** Interior expands urban parks program
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Tuesday, May 11, 2021
Falls Park in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Katie Wheeler, Flickr ([link removed])

Yesterday, the Biden administration announced ([link removed]) that it is expanding the Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership (ORLP), a grant program that supports urban parks across the country. The ORLP was started in 2014 ([link removed]) to create new outdoor recreation spaces in urban communities, reinvigorate existing parks, and connect people and the outdoors in underserved communities. It is funded by the Land and Water Conservation Fund, a widely popular and effective program that uses oil and gas revenue to support conservation and recreation projects.

The Trump administration made a last-minute attempt ([link removed]) to gut the program, including prohibiting grants for projects in urban areas. However, the Biden administration quickly reinstated the program. Now, the Interior Department has announced that it is allocating $150 million to the program, as well as administrative updates including raising the maximum award to $5 million per project.

These actions fit with the Biden administration's vision for inclusive and just conservation outlined in last week's "America the Beautiful" report. In addition to prioritizing locally-led conservation efforts, the administration has also committed to ensuring that 40% of the benefits ([link removed]) from investments in conservation flow specifically to disadvantaged communities. “Every child in America deserves to have a safe and nearby place to experience the great outdoors. The Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership program is a crucial tool to advancing environmental justice and ensuring equitable access to nature and its benefits. Working together with state and local governments to ensure green spaces promotes the health and welfare of urban communities," said
([link removed]) Interior Secretary Deb  Haaland.    


** Report: Conservation easements work to protect nature
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A new analysis ([link removed]) shows that conservation easements are helping to protect wildlife and habitat. The study examined 76,000 acres of easements across 17 states, and ([link removed]) "of the 201 conservation easements we looked at, nature was better off by having all 201." Voluntary private conservation ([link removed]) , including conservation easements, can play an important role in the Biden administration's goal to protect 30% of America's lands and waters by 2030, which was outlined in the "America the Beautiful" plan.
Quick hits


** What Biden’s new conservation initiative means for the parks
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Outside ([link removed])


** Colorado public land managers bracing for another summer of crowded trails, overflowing parking lots
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Denver Post ([link removed])


** Wildfires force evacuations, burn thousands of acres in Arizona
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The Hill ([link removed]) | Associated Press ([link removed])


** Montana governor scraps plan for free-roaming bison supported by tribes
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Montana Public Radio ([link removed])


** Senators reintroduce Utah conservation bill
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E&E News ([link removed])


** Glacier National Park tickets sell out in minutes with new reservation system
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Travel & Leisure ([link removed])


** Interior plans to expand grants for urban parks
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E&E News ([link removed])


** Hiking a desert park? Here’s how to help preserve the landscape
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National Geographic ([link removed])
Quote of the day
We were scientists in our own right by managing the land. And I think we get overlooked, and so getting the buffalo back on the landscape, back within our culture will improve our lifestyle, will improve their lifestyle and will improve the ecosystem. So that's the big push.”
—Tyson Running Wolf, Democratic Representative from Browning and member of the Blackfeet Nation, Montana Public Radio ([link removed])
Picture this


** @USFWSMtnPrairie ([link removed])
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We hope this adorable pronghorn fawn makes you smile this Monday! Pronghorn are generally born between May and June. Since fawns are still gaining their strength after birth, their mothers will hide them in vegetation as they forage. Photo: @USFWS ([link removed])

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