** April, in brief
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Hoodoos at sunrise in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Photo by Bob Wick, BLM ([link removed])


** Key news from April:
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* The United States Senate voted 52-42 ([link removed]) to restore regulations that impose limits on methane leaks from oil and gas activities. Lawmakers used the Congressional Review Act (CRA) ([link removed]) to nullify the efforts by the Trump administration to undo the Obama-era regulation to limit methane leaks—essentially acting to repeal a previous repeal. The CRA can be used within 60 legislative days ([link removed]) of a rule's enactment and requires only a simple majority vote, making it the swiftest way to overturn an existing federal rule. Limiting methane emissions is a key part ([link removed]) of the Biden administration's pledge to cut greenhouse gas
emissions by 50% before 2030.
* The American Stewards of Liberty, a Texas-based group with a history of anti-government, anti-public lands ideology has convinced at least four Colorado counties ([link removed]) —with incomplete or outright false information—to oppose the proposal to protect 30% of America's lands and waters, commonly known as the 30x30 goal. The group has pushed misinformation about a private lands takeover as part of the federal government's 30x30 effort. However, both the government and groups supporting the initiative have been explicit ([link removed]) that landowner rights and strictly voluntary private land conservation are key to success.
* President Biden unveiled an ambitious $2.3 trillion proposal ([link removed]) to update our nation's infrastructure. While the plan focuses on traditional transportation projects, such as roads, bridges, and transit, it also proposes major investments in shifting towards clean energy and cleaning up existing fossil fuel development. Biden's plan proposes investing $16 billion ([link removed]) to plug abandoned oil and gas wells and reclaimed abandoned mines, many of which are found on public lands. Lawmakers and advocates have also called for ([link removed]) stronger bonding requirements for oil and gas companies that drill on public lands, as well as changes to bankruptcy law that make it harder for companies to evade
responsibility for cleaning up old sites.
* The Interior Department announced ([link removed]) the first dispersement of funds related to the passage of the Great American Outdoors Act, which will invest $1.6 billion in 165 projects across the country. The law permanently funded the Land and Water Conservation Fund and allocated resources to address the maintenance backlog on public lands.
* Interior Secretary Deb Haaland visited Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments where she met with stakeholders ([link removed]) to discuss the restoration of the monuments whose boundaries were slashed by the Trump administration. While Haaland has stated that she will hear from "all sides" on this issue, the majority of Utahns—74% ([link removed]) —agree that the boundaries of these monuments should be restored. It is widely expected ([link removed]) that President Biden will restore protections for these monuments.
* The Biden administration released its 2022 budget proposal for the Interior Department ([link removed]) . The initial budget request of $17.4 billion is 16.3% higher than the department's enacted fiscal 2021 funding level. The budget proposal highlights the administration's climate, jobs, and conservation priorities.
* Interior Secretary Deb Haaland revoked more than a dozen Trump administration policies ([link removed]) aimed at increasing drilling and mining on public lands, stating they were "inconsistent with our commitment to protect public health, conserve land, water and wildlife, and elevate science." Among the policies revoked were Secretarial Orders ([link removed]) directing the Interior Department to expand offshore drilling, evaluate drilling opportunities in Alaska's National Wildlife Refuge, increase coal mining leases on public lands, reduce reviews for oil and gas leasing across the West, and limit reviews under the National Historic Preservation Act. In a separate order, Haaland established a new Climate Task Force ([link removed]) aimed at coordinating the Interior
Department's efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, increase renewable energy generation, and prioritize environmental justice.


