** Trump’s 11th-hour environmental rollback spree
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Tuesday, January 19, 2021
Northern spotted owl | Frank Lospalluto ([link removed])

In its final days, the Trump administration has raced to cement a sweeping range ([link removed]) of environmental rollbacks. Last week alone the Interior Department reversed an Obama-era rule to allow oil, gas, and coal companies to skirt royalties owed to taxpayers; cut protections for 3.4 million acres of northern spotted owl habitat to benefit logging companies; expedited approvals for drilling leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; opened 9.7 million acres of public lands in Western Alaska to new drilling and mining; and approved a four-lane highway through Utah’s Red Cliffs National Conservation Area, key habitat for the desert tortoise.

“What we’re seeing right now is a last-ditch, desperate effort by the Trump administration to rubber-stamp as many permits, sign as many contracts and cut as many protected areas as it can to make a mess for the incoming Biden administration,” said ([link removed]) Jenny Rowland-Shea, senior policy analyst for public lands at the Center for American Progress.

The task of reversing these damaging policies and instituting plans to conserve public lands will fall on a Biden administration team that is currently being assembled. Yesterday, President-elect Biden announced ([link removed]) that Elizabeth Klein would serve as Deputy Interior Secretary. Klein has extensive experience, having served in the Interior Department during both the Obama and Clinton administrations, and is currently deputy director of New York University’s State Energy & Environmental Impact Center.
Quick hits


** Biden taps Elizabeth Klein, agency veteran, to be Deputy Interior Secretary
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Washington Post ([link removed])


** Senate majority offers Biden new avenues on environmental rollbacks
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The Hill ([link removed])


** Colorado sues Bureau of Land Management over Pendley-driven land use plan
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Colorado Sun ([link removed])


** Cliven Bundy threatens standoff to continue illegally grazing on public lands during Biden administration
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Huffington Post ([link removed])


** Public lands advocates hope Biden will permanently ban new Grand Canyon uranium mining, restore monuments
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Arizona Republic ([link removed])


** Montana's National Bison Range transferred to tribes
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Associated Press ([link removed])


** Diverted, drained, and dwindling: What's the fate of New Mexico's Rio Grande?
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High Country News ([link removed])


** Turns out the oil industry wasn't interested in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge after all
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SIERRA ([link removed])
Quote of the day
Deb Haaland will need an experienced, steady hand to implement the Biden climate plan and get the Interior Department back on course. I’ve known Elizabeth Klein for years, and there’s no one better for the job.”
—Jennifer Rokala ([link removed]) , Center for Western Priorities Executive Director
Picture this


** @Interior ([link removed])
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“The cold never bothered me anyway.” – Elsa of Arendelle

Exploring a winter wonderland @GlacierNPS ([link removed]) means bundling up and taking to the trails #Montana ([link removed])

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