** September, in brief
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Catastrophic fires burned on the West coast this month, bringing the hazards of climate change and poor environmental management to the fore | United States Forest Service ([link removed])


** Key news from September:
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* Wildfires devastated the West. This year's unprecedented fire season is spread across 13 Western states ([link removed]) , fueled by compounding climate change impacts including drought, heat waves, and unusual summer wind events. Particularly large blazes in California, Oregon, and Washington ripped through human developments and spiked air pollution across the West, dramatically impacting ([link removed]) the lives of many. West coast cities such as Portland ([link removed]) , San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Seattle
([link removed]) had the worst air quality in the world. The wildfires impacted wildlife as well: hundreds of thousands of migratory birds were found dead ([link removed]) all across New Mexico, Colorado, Texas, and Mexico, and biologists suspect that wildfires and smoke are to blame. The blazes and their catastrophic impacts brought wildfire science to the fore. The scientific community is in agreement that climate change exacerbates risk in critical ways, although forest management ([link removed]) , changing human behaviors, and wind all play a role ([link removed]) in
creating wildfires.
* After months of controversy over anti-public lands extremist William Perry Pendley, a federal judge in Montana ousted him ([link removed]) as acting director of the Bureau of Land Management. The ruling found that he had been unlawfully serving in that capacity for well over a year. The ruling could invalidate a range of recent policies ([link removed]) and decisions impacting Western public lands. Earlier this month, the top watchdog at Interior found that political appointees, including Pendley, misled Congress ([link removed]) when they testified that high rent was a factor in moving the Bureau of Land Management headquarters out of Washington, DC.
* The Trump administration proposed and finalized rollbacks of regulations on the fossil fuel industry. The EPA finalized a rule that relaxes limits ([link removed]) on heavy metal pollution from coal-fired power plants, allowing wastewater to contain higher levels of toxic chemicals. The U.S. Forest Service proposed a rule that would eliminate ([link removed]) some environmental reviews and limit public participation when oil companies want to drill inside America's national forests; in the process, forest managers would no longer be allowed to consider climate impacts or protect specific wild places.
* The Trump administration continued to roll back protections for endangered species, as well as the Tongass National Forest. A recent change ([link removed]) would allow the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to give more weight to the economic impacts of designating critical habitat for species, further tilting precedence towards industry. The administration also finalized a plan ([link removed]) to open 9 million acres of Alaska's Tongass National Forest, one of the world's largest temperate rain forests and carbon sinks ([link removed]) , to road construction and logging.
* The world's continued loss of biodiversity was highlighted this month. A new report found that human activities have caused wildlife populations to shrink by 68 percent since 1970 ([link removed]) . A different report found that countries have made insufficient progress ([link removed]) on goals designed to halt the collapse of biodiversity; in fact, countries across the world failed ([link removed]) to meet a single established goal for the second consecutive decade. The reports demonstrate the urgency and necessity of working to protect 30 percent of America ([link removed]) —and the world ([link removed]) —by 2030 (the
30x30 goal ([link removed]) ).
* Extractive industry executives had a rough month as secret recordings revealed their true opinions and plans, continuing a pattern of companies lying to the public, as they did for decades ([link removed]) with climate change. In a recording ([link removed]) of a discussion last year by the Independent Petroleum Association of America, fossil fuel industry leaders expressed concern about the amount of natural gas flared off, and discussed how to appear more environmentally friendly. Separately, recordings ([link removed]) of conversations among mining executives revealed that the controversial Pebble Mine in southwest Alaska could operate for longer and at a larger scale ([link removed]) than the proposal submitted suggests.
* New legislation and changes introduced this month would bring accountability and increased health regulations to oil and gas leasing and development. Colorado Senator Michael Bennet's new legislation ([link removed]) would clean up abandoned or "orphaned" oil and gas wells ([link removed]) , strengthen financial bonding requirements, and expand opportunities for providing local input for lease sales on public lands. At the same time, Colorado regulators approved a preliminary plan ([link removed]) requiring at least 2,000 feet between homes, schools, businesses and new oil and gas wells, which would be the largest setback requirement in the country.
* A new account came out from the senior-most D.C. National Guard officer ([link removed]) on the ground during the violent clearing of Lafayette Square protestors in June, who served as a liaison to the U.S. Park Police. The account contradicts Park Police and Trump administration claims ([link removed]) that protesters were violent, that tear gas was never used, and that demonstrators were given ample warning to disperse.
* Indigenous groups worked to protect sacred protected landscapes. In Arizona, groups protested the border wall ([link removed]) as it devastated the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in southern Arizona, resulting in violence from federal agents ([link removed]) . Native tribes also worked with archaeologists ([link removed]) to identify cultural sites and resources on public lands surrounding New Mexico's Chaco Canyon, which could be threatened by increased oil and gas development.


