** April, in brief
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View from Mather Point in Grand Canyon National Park | W. Tyson Joye, National Park Service ([link removed])


** Key news from April:
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* The Trump administration pushed ([link removed]) its anti-environment ([link removed]) agenda ([link removed]) under cover ([link removed]) of the coronavirus pandemic. Analysis found that the Interior Department has taken at least 65 actions unrelated to coronavirus ([link removed]) since March 6, despite requests from local elected officials ([link removed])
and members of C ([link removed]) ongress ([link removed]) to suspend rulemakings and calls to halt oil and gas leasing ([link removed]) .
* The Interior department delayed ([link removed]) national park closures, threatening public health. The delays came even after Interior tried to hide ([link removed]) how many workers were infected; the National Park Service's chief epidemiologist warned ([link removed]) that keeping parks open would create significant public health risks ([link removed]) ; and employees ([link removed]) and federal, state ([link removed]) , county, and local
([link removed]) officials ([link removed]) called on parks to close ([link removed]) after visitors flocked ([link removed]) to parks that remained open. Plans ([link removed]) to reopen parks ([link removed]) now spark concerns ([link removed]) over continued public health risks
([link removed]) .
* The coronavirus pandemic intersected with market forces, causing oil prices to plummet below zero ([link removed]) for the first time ([link removed]) and coal companies to flounder ([link removed]) . Oil markets have hammered drilling operations ([link removed]) all month, prompting warnings of widespread ([link removed]) bankruptcies ([link removed]) looming
([link removed]) over the industry that already operates with a high amount of debt ([link removed]) . As prices are poised to go negative again ([link removed]) and more bankruptcies may be on the horizon, concerns are increasing around compliance ([link removed]) and the risk of abandoned wells ([link removed]) . At the same time, reports have found minimal enforcement by state ([link removed]) and federal ([link removed]) regulators.
* In response to the pandemic-assisted market collapse, resource extraction industries have worked to receive bailouts from the Trump administration. Earlier this month, oil executives ([link removed]) met with Trump personally and lawmakers asked ([link removed]) Interior to waive or reduce federal royalty payments for oil, gas, and coal. Although President Trump has said he opposes ([link removed]) a blanket suspension of royalties, Secretary Bernhardt promised to swiftly reduce royalties ([link removed]) for any company
that asks for it. Additionally, a large coal company with ties to the Trump administration ([link removed]) got $10 million ([link removed]) from a loan program meant to help small businesses. Finally, the uranium industry asked ([link removed]) for a federal bailout, which the recently released Nuclear Fuel Working Group ([link removed]) report encouraged ([link removed]) , including recommendations for expanding mining on public lands such as the Grand Canyon ([link removed]) .
* COVID-19 is expected to strain this year's wildfire response across the West. Evacuation shelters ([link removed]) and fire camps are notoriously close-quarters ([link removed]) environments, leading to questions as to how to fight wildfires ([link removed]) during a pandemic and while maintaining adequate social distancing ([link removed]) . Colorado ([link removed]) ,Idaho ([link removed]) , and
other states are all working on response plans ([link removed]) while scrapping ([link removed]) some prescribed burns.
* Tribes have been on the front lines ([link removed]) of the coronavirus pandemic, with high rates of infection and economies expected to take dramatic hits ([link removed]) . Despite these challenges, the Trump administration attempted to divert tribal aid ([link removed]) to oil companies with ties ([link removed]) to political officials ([link removed]) , but was stopped ([link removed]) by the ruling of a federal judge
([link removed]) . However, other tribal aid remains delayed ([link removed]) , and border wall construction ([link removed]) continues to affect tribes.
* The Bureau of Land Management prioritized drilling and mining over local communities. The BLM approved ([link removed]) a controversial ([link removed]) land management plan for Colorado that prioritizes drilling and mining ([link removed]) , and refused county commissioner calls to postpone a Wyoming resource management plan ([link removed]) . At the same time, the BLM's unbalanced oil and gas agenda threatens rural
([link removed]) and hunting economies ([link removed]) .
* This month marked the ten-year anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon ([link removed]) catastrophe, the impacts of which continue ([link removed]) today. The anniversary highlights the actions of the Trump administration to systematically weaken ([link removed]) rules ([link removed]) put in place in response to the disaster.
* Diverse conservation leadership has begun to highlight a road toward protecting at least 30 percent of American lands and waters by 2030. Indigenous community-led ([link removed]) conservation efforts will be crucial, as are conservation partnerships ([link removed]) . The COVID-19 crisis has also increased awareness of the need to save nature to protect ([link removed]) public health ([link removed]) .


