Look West: Public lands and energy news from the Center for Western Priorities
** Trump plans to eliminate California monuments
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Monday, March 17, 2025
Chuckwalla National Monument in California. Bob Wick/BLM, Flickr ([link removed])
President Donald Trump plans to eliminate Chuckwalla and Sáttítla Highlands National Monuments in California, according to reporting from the Washington Post ([link removed]) and the New York Times ([link removed]) . Both monuments were designated in January by President Joe Biden at the request of Native American Tribes.
The reporting came amidst a weekend of confusion around the Trump administration's plans to slash national monuments. At 11:30PM ET on Friday, a White House fact sheet ([link removed]) said Trump had signed an executive order “terminating proclamations declaring nearly a million acres constitute new national monuments that lock up vast amounts of land from economic development and energy production.” But the action wasn’t included in the Executive Actions and Orders ([link removed]) posted that same night, and by Saturday afternoon, the national monument language in the fact sheet had been removed.
“It’s telling that the president made this announcement in the middle of the night, in hopes that Americans might not notice,” said Center for Western Priorities Deputy Director Aaron Weiss in a statement ([link removed]) . “There is already a huge backlash in the West against his cuts to national park and forest staffing. If he moves ahead with these attacks, it will only add fuel to the fire and increase the president’s unpopularity in the West.”
Recent polling ([link removed]) shows that Westerners are strongly supportive of national monuments. Eight-eight percent of Westerners, including 81 percent of self-identified MAGA supporters, think national monument designations made over the past decade should remain in place ([link removed]) . Only 9 percent think they should be removed.
** Quick hits
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Trump targets two national monuments in California for elimination
Washington Post ([link removed])
Opinion: We need to keep Colorado’s public lands in public hands
Vail Daily ([link removed])
The Trump administration doesn’t want you to know a record number of people visited national parks last year
Colorado Sun ([link removed])
Western Slope state legislators: Keep public lands in public hands
Montrose Daily Press ([link removed])
Colorado's Dinosaur National Monument among 13 potential sites for energy development, according to NPCA
9NEWS ([link removed])
Column: Montana leaders are flirting with the land transfer movement
Public Domain ([link removed])
Arizona lawmakers seek do-over for $5B Tribal water settlement after failed 2024 effort
Colorado Sun ([link removed])
Opinion: Grijalva left a mark and lessons for a new generation to live by
Tucson Sentinel ([link removed])
** Quote of the day
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” Congressman Grijalva represented his community fiercely, keeping his constituents and the climate at the center of everything he did.”
—Hakeem Jeffries, Minority Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives, Los Angeles Times ([link removed])
** Picture This
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@yosemitenps ([link removed])
After every storm comes a rainbow.🌈
When the sun’s rays hit the cascading mist of a waterfall just right, the light refracts through thousands of water droplets and scatters into seven vibrant colors that arch across the sky. What do you think is at the end of this rainbow?
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