Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming this year
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Highlights from the Center for Western Priorities’ podcast episode with a father and son who know and love the region and want it protected for present and future generations
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Summary of the public lands, wildlife, energy, and outdoor recreation bills in this year's Colorado legislative session.
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As calls to sell off Western public land for housing development increase, examples show it’s no silver bullet
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President Joe Biden is now just 95,500 acres from protecting the most public land using the Antiquities Act of any recent president in their first term
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Kate and Aaron are joined by Boise State Public Radio’s Murphy Woodhouse, a reporter with the Mountain West News Bureau collaborative. Murphy covers wildfires and wildfire policy across the West, informed by his past experience as a wildland firefighter. In a wide-ranging discussion, Murphy talks about the bleak state of wildfire pay, the possibility of much of the West becoming uninsurable because of wildfire risk, and much more.
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Kate and Aaron are joined by father and son Ray and BJ Trejo, who support the proposed Mimbres Peaks National Monument. The proposal would add protections for lands overseen by the Bureau of Land Management in Luna County, New Mexico near the city of Deming. The collaborative effort is locally-led by elected leaders, business owners, economic development advocates, hunters, youth leaders, conservationists, and students.
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Plans to build more roads on public lands will help disabled Americans, Mike Lee says. Disabled hikers disagree
Salt Lake Tribune
Report: Extreme politicians are trying to erase America's national parks and monuments
Center for American Progress
US acknowledges Northwest dams have devastated the region’s Native tribes
Associated Press
Time’s run out for the Radiation Exposure and Compensation Act
Source New Mexico
Editorial: Dolores monument proposal depends on compromise
The Journal
The American Climate Corps take flight, with most jobs based in the West
High Country News
Report: Industry-operated methane monitors miss most pollution events
Oil Change International
What the 100th anniversary of the Indian Citizenship Act means to Tribes in Colorado
Colorado Sun
Wyoming and Utah sue feds to halt Public Lands Rule
WyoFile
How oil companies block well clean-up reforms
ProPublica
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“I believe the national monument provides a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to proactively manage this landscape. A criticism I hear about the possible national monument in Mesa and Montrose counties is that it would limit access. I'd like to offer a less binary framing that a monument would not limit access, but rather help plan for and improve access for the future.”
—Rica Fulton, Dolores River Boating Advocates advocacy and stewardship director
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“I’m old. I’m supposed to be colorful.” -Sophia Petrillo
Grand. Just grand. Picture it: the Grand Canyon; your last vacation. You marvel at its vastness, age, and geologic wonders, but you also notice the variety of colors in the walls. Beautiful! But why so colorful? The canyon is not one to blow its own vertubenflugen, but we are.
The Grand Canyon shows off its colorful hues via the different types of rock layers formed over millions of years (and a couple of St. Olaf stories). These layers contain a variety of minerals that produce the hues. The red, orange, and yellow hues come from iron oxide deposits, while the purple and blue shades come from manganese oxide. The layers (like a cake) have also been exposed by weathering and erosion, creating the stunning colors seen today.
Thank you for being a friend and reading to the end. Tell us! Have you been to the Grand Canyon?
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