** July, in brief
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Pine Forest Range Wilderness in Nevada. Photo by Bob Wick, BLM ([link removed])


** Key news from July:
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* The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Great American Outdoors Act with overwhelming bipartisan support ([link removed]) after the vote was delayed by a small number of anti-public lands lawmakers ([link removed]) . The historic public lands conservation package fulfills Congress’ 55-year-old promise to the American people to use offshore drilling proceeds to invest in our nation’s public lands, and is the culmination of decades of bipartisan work ([link removed]) . The legislation provides permanent funding ([link removed]) for the popular Land and Water Conservation Fund
and directs billions ([link removed]) toward addressing the national parks maintenance backlog.
* President Trump officially nominated anti-public lands extremist William Perry Pendley as Bureau of Land Management Director. Pendley's record ([link removed]) includes numerous statements and beliefs that many believe ([link removed]) make him unfit to head the BLM ([link removed]) , such as the sentiment that the government should sell off public lands. Western Senators are urging the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee to hold a hearing ([link removed]) as soon as possible.
* President Trump continued his campaign against the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The White House announced ([link removed]) that public lands infrastructure projects being fast-tracked as part of its pandemic response will not be made public, and Trump signed sweeping guidance ([link removed]) aimed at dramatically weakening the legislation. The directive allows agencies ([link removed]) to ignore climate change when approving projects, among other changes to benefit industry. However, a Government Accountability Office report ([link removed]) found that the Trump administration is undervaluing the costs of climate change
([link removed]) to boost its deregulatory efforts. Indeed, courts continue to halt Trump administration rollbacks on the basis of climate change—this month, a BLM methane waste rule ([link removed]) rollback.
* Three major pipeline projects faced setbacks or were defeated ([link removed]) this month, reflecting difficult legal headwinds, shifting economies, and growing demands to fight climate change. Two energy companies abandoned ([link removed]) their lawsuit-dogged bid to build the controversial 600-mile Atlantic Coast Pipeline, the Supreme Court rejected a request ([link removed]) by the Trump administration to allow construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline, and a federal judge ordered the controversial Dakota Access pipeline shut down ([link removed]) after finding insufficient
([link removed]) environmental review.
* Oil and gas companies have begun filing for bankruptcy in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, after a decade of racking up immense debt. These bankruptcies could leave behind leaking pipes and orphaned wells ([link removed]) to be cleaned up at taxpayer expense. Companies have also been receiving taxpayer subsidies in the form of royalty cuts from the Interior Department—a practice that has since been quietly ended ([link removed]) . Yet, those same companies are giving executives millions ([link removed]) in bonuses just prior to shedding and restructuring debt. The one piece of good news is that new analysis finds cleaning up abandoned and orphaned oil and gas wells could generate 120,000 jobs
([link removed]) .
* For the Fourth of July, President Trump made a polarizing address from Mount Rushmore ([link removed]) . The controversial event occurred despite concerns ([link removed]) that the fireworks could ignite wildfires and that the event (which did not require ([link removed]) social-distancing or masks) would result in the spread of COVID-19. The event was protested by Native American tribes in the region, and spurred a critical reckoning with racism on public lands ([link removed]) .
* A new report found that the economic benefits of protecting 30 percent of the planet outweigh the cost by a ratio of at least 5-to-1 ([link removed]) . Beyond the economic benefits, achieving the 30x30 goal is even more critical given the findings of another new report: Black, Indigenous, Latino ([link removed]) , and other racial minority communities are three times more likely ([link removed]) to live in areas without access to nature.
* Outgoing Utah Congressman Rob Bishop introduced an amendment handing the Air Force over half of a Nevada wildlife refuge—without consulting ([link removed]) the Nevada delegation or governor. A congressional committee eventually blocked the amendment ([link removed]) .
* Local governments in Utah came together ([link removed]) to urge the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to stop its proposed oil and gas lease sale ([link removed]) of 85,000 acres ([link removed]) between Arches and Canyonlands national parks that would undermine the region's outdoor recreation economy.
* Earlier this month, the U.S. Supreme Court decided ([link removed]) a landmark case declaring that almost half the land in eastern Oklahoma belongs to five Native American tribes. The ruling has significant implications ([link removed]) for oil and gas industry operators.
* In Alaska, the BLM approved ([link removed]) the industry-sponsored Ambler Road Project that will route a 211-mile private access road through Alaska's Gates of the Arctic National Preserve, and the Trump administration also concluded that ([link removed]) a proposed gold and copper mine in Alaska will not cause environmental harm, reversing an Obama administration decision.
* In coal news, newly released federal data show U.S. coal production hit its lowest level in four decades in 2019 ([link removed]) . New documents also show that coal mining potential was used as justification ([link removed]) to shrink Utah's Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in 2017.