** What to watch for in October:
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* The fallout from a federal court ruling ousting William Perry Pendley calls into question the legitimacy of many actions taken by the agency. In October, the court will consider which actions were illegal, and the Interior Department will decide whether or not to appeal the decision.
* The Road to 30 Virtual Tour ([link removed]) will be holding its sixth virtual event, focusing on the role America’s national parks can play toward reaching the 30x30 goal ([link removed]) . Find more information here ([link removed]) .
* An already devastating wildfire season will continue through October, especially in the hotter and drier parts of the West.
* With three months left in the Trump administration’s first term, here are the environmental rollbacks ([link removed]) it is trying to accomplish.

Best Reads of the Month


** “The only Black person out there:” Hiker reflects after completing the Colorado Trail
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CBS Denver ([link removed])


** Your guide to safely and ethically visiting national parks this fall
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Washington Post ([link removed])


** Huge western fires in 1910 changed U.S. wildfire policy. Will this year's blazes do the same?
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Colorado Sun ([link removed])


** Struggling to live with relentless smoke as America has world's most polluted air
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Washington Post ([link removed])


** How climate migration will reshape America
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New York Times and ProPublica ([link removed])


** A trip through the wildfire wreckage
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New York Times ([link removed])


** The story of wells abandoned by the oil and gas industry, left to leak methane
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E&E News ([link removed])


** Mountain climber Jimmy Chin rides out the pandemic on his home mountain, Grand Teton
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New York Times ([link removed])
From the Center for Western Priorities:


** The Road to 30 Virtual Tour: New Mexico
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This month, the Road to 30 virtual tour continued with a stop in New Mexico. This month’s event emphasized local conservation and protecting our natural heritage. New Mexico Senator Tom Udall, New Mexico Representative Deb Haaland, New Mexico State Representative Georgene Louis, and Camilla Feibelman, Director of the Sierra Club’s Rio Grande Chapter.

We discussed the importance of protecting 30 percent of America by 2030 as well as the role that New Mexico can play along the road to that goal.
Watch the New Mexico event ([link removed])
Read the event summary ([link removed]-----------------------)
Visit the campaign website ([link removed])
[link removed]


**
Westwise Blog:
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** Road to 30: Wildlife Corridors ([link removed])
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** In this interactive storymap, learn about the importance of wildlife corridors to the 30x30 effort and explore different types of corridors
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** Road to 30: D ([link removed]) esert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan ([link removed])
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** In this interactive storymap, learn what the DRECP is, and why it is important to the 30x30 effort
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** September 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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A way forward for critical minerals ([link removed])

A conversation with three groups that represent hunters and fishermen—Trout Unlimited, Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, and the National Wildlife Federation—about their report looking at critical minerals from a conservation perspective ([link removed]) .
Wildfires, houses, and climate change ([link removed])

A must-listen conversation with ecologist and data scientist Nathan Mietkiewicz ([link removed]) about his new analysis that found humans were responsible for 97 percent of wildfires ([link removed]) that threatened homes over the last 24 years. Nathan also walks us through the effects of climate change on wildfire season, and why we cannot suppress or log our way out of the current conditions that are causing megafires across the West. Counterintuitively, the only way forward is more—but controlled—fire.
Quote of the month


** "Young voters, female voters, Hispanic voters, really every sector except for older conservative male voters. Their No. 1 issue when it comes to our industry is always going to be environmental stewardship, and concerns about what we’re doing with the environment."
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** — Ryan Flynn, New Mexico Oil and Gas Association,
in a secret recording of a fossil fuel industry discussion
New York Times ([link removed])
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Picture this


** @Interior ([link removed])
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Are you ready for #FatBearWeek ([link removed]) ? This week, @KatmaiNPS ([link removed]) is holding its annual competition so you can judge which chubby cubby takes this year's title. Pic of last year's winner: 435 Holly #Alaska ([link removed])

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