January, in brief

Key news from January:

• The U.S. House of Representatives voted to repeal a 20-year mining ban near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in Minnesota. The vote reinvigorates plans by Twin Metals, a Chilean-owned company that intends to mine the Superior National Forest for copper and nickel, threatening the headwaters of the country's most-visited wilderness area.
   
• A coalition of more than 80 organizations is calling on lawmakers, including U.S. Senators Mike Lee of Utah and Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, to oppose the nomination of Steve Pearce to be director of the Bureau of Land Management. Pearce has a history of advocating for privatization and sell-off of national public lands, and he has built vast wealth in the oil and gas sector. His ethics agreement requires him to divest millions of dollars from fossil fuel and energy companies, yet some of his financial entanglements remain undisclosed.
   
• Members of the House Natural Resources Committee and House Oversight Committee asked the Interior department's inspector general to investigate whether Karen Budd-Falen, currently the third-highest ranking official at Interior, engaged in self-dealing during the first Trump administration. Government documents reveal that Budd-Falen failed to disclose a $3.5 million contract her husband signed with the developer of the Thacker Pass lithium mine in Nevada while Budd-Falen was a top official at Interior during the first Trump administration.
   
• The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has concluded that lawmakers can use the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to overturn a Biden-era management plan for Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah—a landscape known for its geological, recreational, and cultural significance. The report, which was requested by U.S. Representative Celeste Maloy of Utah, paves the way for Congress to chip away at protections for the national monument, including by weakening natural resource protections that were outlined in the management plan.
   
• Congressional appropriators released final spending bills for fiscal year 2026 for the Interior department, Environmental Protection Agency, and the Department of Energy. The package cuts funding slightly for most Interior department agencies, but stops well short of President Donald Trump's recommended cuts. The National Parks Conservation Association acknowledged the package could've been worse, saying, "These funding levels should keep parks open and staff on the ground as the system has been nearing a breaking point after losing a quarter of its permanent workforce in 2025."
   

What to watch for in February:

• Will Steve Pearce be confirmed as director of the BLM?
• Will Utah's members of Congress use the CRA to repeal Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument's management plan?

Report: From Disavowal to Delivery

In this episode of The Landscape, Kate and Aaron talk to Kelly Mitchell, executive director of oil industry watchdog FieldNotes, about what Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro’s capture by the US means for oil and gas producers here in the West. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum has also been making the rounds on Fox cheering on Trump’s actions in Venezuela and calling on US companies to start drilling there, which we also touch on.
 

Aaron and Kate speak with Zachary Fort, president of the New Mexico Shooting Sports Association, about his opposition to Steve Pearce’s nomination to lead the Bureau of Land Management. Fort, a former Republican and gun rights advocate, explains why hunters and shooting sports enthusiasts are concerned about Pearce’s track record on public lands. He discusses Pearce’s history of sponsoring legislation to sell off national public lands, his prioritization of oil and gas interests over public access, and his divisive leadership of the New Mexico Republican Party. Fort argues that Pearce’s support for transferring public lands to private ownership threatens hunting and shooting opportunities that generations of New Mexicans have relied on.

From California to Pennsylvania, the Trump administration removes history and science from national parks

More Than Just Parks | Atmos | New York Times | NPR | Associated Press | Philadelphia Inquirer | Reuters | E&E News | National Parks Traveler
 

House public lands caucus fails test with Boundary Waters vote

Public Domain | Field & Stream | Duluth News Tribune [opinion]
 

Trump is keeping coal on life support. How long can it last?

Grist
 

Opinion: Doug Burgum used to praise liberty. Now he's betraying it

Heatmap
 

Trump may give 775 acres of a national wildlife refuge to SpaceX

New York Times
 

DOI cracks down on stickers covering Trump's face on national park passes

SFGate 
 

Burgum unveils cartoon mascot 'Coalie' while slashing staff and rules

Fast Company | E&E News
 

Fed agency looking for wildlife refuges that ‘no longer align with the mission’

Wyoming Public Radio | The Hill
 

Interior plans to open all public land to hunting and fishing—unless specifically closed by site managers

Outdoor Life | GearJunkie
 

Tracy Stone-Manning: What I learned running the BLM

Compact
 

“When the smoke clears, much of the architecture underpinning public-lands management will be in ruins. But in that clearing lies a once-in-a-generation opportunity to rethink and rebuild and design a system that is more nimble, coherent, and capable of meeting the challenges ahead.”

—Former Bureau of Land Management director Tracy Stone‑Manning, Compact