Look West: Public lands and energy news from the Center for Western Priorities


** Cortez Masto files bill to designate Swamp Cedars monument
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Wednesday, July 31, 2024
U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada; cortezmasto.senate.gov ([link removed])

Senator Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada has introduced legislation ([link removed]) to create a new national monument in eastern Nevada at a sacred Indigenous site called “Swamp Cedars" or Bahsahwahbee.

Bahsahwahbee was once a ceremonial and pilgrimage site ([link removed]) where thousands of Indigenous Newe Peoples gathered every year. But during the 19th century, it became the site of three large massacres ([link removed]) , one of which is the largest known Indian massacre in U.S. history. That massacre resulted in the death ([link removed]) of 525 to 700 men, women, and children.

The name "Swamp Cedars" refers to the juniper trees in the valley. The bill would protect ([link removed]) an ecologically-unique grove of these trees where Tribes still gather to honor their culture and history. The bill directs the Interior secretary ([link removed]) to partner with the Confederated Tribes of the Goshute Reservation, the Ely Shoshone Tribe, and the Duckwater Shoshone Tribe to facilitate management and public education related to the monument.

Cortez Masto has also called ([link removed]) on the Biden administration ([link removed]) to designate the site as a national monument using the Antiquities Act. That sentiment is echoed in a press release ([link removed]) on Cortez Masto's website regarding the legislation.

Comittee to hear permitting reform bill today

Today, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will consider the Energy Permitting Reform Act ([link removed]) , introduced by Senators John Barrasso of Wyoming and Joe Manchin of West Virginia.

While the bill contains important and needed provisions that would help accelerate renewable energy development, such as facilitating planning and permitting for transmission lines to bring renewable energy from where it is captured to where it is needed, it is primarily a vehicle ([link removed]) for a number of problematic and damaging extractive industry wish list items, including giveaways to the oil and gas and mining industries.

“The more we learn about the Energy Permitting Reform Act, the more it becomes clear that this bill is the first step toward implementing the suite of anti-public lands and pro-extractive industry measures proposed by The Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025," Center for Western Priorities Policy Director Rachael Hamby said in a statement ([link removed]) .


** Quick hits
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How AI and satellite imaging are helping detect wildfires in Colorado before they grow

Denver Post ([link removed])

More than 900 Native American children died at U.S. boarding schools

Washington Post ([link removed])

Oil companies sold the public on a fake climate solution—and swindled taxpayers out of billions

Vox ([link removed])

Truck carrying uranium to Utah will be stopped by Navajo Nation, Tribal president vows

Associated Press ([link removed]) | Salt Lake Tribune ([link removed])

U.S. energy reform bill a ‘wishlist for the fossil industry’, say environmental groups

Guardian ([link removed])

Swamp Cedars monument proposed at site of 3 Native American massacres in Nevada

KLAS ([link removed]) | E&E News ([link removed])

Avi Kwa Ame National Monument advisory committee forming

KLAS ([link removed])

The myth of locals v. outsiders on the Dolores River proposal

Land Desk ([link removed])


** Quote of the day
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” The people that were killed here were left here... Their spirits, their bodies are in those trees. And so we darn sure are going to protect those people.”

—Ely Shoshone elder Delaine Spilsbury on the Swamp Cedars massacres, Associated Press ([link removed])


** Picture This
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@Interior ([link removed])
Through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Interior is investing $1.5 billion over five years to better support its wildland firefighting workforce and increase the resilience of communities and lands facing the threat of wildfires. Learn more: [link removed] ([link removed])

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