** A groundswell of support for Haaland
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Monday, February 22, 2021
Rep. Deb Haaland and Vice President Kamala Harris, @RepDebHaaland ([link removed])
Ahead of Tuesday's hearing ([link removed]) for Interior secretary nominee Deb Haaland, thousands of people are calling on senators to confirm her as America’s first Native American cabinet secretary ([link removed]) .
More than 2,500 Montanans signed a petition ([link removed]) aimed at Senator Steve Daines, who called Haaland a “radical” ([link removed]) and threatened to block her nomination. The Billings Gazette takes on Daines in a blistering editorial ([link removed]) this morning, noting that the policies Haaland supports, including the Green New Deal and stopping the Keystone XL pipeline, are also supported by Daines’s former Senate colleague Tom Udall.
“Would Daines have denounced him as a ‘radical?’” The Gazette asked before answering its own question ([link removed]) . “We doubt it. We believe the vituperative nature of much of the GOP criticism is a dog-whistle reserved for a candidate of Haaland’s tribal status — and gender.”
** Public lands package comes to House floor
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As Haaland appears before the Senate, the House will take up a large package of public lands bills on Tuesday. The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel notes that two of the bills in the package ([link removed]) would protect more than 1 million acres in Colorado, including Rep. Joe Neguse’s 400,0000-acre CORE Act, and Rep. Diana DeGette’s 660,000-acre Colorado Wilderness Act.
Quick hits
** Interior stops Arctic seismic survey after company fails to identify polar bear dens
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Reuters ([link removed])
** Montanans, Native Americans, call on Senate to confirm Haaland
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Great Falls Tribune ([link removed]) | Washington Post ([link removed]) | Associated Press ([link removed]) | Bloomberg ([link removed]) | States Newsroom ([link removed]) | Billings Gazette ([link removed]) (Editorial) | USA Today
([link removed]) (Opinion) | Bozeman Daily Chronicle ([link removed]) (Opinion)
** After confirmation, Haaland will inherit a full to-do list on public lands
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Inside Climate News ([link removed])
** Democrats revive push for conservation corps, public lands package goes to House floor
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E&E News ([link removed]) | Grand Junction Daily Sentinel ([link removed])
** Cortez-Masto, Neguse to lead Senate and House public lands subcommittees
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Nevada Independent ([link removed]) | Summit Daily ([link removed])
** Biden administration reverses Trump attempt to block tribal land trust
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Cape Cod Times ([link removed])
** Oregon wildfire victims share harrowing stories; Montana saw most structure loss since 2012; New Mexico gears up for big fire season
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OPB News ([link removed]) | Billings Gazette ([link removed]) | Albuquerque Journal ([link removed])
** Opinion: Greater Yellowstone ecosystem under threat from unchecked motorized recreation
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Mountain Journal ([link removed])
Quote of the day
...as an indigenous woman, [Haaland will] bring a big picture perspective to the administration we've never had. Senator Daines is missing the boat by siding with oil and gas companies instead of a million Montanans.”
—Pearl Jam bassist and Montana resident Jeff Ament ([link removed])
Picture this
** @mypubliclands ([link removed])
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Wow! 😮⚡🌩️🌵Thanks to David Turner for capturing New Mexico's iconic Organ Mountains and its desert flora during an active lightning storm. The Organ Mountains are a steep, angular mountain range with rocky spires that jut majestically above the Chihuahuan Desert floor to an elevation of 9,000 feet. This picturesque area of rocky peaks, narrow canyons, and open woodlands ranges from Chihuahuan Desert habitat to ponderosa pine in the highest elevations.
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