** When public comments aren’t public
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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24, 2020
Bureau of Land Management ([link removed])

The Trump administration is throwing up barriers to prevent the public and press from reading public comments on major policy decisions. Bloomberg's Bobby Magill reports ([link removed]) that the Bureau of Land Management, rather than posting public comments online, is requiring that "public scoping" comments on major upcoming rules only be released through the Freedom of Information Act—a cumbersome and lengthy process that can take months or years to complete.

The agency is hiding comments behind a FOIA barrier for several new rules, including a major overhaul to grazing on national public land, a 1,000 mile network of natural gas pipelines in Wyoming, a highway through a tortoise conservation area in Utah, and 11,000 miles of fire breaks across the West. And even if those comments are later released under FOIA, the agency says it plans to hide the names of commenters—making it impossible to see who is influencing the rulemaking process.

These new attempts to hide comments come in the wake of a report by the Center for Western Priorities that analyzed millions of public comments on previous rulemakings ([link removed]) and found more than 95 percent of public comments opposed the Trump administration's changes. The Interior Department moved ahead with 8 of 10 rulemakings regardless.


** Tomorrow: Join us on the Road to 30
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CWP's Road to 30 Virtual Tour ([link removed]) returns on Thursday with a look at opportunities to protect public lands in Colorado as part of the bold vision to protect 30 percent of American land and water by 2030. RSVP now ([link removed]) , then join Congressman Joe Neguse, Senator Tom Udall, and Conservation Colorado's Kelly Nordini at noon Mountain Time on YouTube ([link removed]) or Facebook ([link removed]) .
Quick hits


** Poll: Americans think the government should do more to combat climate change
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Washington Post ([link removed])


** Report: How protecting and restoring public lands can power America's economic recovery
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Center for American Progress ([link removed])


** America's parks and public lands hold our racist history—and the future of the Republic
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Sierra ([link removed]) | National Geographic ([link removed])


** Park Service removes Robert E. Lee's name from giant sequoia
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San Francisco Chronicle ([link removed])


** Bureau of Land Management hides public comments behind FOIA wall
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Bloomberg ([link removed])


** Coal giants cite COVID-19 in requests for royalty cuts
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E&E News ([link removed])


** Utah legislature keeps giving taxpayer money to anti-public lands groups that don't do anything
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Salt Lake Tribune ([link removed])


** Citing elevated benzene, parents and educators petition CO governor to shut down oil and gas wells near school
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Denver Post ([link removed])
Quote of the day
Above all, it seems to me, America's public lands teach the etiquette of sharing. They instruct us in the manners of coexistence, cooperation, and consideration toward others. Over time, that etiquette of sharing may become something deeper, something akin to an ethic of compromise.”
—Jason Mark, Sierra Magazine ([link removed])
Picture this


** @nationalparkservice ([link removed])
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“It’s a rare occurrence, like a double rainbow. Or like someone on the internet saying, ‘You know what? You’ve convinced me I was wrong.’”
–Michael, The Good Place⁣
(Hawaii Volcanoes National Park)

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