** What to watch for in August:
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* Following overwhelming bipartisan support in both houses of Congress, the Great American Outdoors Act has been sent to President Trump's desk to be signed into law.
* After Trump followed up on his intent to nominate anti-public lands extremist ([link removed]) William Perry Pendley as head of the Bureau of Land Management, we now await the confirmation hearing examining Pendley as a candidate for the position.
* The Trump administration's pattern of environmental rollbacks written by extractive industries has continued. Watch for more rollbacks as we move through August.
* The Road to 30 Virtual Tour ([link removed]) will be holding its fourth event in Montana. Stay tuned for details!

Best Reads of the Month


** Can solar farms and wild places coexist in the American West?
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Los Angeles Times ([link removed])


** A pandemic summer in national parks: what's different?
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Sierra ([link removed])


** Utah oil field leaves a mixed legacy for members of the Navajo Nation
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Salt Lake Tribune ([link removed])



** Yosemite ranger tells untold story of African Americans in national parks
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Men's Journal ([link removed])



** Is this the end of new pipelines?
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New York Times ([link removed])



** Understanding the future of the Colorado River through a frowny, eel-faced fish: the humpback chub
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Inside Climate News ([link removed])


** Trump's move to weaken bedrock environmental law could sideline communities of color
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Washington Post ([link removed])
From the Center for Western Priorities:


** The Road to 30 Virtual Tour: Nevada
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This month, the Road to 30 virtual tour continued with a stop in Nevada. This month’s event emphasized conservation on Bureau of Land Management Lands ([link removed]) and featured congressional 30x30 leader U.S. Senator Tom Udall ([link removed]) , Nevada Assemblyman Howard Watts, and Conservation Lands Foundation Senior Field Director Jocelyn Torres.

We discussed the importance of protecting 30 percent of America by 2030 as well the role that Nevada can play in reaching that goal.
Watch the Nevada event ([link removed])
Read the event summary ([link removed])
Visit the campaign website ([link removed])
[link removed]


**
Westwise Blog:
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** The Road to 30: ([link removed]) National Wildlife Refuges ([link removed])
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** How wildlife refuges can increase recreation access and environmental education opportunities while helping protect 30 percent of America's lands and waters by 2030
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** T ([link removed]) he Road to 30: Bureau of Land Management National Conservation Lands ([link removed])
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** How BLM protected areas are key to the 30x30 goal while also increasing recreation access and supporting the outdoor recreation economy that drives local communities.
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** July Update: ([link removed]) The Trump Administration’s Unfinished Business on Public Lands ([link removed])
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** Tracking the Interior Department’s remaining policy changes impacting lands, water, and wildlife
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Why Latino Conservation Week matters ()
A conversation with three Western environmental leaders about the 7th annual Latino Conservation Week ([link removed]) , featuring Teresa Martinez ([link removed]) , executive director of the Continental Divide Trail Coalition; Noé Orgaz ([link removed]) , senior organizing manager with Sierra Club; and Ean Thomas Tafoya ([link removed]) , Colorado field organizer with GreenLatinos.
What Western voters want (coronavirus edition) ()

Pollster Brian Gottlieb returns with a new round of CWP’s Winning the West 2020 polling ([link removed]) —this time focused on coronavirus and public lands.
Quote of the month


** "BLM’s backwards approach to rulemaking is not acceptable. It cannot propose a rule based on a factual conclusion, provide no evidence for the same, and then, when confronted with the glaring inadequacy, attempt to backfill the record without public comment."
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** —U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ([link removed]) , striking down the Trump administration's BLM methane waste rule rollback
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Picture this


** New Twitter account: @protect30x30 ([link removed])
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Highlighting the effort to protect 30 percent of American lands and waters by 2030. Learn more: [link removed] ([link removed]) . #Protect30x30 ([link removed])

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