** August, in brief
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A live recording of The Landscape podcast in Grand Junction, CO, as part of the Keep Parks Public road tour. Photo by the Center for Western Priorities ([link removed])


** Key news from August:
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* The Center for Western Priorities' Keep Parks Public ([link removed]) tour made stops in Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah to highlight ongoing threats to public lands. The tour featured live podcast recordings and press events that brought hundreds of conservation leaders and community members together in support of staffing, funding, and protections for public lands. Follow Keep Parks Public on Instagram ([link removed]) to stay up-to-date on public lands news, highlights from the tour, and upcoming events.

* Members of Congress introduced legislation ([link removed]) to block mass firings at the Department of the Interior, the U.S. Forest Service, and the Department of Energy. In response to proposed "reductions in force" (RIFs) across the Interior and Energy departments, as well as at the Forest Service within the Agriculture department, lawmakers in both the House and the Senate introduced bills that would require an immediate moratorium on what sponsors described as "abuse" of the RIF process ([link removed]) .

* A coalition of several Tribes and the Native American Rights Fund f ([link removed]) iled a motion to intervene ([link removed]) in a lawsuit challenging President Joe Biden's use of the Antiquities Act to designate Chuckwalla National Monument. The lawsuit was filed in May by Blue Ribbon Coalition, a pro-motorized recreation group. The coalition of Tribes and organizations filed the motion "to protect and defend their interests in the monument," and pointed to their years-long efforts to identify and document the resources in need of protection.

* Employees at Yosemite and Sequoia & Kings Canyon national parks have voted to unionize. Over 97 percent of ballots ([link removed]) cast in the elections, which ran from July 22 to August 19, were in favor of unionizing with the National Federation of Federal Employees. The move will help employees at both parks negotiate with the federal government on workplace conditions. The elections come largely as a response to President Donald Trump’s efforts to slash the ranks ([link removed]) of federal workers. Yosemite is operating with approximately 40 fewer permanent staffers ([link removed]) than it did last summer, while seasonal hiring has also lagged behind expectations. As a result, current
employees are stretched thin—grappling with a 40 percent spike ([link removed]) in search and rescue operations between January and July, and facing a 48 percent drop ([link removed]) in park law enforcement staffing since 2010.

* The Trump administration announced ([link removed]) that it is taking the next step in rescinding the 2001 Roadless Rule by opening a public comment period. The Roadless Rule currently protects nearly 60 million acres of national forest land. The U.S. Forest Service will publish a notice in the Federal Register seeking public comment on its intention to develop an environmental impact statement for the proposed rescission of the rule. The notice will detail the reasons for rescinding the rule, the potential effects on people and resources, and how national forests and grasslands are managed.



** What to watch for in September:
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* National Public Lands Day ([link removed]) is September 27th!
* The 21-day public comment period on the proposed recision of the Roadless Rule will open soon
* The Keep Parks Public crew will be in Jackson, Wyoming, on Thursday, September 4th, ahead of a congressional field hearing ([link removed])

From the Center for Western Priorities:
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** Staffing shortages are hitting national parks and forests hard this summer ([link removed])
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The Trump administration’s funding and staffing cuts are crippling our national parks, forests, and other public lands

[link removed]

Kate hosts a live episode ([link removed]) in Grand Junction on CWP’s Keep Parks Public tour ([link removed]) ! Guests discuss the importance of keeping our parks and monuments staffed and funded.

Guests: Ken Mabery, former superintendent of Colorado National Monument, Cole Hanson, Grand Valley Outdoor Recreation Coalition board member and Gear Junction co-owner, Jessy Nuckolls, public lands advocate and Western Colorado Alliance member, and Tracy Coppola, with the National Parks Conservation Association.
[link removed]

Kate hosts a live episode ([link removed]) in Salt Lake City on CWP’s Keep Parks Public tour ([link removed]) !

Guests: Erika Pollard, National Parks Conservation Association ([link removed]) ; Davina Smith, Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition ([link removed]) and Grand Staircase Escalante Partners ([link removed]) ; Scott Braden, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance ([link removed]) ; Doug Tolman, Save Our Canyons ([link removed]) .
[link removed]

Aaron hosts a live episode ([link removed]) in Denver, kicking off CWP’s Keep Parks Public tour. ([link removed]) Scott Fitzwilliams, former supervisor of the White River National Forest in Colorado, Kelly Nordini, CEO of Conservation Colorado ([link removed]) , and Kara Matsumoto, public lands director at the Conservation Lands Foundation, ([link removed]) join us to discuss threats to Colorado’s public lands posed by the Trump administration and Congress—as well as what YOU can do to fight back.
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What the heck is Utah up to now that its land grab lawsuit has been snubbed by the Supreme Court and Senator Mike Lee has made public land sell-off untouchable in Congress? Kate and Aaron put that question to ([link removed]) John Ruple, a Professor of Law and Stegner Center Fellow at the University of Utah, and Steve Bloch, legal director of the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.
Best Reads of the Month


** What was learned from the latest fight over public lands?
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Outside ([link removed])


** The Roadless Rule explained
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More Than Just Parks ([link removed])


** After defeating a senator’s plan to sell public land, a unified coalition of Colorado advocates keeps up the fight
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Colorado Sun ([link removed])


** Where national parks and public lands stand as Trump administration prepares to privatize
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Wes Siler's Newsletter ([link removed])


** Former supervisor of most-visited national forest shares concerns about ‘deliberate dismantling’ of public lands
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Vail Daily ([link removed])


** Heat, rather than a lack of rain, is driving drought in Utah and the West
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KUER ([link removed])


** 'Help is not on the way': As fire season ramps up, thousands of Forest Service firefighting positions are vacant
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High Country News ([link removed])


** How a ‘good fire’ in the Grand Canyon exploded into a raging inferno
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Los Angeles Times ([link removed])


** U.S. national parks staff in ‘survival mode’ to keep parks open amid Trump cuts
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The Guardian ([link removed])


** Trump wants to cut down untouched forests. It won’t be easy
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Bloomberg ([link removed])


**
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Quote of the month


** “Our parks are being dismantled piece by piece through devastating staff cuts and rollbacks. If we want to protect every park, we need all members of Congress to stand up and defend them.”
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** —Tracy Coppola, National Parks Conservation Association’s Colorado Senior Program Manager, The Landscape podcast ([link removed])
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Picture this
[link removed]
@usinterior ([link removed])

Pikas are built differently.

These alpine fluffballs don’t mess around. While other animals hibernate, pikas spend summer racing to stash wildflowers and grasses into “haypiles” to survive the winter.

Photo by Heather Plotkin

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