July, in brief

Key news from July:

• After hearing from residents on Colorado's West Slope, U.S. Senators Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper issued a joint statement saying they support more federal protections around the Dolores River. The senators said increased protections would also need to come with guarantees that existing mining, hunting, grazing, and water rights are protected—a position that mirrors what advocates for a 400,000 acre national monument have proposed. The senators were neutral on what mechanisms could ultimately protect the region, but agreed that the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service should continue to manage the land, and that motorized access would remain open on the 160-mile Rimrocker Trail that runs between Montrose, Colorado, and Moab, Utah.
   
• Documents obtained by the Center for Western Priorities revealed that a poll commissioned by Mesa County, Colorado to gauge support for the Dolores River Canyons National Monument proposal was first drafted by opponents of the monument. Dennis Webb, a reporter for the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, reviewed the documents obtained by CWP through a Colorado Open Records Act request. As Webb writes, the documents show that Mesa County commissioners put their thumb on the scale to rewrite questions so they would lead to the responses commissioners wanted; county commissioners instructed the pollsters at Magellan Strategies to hide Mesa County’s involvement in the poll despite spending thousands of dollars of taxpayer money to conduct the poll; and that Magellan Strategies released the results despite its awareness that the link to the survey was being passed around on social media, resulting in a non-random sample. After the poll’s release, Mesa County commissioners came out against the monument proposal. Later in July, Mesa and Montrose counties released a draft plan to protect the area with a National Conservation Area (NCA), but conservation advocates say the plan is inadequate compared to a national monument proposal. The counties are proposing a 30,000-acre NCA, which protects just seven percent of the area outlined in the 400,000-acre national monument proposal and omits critical wildlife habitat and Indigenous cultural sites.
   
• The Bureau of Land Management is moving ahead with a plan to sell 20 acres of national public land near Las Vegas to the Clark County Department of Social Services for an affordable housing development. The proposal is the first under an agreement between the Housing and Urban Development and Interior departments that allows for the targeted sale of federal parcels to create affordable housing. The 20 acres in Nevada would be sold for a below-market value of $100 per acre, as provided by the HUD agreement and the Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act of 1998. The Biden administration’s action stands in contrast to proposals from some elected officials who have called for the wholesale transfer of public lands without safeguards to ensure the giveaway leads to affordable housing.
   
• The Interior department is considering broadening oil and gas drilling restrictions in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A). The Bureau of Land Management will solicit public comments on whether to expand or designate new “special areas” in the 23-million acre reserve, a move that would extend the areas of the NPR-A that are mostly off limits to drillers. Environmental groups have pointed to the Arctic's unique vulnerability to climate change (some research indicates that the Arctic is warming as much as four times the rate of the rest of the globe) and are calling for greater limits on drilling, particularly following the Biden administration's contentious 2023 approval of the $8 billion Willow oil project in the reserve.
   
• The Bureau of Land Management finalized a proposal to update land use plans for millions of acres of public land in Colorado to better balance oil and gas development with the protection of habitat corridors for big game species including elk, mule deer, pronghorn, and bighorn sheep. The updates were added to comply with rules made by the Colorado Energy and Carbon Management Commission for oil development in big game habitat, aligning federal land management with state standards. BLM released the proposal with a final environmental impact statement that amends 13 resource management plans across Colorado, adding new oil and gas leasing restrictions across 8.3 million surface acres and 4.7 million acres of mineral estate.

What to watch for in August:

• Wildfire danger and extreme heat remain high in many Western states.
• Will President Biden designate the proposed Chuckwalla National Monument?
• Will President Biden use the Antiquities Act to make conservation history?

Kate and Aaron talk to Syren Nagakyrie, founder and director of Disabled Hikers, a nonprofit group seeking to make the outdoors more accessible for people with disabilities. Nagakyrie has been outspoken about the tokenization of disabled hikers by U.S. Senator Mike Lee, who recently filed a bill called the Outdoor Americans with Disabilities Act that encourages road building on public lands. Nagakyrie called the bill “a blatant attempt to scapegoat disability as an excuse to build more roads.” According to Nagakyrie, what disabled people really need to access the outdoors is good information and well-maintained trails. 

Public supports using Indigenous Knowledge to manage Bears Ears

Source New Mexico
 

Land swap ends 50-year fight to block mining near Crested Butte

Colorado Sun
 

Time’s run out for the Radiation Exposure and Compensation Act

Source New Mexico
 

Oil companies are thriving as the world pushes for more clean energy

New York Times
 

Texas' Blackwell School becomes newest National Historic Site

The Hill
 

Wyoming blocks conservation groups from oil and gas auctions

Cowboy State Daily
 

Grabbing public land in the name of housing

High Country News
 

Millions of Californians live near oil and gas wells that are in the path of wildfires

Los Angeles Times
 

Latino voters want more action on climate and clean energy in Arizona, new poll finds

Arizona Republic
 

Project 2025 could unleash oil and gas production on public lands

Wyoming Public Radio

“As more and more Americans seek out nature and outdoor recreation, it’s more important than ever to guarantee equal access to outdoor spaces. Reservation systems are a critical tool for conserving our public lands and ensuring visitors have the space to explore the outdoors, but we must ensure they are designed so they can serve as a gateway to the outdoors, rather than a barrier.”

—California Senator Alex Padilla, National Parks Traveler