** Emails show Trump admin sidelined biologists in California water plan
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Tuesday, February 16, 2021
California's Sacramento River Delta. Source: NASA Earth Observatory ([link removed])

Over 350 pages ([link removed]) of documents filed in federal court show evidence of political meddling by the Trump administration in the development of a rewritten plan for how California allocates its scarce water supplies among agricultural and municipal users as well as endangered species and ecosystems.

California officials filed the lawsuit in December, alleging ([link removed]) that their concerns about impacts to species and ecosystems were being ignored by the decision makers in the Trump administration in favor of allocating more water supplies to agricultural interests. At the time, these agricultural groups had a powerful ally ([link removed]) in the Interior Department in former Interior Secretary David Bernhardt who had previously served as a lobbyist for California's Westlands Water District.

The political leadership put in place by the Trump administration called for a re-write of a scientific report just two days ([link removed]) after it was released, even though the findings in the report indicated significant harm to endangered fish species and killer whales if the proposed rewrite of California's water rules went into effect.

California Congressman Jared Huffman called the revelations from the lawsuit "blatantly illegal ([link removed]) ," and went on to say ([link removed]) , "Frankly, we all knew they were going to find a way to do this. The surprising part is that they were so overt and ham-handed about it."


** Podcast: Inside the Conservation in the West poll
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In the latest episode of "The Landscape ([link removed]) ," a conversation with pollsters Lori Weigel ([link removed]) of New Bridge Strategy ([link removed]) and Dave Metz ([link removed]) of FM3 Research ([link removed]) about the results of of the 11th annual Conservation in the West Poll ([link removed]) from the Colorado College State of the Rockies Project.
Quick hits


** EPA awards $220 million in contracts to clean up abandoned uranium mines in the Navajo Nation
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KOLD News ([link removed])


** Emails show Trump administration officials sidelined biologists in development of California water plan
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The Guardian ([link removed])


** Federal judge rules against Apaches' effort to block transfer of Forest Service land to mining company
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Associated Press ([link removed])


** Interior releases final review of massive solar energy development project on California public lands
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Desert Sun ([link removed])


** Opinion: Wyoming should enact a just transition plan for its coal workers
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WyoFile ([link removed])


** BLM Colorado postpones oil and gas lease sale near Chimney Rock National Monument
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Denver Post ([link removed])


** Podcast: Inside the Conservation in the West Poll
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The Landscape ([link removed])


** Opinion: It's time to restore Utah's national monuments—permanently
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Los Angeles Times ([link removed])
Quote of the day
As extinction threatens ecosystems across the globe, “arks” such as Grand Staircase-Escalante may become the refuges from which species can spread to recolonize surrounding areas whose flora and fauna falter. By interlocking with other designated federal lands, from Bryce Canyon National Park to Bears Ears, a fully protected Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument will mitigate global warming, provide a carbon sink, protect watersheds, springs and seeps, and prevent wholesale extinctions."

—Stephen Trimble ([link removed]) , author & conservation advocate
Picture this


** Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah
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The Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument offers opportunities for hunting, grazing, and recreating. Offering a spectacular array of scientific and historic resources, the Monument was the first national monument entrusted to the BLM. Source: BLM Flickr ([link removed])

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