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Utah Senator Mike Lee, Chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Source: energy.senate.gov
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Key news from December:
- Senator Mike Lee of Utah, who chairs the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, introduced an amendment to the Interior appropriations bill that would have paved the way for the Trump administration to sell off national parks to the highest bidder. Lee's amendment would have struck down language that requires the Interior department to maintain ownership and operation of all existing National Park Service units. Following days of widespread public backlash, Utah Senator Mike Lee has reportedly withdrawn the amendment.
- The Interior department announced its decision to feature President Donald Trump on the 2026 America the Beautiful national parks pass. The Center for Biological Diversity is suing the administration over the decision, noting that the annual pass image must be chosen through a public photography contest mandated by the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act, the 2004 law that created the annual pass program. By putting Trump’s portrait on multiple passes—including the standard annual pass and a veterans' pass—the administration appears to have sidestepped that requirement.
- A federal judge struck down President Donald Trump's order blocking new wind projects on national public lands and waters, calling it "arbitrary and capricious." U.S. District Judge Patti Saris found that the administration failed to provide a reasoned explanation for freezing billions of dollars in projects, and said that the indefinite pause violated the Administrative Procedure Act.
- Karen Budd-Falen, the third-highest ranking official at the Interior department under the Trump administration, has long-standing ties to the Thacker Pass lithium mine in Nevada. In a story co-published with High Country News, Jimmy Tobias and Chris D'Angelo of Public Domain revealed that in 2018, after Budd-Falen joined the Interior solicitor's office during the first Trump administration, a Nevada ranch co-owned by Budd-Falen and her husband signed a contract to sell water rights to the developer of the Thacker Pass mine for an undisclosed amount of money. The Interior department ultimately approved the Thacker Pass mine in the final week of the first Trump administration.
- Trails maintained by the U.S. Forest Service are being “abandoned” and deteriorating rapidly, according to an internal report based on accounts from over 300 U.S. Forest Service workers across the country. 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 down by 22 percent. The Washington Post obtained a copy of the internal report 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 pushed by the Trump administration
What to watch for in January:
- Will Steve Pearce be confirmed as director of the BLM?
- Which public lands amendments will make it on the final Interior appropriations bill?
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From the Center for Western Priorities:
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The Trump administration is using the list to prioritize resource extraction over all other uses of national public lands
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In this episode of The Landscape, 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.
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On this episode of the Landscape, Kate and Aaron are joined by filmmaker Annie Ersinghaus, rancher Don Schreiber, and Gail Evans, an attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity, to talk about the impact poorly regulated oil and gas extraction has on New Mexico’s environment. Gail and Don appear in Annie’s new film, The Land of Sacrifice: The Burden of New Mexico’s Oil and Gas Extraction.
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The year Trump broke the federal government
Washington Post
Column: The law that lets the president sell your land
More Than Just Parks
Bennet joins Hickenlooper in opposing Steve Pearce for BLM director
Grand Junction Daily Sentinel | E&E News
Repeal of resource management plans will affect millions of acres of public lands
National Parks Traveler
The oil man pushing Trump to go all in on fossil fuels
New York Times
National park gift shops ordered to purge merchandise that Trump doesn't like
Associated Press
Lawsuit challenges Trump's face on national parks pass
The Hill | Our Public Lands | E&E News | New York Times | NBC News
How federal grazing permits benefit the wealthiest ranchers
NPR
Drinking water across the West is at risk as Trump targets national monuments
Center for American Progress | High Country News | Inside Climate News | E&E News
Westerners denounce Trump’s pick to lead Bureau of Land Management
National Parks Traveler
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“Americans deserve a BLM director who will be a true steward of the millions of acres under the agency’s care. Steve Pearce is NOT that person.”
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@usinterior
When winter comes around, it brings the opportunity to experience public lands in a whole new way. But colder weather can present its own set of risks and can make your trip challenging if you are unprepared. 
Before you visit, remember:
Park and monument closures are common during the winter – check the website beforehand.
Always check the weather forecast on the day of your trip.
Be realistic about the difficulty of traveling and recreating in the winter.
Photo @sequoiakingsnps by Zach Kunselman
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