Look West: Public lands and energy news from the Center for Western Priorities


** Internal report finds Forest Service trails deteriorating under Trump
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Friday, December 19, 2025
Aldrich Creek Trail on the Wapiti Ranger District, Shoshone National Forest. Source: U ([link removed]) SFS Rocky Mountain region Flickr ([link removed])

An internal report ([link removed]) based on accounts from over 300 U.S. Forest Service workers across the country finds that trails maintained by the agency are being “abandoned ([link removed]) ” and deteriorating rapidly, posing threats to visitor safety. The Forest Service maintains a network of trails in nearly every state that covers 164,000 miles, but the number of trail miles maintained this year is d ([link removed]) own by 22 percent. ([link removed])

The Washington Post ([link removed]) obtained a copy of the internal report ([link removed]) showing that some Forest Service districts have lost up to 100 percent of their trail staff under President Donald Trump. Since the start of this year, the Forest Service has lost nearly 6,000 employees to firings, resignations, and retirements ([link removed]) pushed by the Trump administration

“Lost skills are weakening the agency’s ability to implement technical projects and oversee partner, volunteer, and contractor work,” the report states ([link removed]) , “which is leading to unpassable trails, unsafe bridges, and negative environmental impacts.”

Common Waters: Inside the fight for stream access in Colorado

In this episode of The Landscape ([link removed]) , Aaron and Sterling talk to Cody Perry, a filmmaker and founder of Rig to Flip, and Professor Mark Squillace, an expert in public lands and environmental law at the University of Colorado, about the ongoing battle to change Colorado’s restrictive stream access laws. The conversation centers around Perry’s documentary “Common Waters,” which follows Prof. Squillace’s efforts to change the law by attempting to get himself arrested.


** Quick hits
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Internal report finds Forest Service trails deteriorating under Trump

Washington Post ([link removed])

Trump promises to shutter the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder

Colorado Public Radio ([link removed]) | KTVB7 ([link removed]) | E&E News ([link removed])

Opinion: Exploiting the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge makes no sense

Anchorage Daily News ([link removed])

U.K. organization launches petition opposing new U.S. National Park fees for foreign visitors.

National Parks Traveler ([link removed])

Senate Committee approves bill to give national forest land to Utah ski town

E&E News ([link removed])

Column: The law that lets the president sell your land

More Than Just Parks ([link removed])

Pining for the future: Meet the cone collectors whose work could seed the ground for safer forests

Colorado Sun ([link removed])

Editorial: Idaho's senators should spike Pearce's nomination to lead the BLM

Idaho Statesman ([link removed])


** Quote of the day
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” If you think Doug Burgum’s way of thinking about our public lands hearkens back to the robber barons era, it’s because it does.”

—Jim Pattiz, More Than Just Parks ([link removed])


** Picture This
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@usinterior ([link removed])
Each winter, as snow deepens, thousands of elk make their way to the National Elk Refuge in Wyoming in search of food and shelter.

With the season comes an incredible chance to see elk up close on the refuge, framed by the towering Teton Range. Beginning this Saturday (conditions permitting), National Elk Refuge sleigh rides return, offering a unique, horse-drawn view of elk and other wildlife.

Photo by @_nationalelkrefuge ([link removed])

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