Look West: Public lands and energy news from the Center for Western Priorities
** New map illustrates Trump's destructive "energy dominance" plan for public lands
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Tuesday, February 25, 2025
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Credit: Hillebrand/USFWS ([link removed]) .
The Wilderness Society produced a new map ([link removed]) to illustrate the potential reach of executive ([link removed]) and secretarial orders ([link removed]) signed by President Donald Trump and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum in pursuit of their shared fossil fuel-centric “energy dominance” vision for America's public lands.
“As we speak, the Trump administration’s Department of the Interior is deciding which of our treasured places to sell out for drilling and mining,” said ([link removed]) Dan Hartinger, senior director of agency policy at The Wilderness Society. “Our analysis shows that their plans could end up removing or reducing protections for tens of millions of acres’ worth of wildlife habitat, ancient cultural sites, and outdoor recreation areas.”
The Wilderness Society map is a visualization ([link removed]) of the national monuments, national forests, wildlife refuges, and other treasured public lands across the country that could fall under the scope of the Trump administration’s orders, including places like Bears Ears National Monument, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and the watershed of Minnesota’s Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.
** Quick hits
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National monument in Colorado will close two days a week due to 'lack of staffing'
Denver Post ([link removed])
Rangers sound the alarm over mass firings: 'I'm afraid people will die because of this'
Backpacker ([link removed])
Fisheries biologist loses dream job just months before her baby is due
Alamosa Citizen ([link removed])
Alaska readies for Trump's oil and gas surge while questioning if it will really happen
E&E News ([link removed])
BLM strips environmental reviews before offering $20 million oil and gas lease sale in New Mexico
Inside Climate News ([link removed])
Polling shows Westerners value public lands, want to prioritize conservation over extraction
KSJD ([link removed])
A smoldering underground coal seam fire in Colorado is finally out, thanks to federal infrastructure dollars
CPR ([link removed]) | KUNC ([link removed])
Trump bars federal scientists from working on pivotal global climate report
CNN ([link removed])
** Quote of the day
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” The economic and environmental impacts are of course massive, but it is the possibility of severely declining access to mystery, beauty, and health that worries me the most.”
—U.S. Army veteran Stacy Bare on the healing benefits of access to public lands, DC Report ([link removed])
** Picture This
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@usinterior ([link removed])
Friend shaped, yes. But don’t let this sweet face fool you—the American marten can be aggressive and territorial. These carnivorous mammals have short legs and curved claws that help them climb trees and chase prey, like squirrels, chipmunks and rabbits. (And no, this is not a 'boop'-friendly creature)
Photo by Jacob W. Frank / NPS
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