** August, in brief
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Eastern Yosemite Valley from Glacier Point; Source: Thomas Wolf, Wikimedia Commons ([link removed])


** Key news from August:
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* For more than a year, the National Park Service has been quietly working at the direction of Trump officials to hand over a strip of land ([link removed]) inside Yosemite National Park to a private developer as part of a land swap, according to agency documents and four people familiar with the discussions, as reported by NOTUS ([link removed]) . The deal would give Nevada-based Kingsbarn Realty Capital an easement through the park to build a private road to its 83-acre inholding, avoiding a 90-minute detour.

* An analysis ([link removed]) by the Center for Western Priorities finds overwhelming opposition to the Bureau of Land Management’s proposal to roll back its 2024 oil and gas leasing rule ([link removed]) . CWP’s analysis found that of 15,822 comments posted to the docket for this rule ([link removed]) on regulations.gov ([link removed]) , 99.5 percent opposed the rollback, most commonly on the grounds that weaker bonding requirements would leave taxpayers to cover cleanup costs companies walk away from. Just 43 comments, or 0.27 percent, supported it, and 42 comments were unclear. (See the full methodology here
([link removed]) .)

* The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation released a two-year plan ([link removed]) for the Colorado River, requiring the Lower Basin states of Nevada, Arizona, and California to cut their use of water. Under the Bureau of Reclamation's operating plan, the three Lower Basin states will be required to cut their Colorado River water use by 1.25 million acre-feet, with Arizona bearing the brunt of the required cuts. The Upper Basin states of Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico are also encouraged to undertake voluntary water conservation measures, but are not yet forced to make cuts in Colorado River water use under the two-year operating plan.

* The U.S. Forest Service moved forward with its plan to repeal the 2001 Roadless Rule, threatening the fate of 44.7 million acres of national forest. The proposal would strip road-building bans from roadless areas in every state except Idaho and Colorado, which have their own roadless rules. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins framed the repeal as a wildfire measure, but new roads tend to ([link removed]) be associated with more human-caused fires, not fewer. The public already weighed in on this matter when USDA first floated this repeal last August. Out of 625,000 comments submitted during a preliminary comment period, 99 percent opposed it, according to a CWP analysis ([link removed]) . Public comments
([link removed]) on the new proposal are due by September 21.

* Minnesota Governor Tim Walz signed an executive order ([link removed]) directing state agencies to halt new leases, permits, and environmental review for mining at the headwaters of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. A poll conducted for Save the Boundary Waters ([link removed]) last August found that 57 percent of Minnesota voters oppose sulfide-ore copper mining in the watershed, compared with 23 percent in favor, and that 68 percent statewide want permanent legislative protection to be a top priority.

* A federal judge in Texas extended ([link removed]) a temporary pause on new border wall construction in and around Big Bend National Park. The pause follows an August 18 order ([link removed]) from U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott halting all border construction inside Big Bend National Park, days after footage of construction within the park ([link removed]) sparked bipartisan outrage. The pause is in effect until the court reconvenes on September 15.



** What to watch for in September:
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* Will the Interior department move ahead with a plan to sell off ([link removed]) part of Yosemite National Park?
* Will border wall construction continue ([link removed]) in Big Bend National Park?
* Will the Reflecting Pool ([link removed]) be refilled?
* Will there be a rush of mining claims ([link removed]) near Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments?

From the Center for Western Priorities:


** Report: On the doorstep
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[link removed]


** How a surge in drilling nominations threatens America’s public lands
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A new report ([link removed]) released by Rocky Mountain Wild ([link removed]) and the Center for Western Priorities shows how the Trump administration’s giveaway of national public lands for oil and gas drilling is impacting wildlife, outdoor recreation, and cultural resources across the West. The report uses eight case studies in five Western states to demonstrate how oil and gas development is encroaching on protected public lands under the Trump administration’s policies.

Read the report ([link removed])


** Report: Public lands win elections
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[link removed]


** The Mountain West polling guide for the 2026 midterms
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As voters head to the polls across the Mountain West, one of the most prominent and bipartisan throughlines in 2026 is protecting America’s public lands and natural resources. Broadly, we have already seen public lands serve as a salient and decisive issue across elections, central to the identity of voters across the states highlighted. This report highlights recent data from multiple polling firms that surveyed Mountain West voters.