** What to watch for in May:
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* The temporary Interior appointments of William Perry Pendley as acting director of the Bureau of Land Management and David Vela as acting director of the National Park Service expire on May 5th. President Trump has yet to nominate someone to serve permanently in either position.
* National parks remain closed around the country, but the Interior Department looks to reopen them even in the face of public health concerns. Plans remain uncertain and in flux.
* Congress is expected to consider additional stimulus packages, which could include bailouts for oil companies or funding for public lands maintenance and job creation.
* Oil and gas leasing and resource management planning is expected to roll forward next month despite calls from states, counties, and local communities to pause Interior actions, and despite plummeting oil prices.

Best Reads of the Month


** Interstate 80's impacts on wildlife migration
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K ([link removed]) PVI ([link removed])


** Sage-grouse numbers predicted to fall for fourth straight year
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Powell Tribune ([link removed])


** The pandemic might set back field science for years
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C ([link removed]) rosscut ([link removed])


** Wildlife reclaims Yosemite
Los Angeles Times ([link removed])
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** National park artists draw attention to climate change, species loss, and pollution
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Outside ([link removed])


** Frogs found in western states are the climate equivalent of "canaries in the coal mine," or harbingers of disaster
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Inside Climate News ([link removed])


** Study: Reduced grazing may have paved the way for the gray hawk's recovery in Arizona
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Arizona Daily Star ([link removed])
From the Center for Western Priorities:


** Examining state oil and gas enforcement across the West
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An examination of Western state oil and gas enforcement ([link removed]) finds that while some states have successful programs worth emulating, many have room to improve in order to adequately protect the health and safety of local communities and hold companies accountable. Enforcing environmental and safety regulations is especially critical as the coronavirus pandemic intersects with market forces to send oil prices tumbling.
Read the report ([link removed])
[link removed]


** America's public lands giveaway [UPDATE]
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An updated geospatial analysis ([link removed]) from The Wilderness Society and Center for Western Priorities found that since 1987, 30 percent of public lands and minerals leased to oil and gas companies were sold for $2.00 an acre or less.

The analysis found the oil and gas industry currently holds 22.1 million acres of leases on public lands in ten Western states, and that nearly half of those leases are sitting idle today, preventing those lands from being actively managed for conservation and recreation while generating as little as $1.50 per acre each year for taxpayers.
View the storymap ([link removed])
[link removed]


**
Westwise Blog:
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** The Trump Administration’s Unfinished Business on Public Lands ([link removed])
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** Tracking the Interior Department’s remaining policy changes impacting lands, water, and wildlife
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** How investing in our public lands can help in the midst of a public health and economic crisis ([link removed])
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** Maintaining our parks and creating new recreation opportunities are critical
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** Oil companies seeking bailout could deprive taxpayers of billions ([link removed])
Companies that met with Trump paid more than $6 billion in royalties over 6 years
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** As America fought coronavirus, Trump’s Interior Department rushed through dozens of environmental attacks ([link removed])
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** Interior Secretary David Bernhardt opened or closed at least 34 public comment periods despite widespread calls for a halt to rulemakings and major actions
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**
Go West, Young Podcast:
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Mustafa Santiago Ali on the 50th anniversary of Earth Day and environmental justice in the time of the coronavirus ([link removed])

Mustafa Santiago Ali ([link removed]) is one of America’s leading voices on environmental justice. Since becoming a founding member of the EPA’s Office of Environmental Justice as a student, he went on to serve 24 years at the agency, followed by the Hip Hop Caucus, and is now the Vice President of Environmental Justice, Climate, and Community Revitalization for the National Wildlife Federation.

EPISODE ([link removed]) | HIGHLIGHTS ([link removed])

Christy Goldfuss on why the National Environmental Policy Act matters ([link removed])

Christy Goldfuss ([link removed]) , the former head of the White House Council on Environmental Quality and current Senior VP at the Center for American Progress, explains why the National Environmental Policy Act is so important, and the implications of the Trump administration’s attempt to undermine the law.

EPISODE ([link removed]) | HIGHLIGHTS ([link removed])

Quote of the month


** "Standing alone, the administration’s anti-environment, anti-conservation and anti-science agenda is an outrage. Continuing to aggressively prosecute the agenda when our country is consumed by a major health emergency is inexcusable."
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** —David J. Hayes ([link removed])
Executive director of the State Energy & Environmental Impact Center
at the NYU School of Law
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Picture this

[link removed]


** Protecting 30 percent of America by 2030 | Learn more ([link removed])
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