** Bernhardt, Trump threaten Great American Outdoor Act implementation
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Friday, November 6, 2020
Ranger leading a hike in Glacier National Park | National Park Service ([link removed])

On Tuesday, the Trump administration missed a key deadline ([link removed]) to submit a list of projects that could be funded by the recently passed Great American Outdoors Act. The landmark law provides funding to address deferred maintenance at our parks and public lands, and fully funds the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which helps establish local parks, increase access to public lands, and purchase national park inholdings from willing sellers.

Champions of the bill in Congress worry the administration is trying to undermine the law ([link removed]) before it can even be implemented. "This demonstrates that the Trump administration was only ever interested in using the Great American Outdoors Act to influence the election, and isn’t actually interested in effective governance," said ([link removed]) U.S. Senator for New Mexico Martin Heinrich. Other senators, including Steve Daines of Montana, are demanding answers ([link removed]) from the Interior Department.

Remarkably, an Interior Department spokesman said the blame lies not with Interior Secretary Bernhardt, but with President Trump. The spokesperson pointed Outside Magazine ([link removed]) to a line in the law saying, "The President shall submit to Congress a detailed account" of projects to be funded by the Great American Outdoors Act. Lawmakers who wrote the bill understand this provision to mean the Interior Department, as part of the executive branch, should draft and submit such a list.

Supporters of the Great American Outdoors Act are watching the developments closely. “These delays suggest an effort by Secretary Bernhardt to circumvent the will of the American people and Congress,” said ([link removed]) Phil Francis, Chair of the Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks, in a statement. “That is unacceptable and will not stand.”
Quick hits


** New Mexico regulators expected to finalize methane safeguards in early 2021
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Carlsbad Current-Argus ([link removed])


** Colorado regulators move to end routine flaring at oil and gas wells
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Colorado Sun ([link removed]) | Bloomberg Law ([link removed])


** Voters nationwide approve local ballot measures providing $3.7 billion for parks, public lands, climate resilience
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E&E News ([link removed]) | Trust for Public Land ([link removed])


** After judge invalidates Pendley plans in MT, CO county looks to void drilling-heavy land use plan he approved
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Crested Butte News ([link removed])


** Rocky Mountain National Park partially reopens after major wildfire
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Denver Post ([link removed])


** Man banned from Yellowstone National Park after being caught cooking chickens in hot springs
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East Idaho News ([link removed]) | Fox News ([link removed]) | Travel + Leisure ([link removed])


** Trump administration threatens implementation of Great American Outdoors Act, Senator demands answers
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Outside Magazine ([link removed]) | E&E News ([link removed])


** Opinion: Interior Department ignores the rule and rulings of law
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Bloomberg Law ([link removed])
Quote of the day
This Interior Department continues to ignore the law and court rulings, as well as the reality of our economy and the best uses of public lands and waters, at its peril. Instead of penning a description of its record that is overwhelmingly at odds with the evidence, [Interior Solicitor] Jorjani should be taking heed and advising the DOI to follow the law and the duty it owes to the public as steward of our public lands.”
—Nada Culver ([link removed]) , senior policy counsel, National Audubon Society
Picture this
Canoeing on the Colorado River in Utah's Labyrinth Canyon
Photo by Chad Wildermuth | Bureau of Land Management ([link removed])

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