** What to watch for in May:
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* The Biden administration plans to release a report on the national goal of protecting 30% of America's lands and waters by 2030. The Executive Order ([link removed]) signed by President Biden in January on tackling the climate crisis included the 30x30 goal and called for the report within 90 days. An Interior spokesperson said ([link removed]) , "The Interior Department is on track to deliver the report to the National Climate Task Force on time and looks forward to sharing the report with the public in the coming weeks."
* Confirmation hearings and votes for additional Interior Department nominees, including Tommy Beaudreau for Interior Deputy Secretary. Beaudreau served ([link removed]) as the first director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, in addition to Interior chief of staff. The Biden administration nominated Tracy Stone-Manning ([link removed]) as the next Director of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Stone-Manning has spent decades advocating for public land conservation as a senior executive at the National Wildlife Federation, chief of staff for Montana Governor Steve Bullock, and as an advisor to Montana Senator Jon Tester. The nomination drew widespread praise on Capitol Hill, including from New Mexico Senator Martin Heinrich, who called her ([link removed]) a "rock star who
understands the access issues that are so important to the identity of Western Americans."
* May is Asian-American and Pacific Islander heritage month, a time when the National Park Service ([link removed]) and other agencies emphasize and celebrate the contributions of Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders to our shared American history.

Best Reads of the Month


** Opinion: Women of Bears Ears call for its protection
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New York Times ([link removed])


**
Interactive map shows impact, breadth of Land and Water Conservation Fund sites
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Fast Company ([link removed])


**
Biden has targeted Trump energy and environmental policies at rate of one per day in first 100 days
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Washington Post ([link removed])


** A warmer climate may spell doom for Western butterflies, demonstrating link between climate and nature crises
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Wyoming Public Media ([link removed])


**
One researcher’s quest to quantify the environmental cost of abandoned oil wells
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Grist ([link removed])


**
Western U.S. may be entering its most severe drought in modern history
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CBS News ([link removed])


**
Our better nature: Six ideas to diversify the outdoors
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Mountain View Voice ([link removed])


**
Discovery that Tyrannosaurs likely hunted in packs fuels case to restore Grand Staircase-Escalante
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Washington Post ([link removed])
From the Center for Western Priorities:


** Report: The Western Road to 30
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How Western states are contributing to the bold campaign to protect 30% of America by 2030

The Center for Western Priorities’ Western Road to 30 ([link removed]) report examines how Western states are contributing to the bold goal to protect 30% of America’s lands and waters by 2030. Home to iconic natural landscapes, varied ecosystems that support wildlife, and strong local communities and economies, Western states can lead the way with state-level conservation efforts and funding, implementing creative solutions to promote, support, and continue the incredible work already being done all across the West. The findings in this report can provide a roadmap for individual states to identify opportunities to further advance conservation efforts.

The grassroots 30×30 movement will vary between states, as each has its own landscapes, natural environments, political considerations, and suite of stakeholders and landowners. As a result, different tools, partnerships, pathways, and priorities can be part of the 30×30 initiative in each individual state. The report assesses eight states across the West—Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming—on a variety of aspects related to land and water conservation, finding best practices and success stories that can contribute to the 30×30 goal.
Read the report ([link removed])
View the compiled takeaways ([link removed])
Download a PDF of the report ([link removed])


** Debunking the oil industry's false claims on Biden's leasing reform ([link removed])
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** Recent Interior Department forum featured misleading statements from lobbyists, executives
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** No time to waste in restoring our national monuments ([link removed])
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** Visit from Secretary Haaland showed strong support for protecting Bears Ears, Grand Staircase-Escalante
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Sharon Buccino on Deb Haaland's fast start ([link removed])

Sharon Buccino of the Natural Resources Defense Council joined us to break down the new set of secretarial orders signed by Interior Secretary Deb Haaland ([link removed]) , and look at the future of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments.
Quote of the month


** "With regards to Bears Ears, it would be hard to think of a national monument that more squarely sits under the plain language and the intent of the Antiquities Act than a national monument advocated for specifically by Native American tribes. And the objects that are repeatedly referenced in the proclamation from Obama are the types of cultural, sacred, paleontological resources squarely within the act."
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** —Steve Bloch ([link removed]) , legal director for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance
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Picture this
Established by Congress in 1964, the Land and Water Conservation Fund has funded hundreds of thousands of conservation projects across the country. Now, there’s an interactive map ([link removed]) created by the Trust for Public Land ([link removed]) that lets you explore where they all are. Source: [link removed]

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