Look West: Public lands and energy news from the Center for Western Priorities
** National Park staffing chaos stretches on
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Friday, February 21, 2025
Sled dogs in Denali National Park. National Park Service ([link removed]) .
One month after rescinding job offers for thousands of seasonal employees, the National Park Service appears to have partially reversed course. The Los Angeles Times reports that a memo sent from the Interior department to Park Service officials approved the hiring of 7,700 seasonal employees this year ([link removed]) , an increase from the 6,300 seasonal employees in recent years.
But the extra seasonal hires still wouldn't offset the loss of roughly 1,000 full-time park service employees who were fired last Friday ([link removed]) in Elon Musk's purge of "probationary" government employees. Additionally, seasonal workers aren't necessarily eligible for the same benefits ([link removed]) as permanent government employees.
On the latest episode of CWP's podcast ([link removed]) , The Landscape, hosts Kate Groetzinger and Aaron Weiss talk to Mitch Flanigan, who was fired from his full-time job at Denali National Park. Even though Flanigan was categorized as an essential government employee, who would keep working even through a government shut down in order to care for the park's sled dogs, he lost his job last week. They're also joined by Tim Whitehouse, the executive director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, to talk about the devastating effects of the layoffs.
There's also no indication that the White House intends to change course on national forest lands, where 3,400 workers were fired last week ([link removed]) . Five unions representing federal employees nationwide are challenging the mass firings in court ([link removed]) , arguing that the executive branch has usurped congressional power and is violating the law that defines how agencies must handle large-scale layoffs ([link removed]) .
** Quick hits
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Protesters across Montana rally for public lands, wonder where Zinke is
KBZK ([link removed]) | Missoula Current ([link removed]) | Whitefish Pilot ([link removed])
Poll: MAGA voters in the West support federal management of public lands
KRCC ([link removed]) | Utah News Dispatch ([link removed])
Trump administration backtracks on seasonal park workers, but not massive layoffs
The Landscape ([link removed]) | Los Angeles Times ([link removed]) | Montana Free Press ([link removed]) | NBC News ([link removed]) | New York Times ([link removed]) | Hungry Horse News ([link removed])
Trump and Burgum quietly plan to liquidate public lands to finance their sovereign wealth fund
Center for American Progress ([link removed])
Westerners rail against Trump plans to erase or shrink national monuments
Field & Stream ([link removed]) | Las Vegas Weekly ([link removed]) | Arizona Mirror ([link removed]) | Public News Service ([link removed])
Lawsuit seeks to block Alaska offshore drilling plans
New York Times ([link removed])
Editorial: Doug Burgum should stand up for wind energy
Washington Post ([link removed])
Trump's energy chief says there are upsides to ecological collapse
Heated ([link removed])
** Point/counterpoint
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” So everything has a trade-off, but yeah. There’s pluses to global warming as well as negatives.”
—Energy Secretary Chris Wright, FOX Business ([link removed])
” It was almost like listening to Richard Sackler tell the world there are pluses to opioid withdrawal as well as minuses.”
—Emily Atkin, Heated ([link removed])
** Picture This
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@yosemitenps ([link removed])
Just an otter day in paradise! 🦦
How many otters can you find in this photo? This is the first time Yosemite park biologists have ever seen six North American river otters (Lontra canadensis) together at the same time in Yosemite Valley. Having more in your group may help your chances of finding food. River otters cooperate with each other to chase fish underwater. The more chasers there are, the more likely you are to catch your next meal, so this is likely an example of cooperative hunting.
Fun fact: did you know a group of otters in the water is called a "raft" and a group of otters on land is known as a "romp!" How otter-ly unbelievable!
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