The proposal is the culmination of more than a decade of collaboration, but faces an uphill climb in Congress
Look West: Public lands and energy news from the Center for Western Priorities
** Bill would protect public lands in central Colorado—if Congress will pass it
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Monday, September 30, 2024
The West Elk Wilderness, which would be expanded under a recently-introduced proposal, U.S. Forest Service ([link removed])
Last week, Colorado's U.S. Senators Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper introduced the Gunnison Outdoor Resources Protection (GORP) Act, which proposes ([link removed]) to increase protections for more than 730,000 acres in central Colorado's Gunnison County. The proposal is the culmination of more than a decade of collaboration between a wide variety of stakeholders in an area that is important to ranchers and recreators alike. "These lands are the treasure of our country," said ([link removed]) Gunnison County Commissioner Jonathan Houck. "This isn’t just an issue for Gunnison County, this is an issue for the country."
Like all public lands bills in recent years, the proposal faces an uphill climb in Congress, as Bennet acknowledges ([link removed]) . In April 2024, the Center for Western Priorities released the 2024 update to the Conservation Gridlock ([link removed]) report, which investigates whether Western states are living up to their reputations when it comes to making progress on public land protections. Since the release of the first Conservation Gridlock report in 2022, Colorado has burnished its conservation track record thanks to President Joe Biden's use of his Antiquities Act authority to designate Camp Hale-Continental Divide National Monument at the urging of Senator Bennet and Coloradans across the state.
An earlier CWP report, Languishing Lands ([link removed]) , found that, as of November 2022, more than 16 million acres of national public lands have been proposed for increased protection through legislation that has spent years, and in some cases decades, going nowhere in Congress due to partisan paralysis. The report also describes the importance of the legislative process in crafting thoughtful and broadly-supported proposals, but concludes that public lands advocates can't wait for Congress to pass these bills and should not hesitate to also pursue Antiquities Act protections for these irreplaceable landscapes and resources before it's too late.
** Quick hits
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Support builds for Santa Cruz River refuge from Mexico to Marana
Arizona Daily Star ([link removed]) | KJZZ ([link removed])
Wyoming lags in clean energy jobs, according to new report
Inside Climate News ([link removed])
Judge rules in favor of lawsuit seeking reduced use of pesticides to control Mormon crickets, grasshoppers
Nevada Independent ([link removed])
As many forests fail to recover from wildfires, replanting efforts face huge odds—and obstacles
Associated Press ([link removed])
What's the plan to deal with dead trees in Colorado forests?
CPR News ([link removed])
Cities in the West are booming. But will they actually need a lot more water?
Colorado Sun ([link removed])
Why piping in water from the East isn't the solution to the Colorado River crisis
KUNC ([link removed])
After generations in the dark, this group is bringing solar power to Tribal lands
Atmos ([link removed])
** Quote of the day
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” When we think about the harsh environments in the Great Basin, the presence of a prey item in abundance like Mormon crickets is in some ways a small miracle for the birds, fish and mammals inhabiting these extreme environments.”
—Sharon Selvaggio, Xerces Sociecy, Nevada Independent ([link removed])
** Picture This
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@usinterior ([link removed])
Every summer, adorable pikas gather mouthfuls of wildflowers and grasses and build a giant haystack to stock up for winter. They’ll lay the vegetation on rocks in the sun to dry them out and then store them in their dens. 💐
Haystacks are often built in the same place year after year and have been known to reach three feet in diameter. We keep a close eye on this indicator species, as pika are very sensitive to a warming climate and can help scientists detect subtle environmental changes.
Photo by @cedarbreaksnps ([link removed])
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