November, in brief

Key news from November:

• Donald Trump's election will be devastating for public lands. Project 2025, the policy handbook written by former Trump officials, clearly lays out a plan to gut the Interior department and remove environmental safeguards that ensure the health of our public lands. In short, it would give extractive industries nearly unfettered access to public lands; severely restrict the power of the Endangered Species Act; open up millions of acres of Alaska wilderness to drilling, mining, and logging; roll back protections for spectacular landscapes like Oregon’s Cascade Siskiyou National Monument; and remove protections for iconic Western species like gray wolves and grizzly bears. “America’s parks, monuments, forests, and public lands are universally popular, regardless of political party,” said Jennifer Rokala, Executive Director at the Center for Western Priorities, in a statement. “If President-elect Trump and his administration try to sell off public lands, open lands to destruction, or put corporate profits ahead of public access, they will be met with swift resistance across the political spectrum. We held Trump’s corrupt appointees accountable last time, and we are prepared to do it again.”

• President-elect Trump announced he would nominate North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum to be his Secretary of the Interior. Burgum is a former software executive who organized a dinner at Mar-a-Lago earlier this year where Trump suggested oil and gas executives raise $1 billion for his campaign. “Running the Interior department requires someone who can find balance between recreation, conservation, hunting, ranching, mining, and—yes—oil drilling,” said Jennifer Rokala, Executive Director at the Center for Western Priorities, in a statement. “If Doug Burgum tries to turn America’s public lands into an even bigger cash cow for the oil and gas industry, or tries to shrink America’s parks and national monuments, he’ll quickly discover he’s on the wrong side of history.”

• The Department of Justice responded to the Utah lawsuit seeking control of 18.5 million acres of federal lands, stating that the lawsuit “plainly lacks merit” and is not worthy of being heard by the Supreme Court. A DOJ legal brief filed with the Supreme Court argued that the U.S. Constitution clearly allows the federal government to control the lands. The lawsuit claims that the federal government lacks the authority to permanently retain public lands without a valid and immediate government purpose. The brief dismisses Utah’s legal claims for several reasons, including that the statute of limitations for civil actions against the United States is six years. Additionally, the DOJ argues that Utah should have first filed its complaint with the U.S. district court instead of directly to the Supreme Court. “Utah’s complaint does not satisfy the Court’s usual criteria for entertaining an original case,” according to the DOJ brief.

• The Biden administration announced its support for a controversial land exchange that would pave the way for a gravel road through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. The road proposal has been a political football for more than a decade, driven by a request from the residents of King Cove, a 900-person community that wants access to medical care via an all-weather runway in the town of Cold Bay, 16 miles away. The announcement kicks off a 45-day public comment period on the proposed land exchange. The Interior department will also hold public meetings on the proposal. But the timing of the announcement means the final decision on the Izembek road and land swap will be made by the Trump administration next year.

• In a 3-2 vote, the Wyoming State Board of Land Commissioners approved a sale of the Kelly Parcel to Grand Teton National Park for no less than $100 million. If completed, the sale will ensure the landscape is conserved for future generations. The transaction’s completion is dependent on Governor Mark Gordon's approval of the Bureau of Land Management’s Rock Springs Resource Management Plan. The state said this will only happen if the plan is changed to include increased allowance for hunting and grazing, and if the BLM takes the governor's feedback into account in the final management plan.

What to watch for in December:

• Who will President-elect Trump nominate as BLM director?
• Will President Biden designate the proposed Chuckwalla National Monument or other proposed national monuments in California?
• Will President Biden use the Antiquities Act to make conservation history before he leaves office?

Kate and Aaron are joined by CWP Executive Director, Jennifer Rokala, and Curtis Hubbard, a political consultant based in Colorado, to break down the what the results of the 2024 election mean for public lands.

Kate and Aaron talk to Sanjay Narayan, managing attorney of the Sierra Club’s Environmental Law Program, about a lawsuit over the proposed Uinta Basin oil train that could have some major implications for the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The case is set to be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court in December.

Kate and Aaron are joined by Dr. Dominick DellaSala, Chief Scientist at Wild Heritage, a project of the Earth Island Institute. Dr. DellaSala came on The Landscape twice last year to talk about the Biden administration’s plans to protect mature and old growth forests. He recently wrote an op-ed for the Seattle Times in which he says the Forest Service’s is still planning to allow logging in mature and old growth forests. We talk about why that’s the case, how the Old Growth Amendment process plays into this, and what the Biden administration can do about it, then discuss recent headlines about wildlife connectivity in forests and carbon sink failure.

Opinion: Public land protectors are ready for a fight

Writers on the Range
 

With ready orders and an energy czar, Trump plots pivot to fossil fuels

New York Times
 

Here’s how much Utah is spending on a public relations campaign for its lawsuit seeking control of public land

Salt Lake Tribune
 

Cloned black-footed ferret gives birth for first time ever, a landmark in Colorado-based reintroduction efforts

Colorado Sun
 

Ammon Bundy is avoiding arrest in Utah, threatens to 'make a stand'

The Independent
 

Trump is coming for climate progress. Here we go again

Los Angeles Times
 

Biden admin urges "consensus path" for future Colorado River management

Associated Press
 

Biden has designated six national monuments—can he do more?

KUNC
 

The Wilderness Society selects BLM Director Tracy Stone-Manning as new president

The Wilderness Society
 

Santa Cruz River Partnership could create Arizona’s first urban wildlife refuge

AZPM

“The fight to protect our planet is literally a fight for humanity.”

—President Joe Biden during a trip to the Amazon rainforest, Associated Press