Read the report ([link removed])
[link removed]


** The Forest Service’s own review finds repealing the Roadless Rule could increase wildfire risk and harm communities ([link removed])
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The Trump administration wants you to believe repealing the 2001 Roadless Rule is about wildfire safety and local control

[link removed]


** Data Center Doug wants to “manufacture intelligence” on your public lands ([link removed])
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Interior Secretary Doug Burgum has spent the past 18 months defending data centers. Now he’s putting them on public lands

[link removed]


** Trump's "energy dominance" agenda is only helping oil and gas companies ([link removed])
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The oil industry just posted some of its best profits in years while Americans pay more at the pump

[link removed]


** New Mexico leaders condemn Trump administration’s attacks on public lands ([link removed])
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CWP's 'Keep Parks Public' campaign & road tour records live podcast in Santa Fe

[link removed]


** Interior allegedly shreds records while Trump installs a Project 2025 author inside its watchdog office ([link removed])
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With the inspector general’s independence compromised, Congress is the only oversight left. It should start issuing subpoenas

[link removed]


** Doug Burgum bet his credibility on a lie about the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool and lost ([link removed])
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Burgum lied about the pool even after learning the truth. What other lies will he tell?

[link removed]

Recorded live at Scoundrel and Scamp Theatre in Tucson as part of CWP’s Keep Parks Public campaign, Aaron interviews four experts ([link removed]) about the current state of Arizona’s public lands: Matthew Nelson with the Arizona Trail Association, Russ McSpadden with the Center for Biological Diversity, Emily Burns with Sky Island Alliance, and Amy Juan from Tohono O’odham Nation.

We discuss the impacts of border wall construction on wildlife corridors and Indigenous sites, along with staffing and funding cuts at land management agencies and rollbacks of environmental protections, from Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument and Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge to Quitobaquito Springs.

[link removed]

Kate and Aaron run through the weekly news ([link removed]) , including the Trump administration’s plans to repeal the Roadless Rule and upend the Forest Service’s travel management planning process. Then, we play the first episode of On Common Ground: An American Inheritance, ([link removed]) a new podcast from Eleven Dollar Bill studios, for you.

[link removed]

Kate and Aaron are joined by ([link removed]) Professor John Leshy, one of the nation’s top scholars of public lands law, to discuss a new essay of his that argues America’s public lands are entering a new Gilded Age, complete with robber barons, corruption, and deregulation.

We also talk about a new exposé revealing Doug Burgum to be a really bad boss who’s breaking the law, and about Border Patrol breaking ground inside Big Bend National Park.

[link removed]

Recorded live at Nuckolls Brewing in Santa Fe as part of CWP’s Keep Parks Public campaign ([link removed]) , Kate interviews ([link removed]) four experts about the current stakes for New Mexico’s public lands. Charlotte Overby (Conservation Lands Foundation), Keegan King (Native Land Institute), Andrew Black (National Wildlife Federation/Earthkeepers 360), and Elaine Leslie (Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks) discuss the importance of defending New Mexico’s land, water, and wildlife from the current threats coming out of the Trump administration. Thank you to Nuckolls Brewing, REI Santa Fe, and New Mexico Wild for joining us at this event!
Best Reads of the Month


** Meet the army of amateur archivists racing to save US history in national parks
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The Guardian ([link removed])


** An Indigenous photographic history of America in pictures
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The Guardian ([link removed])


** The real reason the Forest Service is killing the Roadless Rule
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Outdoor Life ([link removed])


** National parks: Impaired for future generations
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RE:PUBLIC ([link removed])


** Trump’s border wall construction threatens Native American art as old as the pyramids
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Public Domain ([link removed])


** How one small section of Trump's planned border wall became the center of a big battle
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TIME ([link removed])


** Six takeaways from the slashing of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante
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Outside ([link removed])


** Border wall expansion brings protests to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, other Arizona locations
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KJZZ ([link removed]) | 13News ([link removed]) | KOLD ([link removed]) [photos]


** Opinion: Burgum a deflecting fool on Reflecting Pool
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Bismarck Tribune ([link removed])


** Doug Burgum’s Interior department is slowly coming apart
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The Week ([link removed])

Quote of the month


** “We have lived in this region since time immemorial. There is no doubt this wall will desecrate countless sacred areas, burial sites, and other important locations.”
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** —Tohono O'odham Nation Chairman Verlon M. Jose, KVOA ([link removed])
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Picture this
[link removed]

@utahstateparts ([link removed])
POV: You’re a lizard. You found a rock. You have decided this is your entire afternoon.

This behavior is called basking, which is the scientific term for sitting on a warm rock until your body temperature improves.

Lizards are ectotherms, meaning they use external heat sources to regulate their body temperature. A warm rock helps with that.

You may see lizards basking on rocks, logs, and other sunny surfaces throughout many state parks. They are not necessarily resting. They are warming up, getting their metabolism moving, and making what appears to be a very reasonable use of an afternoon.

Please enjoy wildlife from a respectful distance. The lizard has plans. The plans are rock.

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