Look West: Public lands and energy news from the Center for Western Priorities
** Tribes removed from Bears Ears National Monument signs
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Friday, July 24, 2026
Bears Ears National Monument signs before and after the Tribal seals were removed. Photo used by permission
One week after shrinking Bears Ears National Monument by 91 percent, the Trump administration has ([link removed]) removed ([link removed]) the seals of five Tribal nations from Bears Ears signs.
The Tribal seals represented members of the Bears Ears Commission, which includes the Hopi Tribe, Navajo Nation, Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, Zuni Tribe, and Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah & Ouray Reservation.
The Tribal Commission was first created in 2016 to help guide the management of Bears Ears in a manner rooted in Indigenous perspectives ([link removed]) and place-based conservation strategies developed over centuries. But President Trump's July 13 proclamation disbanded ([link removed]) the Tribal Commission.
“They may be able to remove the signs and take down the Tribal seals, but they cannot erase who we are, our connection to Bears Ears, or our responsibility to protect it,” said ([link removed]) Davina Smith-Idjesa, co-chair of the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition. “Bears Ears remains a living cultural landscape, and our commitment to this place continues.”
Lawmakers introduce bicameral Local Input Act
Yesterday, U.S. Congressman Joe Neguse of Colorado and U.S. Senator Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico introduced ([link removed]) the Local Input Act. The bill seeks to protect the right of the American people to provide input on proposed oil and gas lease sales on national public lands, and would restore the Interior department's ability to incorporate public comments into decisions on whether to nominate public lands for lease to oil and gas companies.
** Quick hits
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Days after slashing Bears Ears, Trump administration removes Tribal seals from monument signs
Salt Lake Tribune ([link removed])
This dark money political operative could soon become Trump's ethics chief
Public Domain ([link removed])
Opinion: New BLM proposal and lease sales will devastate Colorado public lands, communities
Colorado Sun ([link removed])
Colorado's Glenwood Springs mayor pro-tem calls for action to stop limestone quarry
Sopris Sun ([link removed])
Nevada lawmaker demands answers on BLM data center approval process
Nevada Current ([link removed]) | Nevada Independent ([link removed]) | E&E News ([link removed]) | Las Vegas Review-Journal ([link removed])
Column: Understanding how Donald Trump sees public lands
More Than Just Parks ([link removed])
Wyoming outdoor rec board awards $1.9M in grants for trail building, campground fixes
WyoFile ([link removed])
The Gambler 500: Junky old cars race on public lands to clean up trash
KUOW ([link removed])
** Quote of the day
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” You can’t persuade someone to value a wilderness they never understood in the first place.”
—Jim Pattiz, conservationist, filmmaker, and co-founder of More Than Just Parks ([link removed])
** Picture This
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@usfws ([link removed])
Computa, cancel that. Make more toads instead!
This year, conservation partners are reintroducing about 3 million Houston toad eggs into restored habitat in Bastrop County, Texas while improving the forests these endangered amphibians depend on.
No, the individual toads aren't becoming the size of Labradors. There's just going to be a whole lot more of them.
Check out our link in bio to learn more about how we're working with private landowners to reconnect forests and breeding ponds so these tiny toads can safely disperse, find mates, and keep the next generation hopping.
Photo of immature Houston toad by Hannah Gilbreath/USFWS
Graphics by Erin Huggins/USFWS
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