Look West: Public lands and energy news from the Center for Western Priorities
** Senators to Burgum: Hiring freeze will cause 'chaos' at national parks
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Monday, February 10, 2025
Sign for Glacier National Park at the east entrance near St. Mary, Montana. Tony Webster, Wikimedia Commons ([link removed])
On Friday, 22 U.S. senators wrote a letter ([link removed]) to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum warning him that the Trump administration's effort to shrink the federal workforce could cripple the National Park Service (NPS) ahead of the busy summer season.
President Donald Trump's hiring freeze ([link removed]) rescinded over 2,000 ([link removed]) seasonal and permanent job offers from NPS, dealing a major blow to the service's ability to meet the needs of national parks. As described in the letter ([link removed]) , without seasonal staff during peak season, visitor centers may close, bathrooms will be filthy, campgrounds may close, guided tours will be cut back or altogether cancelled, and emergency response times will drop.
“Americans showing up to national parks this summer and for years to come don’t deserve to have their vacations ruined by a completely preventable — and completely irresponsible — staffing shortage," the senators said ([link removed]) .
They also warned Secretary Burgum that some parks could close, which would severely hamstring gateway communities that rely on visitation to sustain local economies. According to the National Park Service, visitors spend about $26.4 billion ([link removed]) annually in communities near parks.
** Quick hits
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Senators urge Burgum to halt impending ‘chaos’ at national parks
E&E News ([link removed]) | SFGATE ([link removed])
Mysterious land purchases within Joshua Tree National Park worry locals, environmentalists
Los Angeles Times ([link removed])
Despite Trump’s anti-public lands stance, Colorado advocates still hope to protect Dolores River canyonlands
Denver Post ([link removed])
Trump’s ‘Unleashing American Energy’ could undo BLM’s Rock Springs plan, but not before litigation
Wyoming Public Radio ([link removed])
Carbon capture efforts face less support in Trump’s second term
Associated Press ([link removed])
Struck down, again: Lawmakers reject ban on Wyoming’s tradition of killing wildlife with snowmobiles
WyoFile ([link removed])
Federal judge rules in favor of couple who built a home in Glacier National Park
Flathead Beacon ([link removed])
What will Trump’s ‘Unleashing American Energy’ mean for Colorado, nation?
Denver Post ([link removed])
** Quote of the day
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” Federal public lands strike at the very core of what it means to be a westerner, so people from all political viewpoints and backgrounds have very strong beliefs about what it means to live here in the West and the impact public lands have on their lives.”
—Chris Winter, executive director of the University of Colorado Boulder’s Getches-Wilkinson Center for Natural Resources, Energy, and the Environment, Denver Post ([link removed])
** Picture This
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@usinterior ([link removed])
Behold, National Park LIX
Far from the busy streets of California’s cities, @pinnaclesnps ([link removed]) — designated the 59th national park in 2013 — offers a haven of towering rock spires, hidden caves and peaceful solitude.
Pinnacles is a place for rejuvenation. Visitors appreciate the unspoiled wilderness, hike the trails, climb rock walls, explore quiet caves, stargaze in clear night skies and camp in the shade of ancient oaks.
Photo by NPS
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