** Ranchers on BLM move: Grand Junction 'darn hard to get to'
------------------------------------------------------------
Monday, December 14, 2020
Grand Junction, Colorado | Google Maps
Earlier this year, the Trump administration formally moved ([link removed]) the headquarters of the Bureau of Land Management to Grand Junction, Colorado. The move, which forced the resignation ([link removed]) of dozens of career staff, was billed as a way to move agency leaders closer to public lands in the West and make it easier for stakeholders to meet with senior staff. Just months later, ranchers across the West are expressing frustration ([link removed]) with the new headquarters' out of the way location.
As one rancher told The Guardian, Grand Junction is "darn hard to get to." The small city is roughly a four-hour drive from Denver and five hours from Salt Lake City. Grand Junction's regional airport handles flights from few major US cities and I-70, the city's lifeline, is often closed in the winter due to snow.
“You could have made a case for Denver – you can fly there from Bozeman, Montana or Rock Springs, Wyoming,” said ([link removed]) Hillary Proctor, a Wyoming rancher. Proctor notes that the move isolates BLM staff from other key public land agencies. “If you moved all the natural resources agencies, they could talk to each other. But the BLM got stuck by itself in the middle of nowhere. It’s hard not to see the move as an effort to stifle the agency.”
Jeanie Alderson, a Montana rancher, expressed frustration with the move, noting ([link removed]) , “If we go to DC we can visit with many more people who are decision-makers. We can talk to people in the House and Senate. We can speak to committees and staffers. But if we go to Grand Junction, we can maybe talk to one or two BLM employees … my guess is we won’t be really effecting any change."
Quick hits
** Conservation groups blast Trump plan to reduce environmental reviews for logging projects
------------------------------------------------------------
Associated Press ([link removed])
** First federal oil and gas auction in California since 2012 nets less than $50,000
------------------------------------------------------------
Reuters ([link removed])
** Trump administration looks to open rare lizard's habitat to oil and gas drilling
------------------------------------------------------------
Associated Press ([link removed])
** New report finds leasing low-potential public lands for drilling brings low returns
------------------------------------------------------------
KUER ([link removed])
** Montana secures public access to 7,200 acres of private timberland through Land and Water Conservation Fund
------------------------------------------------------------
Montana Public Radio ([link removed])
** Oil and gas regulation in Indian Country? Oklahoma's Supreme Court will weigh in.
------------------------------------------------------------
Oklahoman ([link removed])
** Grand Junction is 'darn hard to get to': ranchers split on public lands agency's move west
------------------------------------------------------------
Guardian ([link removed])
** Opinion: Trump is making a last-minute push to turn a sacred Arizona oasis into a copper pit
------------------------------------------------------------
Los Angeles Times ([link removed])
Quote of the day
[The Bureau of Land Management's] notion that there will be no significant environmental impacts from clearcutting thousands of acres across the West is absurd on its face. This is nothing more than an eleventh-hour attempt by the outgoing administration to shut the public out of public land management.”
—Scott Lake ([link removed]) , Center for Biological Diversity
Picture this
** @Interior ([link removed] the show with cuteness! A rare look into a sweet family moment with a mamma bobcat and her two kittens at Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge. Pic courtesy of Larry Armer #Texas)
------------------------------------------------------------
Stealing the show with cuteness! A rare look into a sweet family moment with a mamma bobcat and her two kittens at Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge. Pic courtesy of Larry Armer #Texas ([link removed])
============================================================
** Twitter ([link removed])
** Facebook ([link removed])
** Medium ([link removed])
** Instagram ([link removed])
Copyright © 2020 Center for Western Priorities, All rights reserved.
You've signed up to receive Look West updates.
Center for Western Priorities
1999 Broadway
Suite 520
Denver, CO 80202
USA
** View this on the web ([link removed])
Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can ** update your preferences ([link removed])
or ** unsubscribe from this list ([link removed])
