** Crowds swarm public lands
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Monday, June 21, 2021
Crowds in Zion National Park | National Park Service ([link removed])

Visitation to public lands, and especially national parks, has been climbing for decades. While lands saw a brief respite during the pandemic last year, visitors returned in full force later in the summer. This summer, national parks across the country are easily on track for record-breaking visitation seasons ([link removed]) , causing extended lines, closures, and frustration from both visitors and land managers. As a result, some national parks, such as Rocky Mountain and Yosemite ([link removed]) , have brought back their pandemic-season reservation systems. Arches National Park is considering a similar system: the park has already been forced to close its gates over 80 times so far in 2021 ([link removed]) .

The overcrowding issue in parks highlights problems that park officials and land managers have raised concerns about for years. National parks are underfunded and overrun ([link removed]) , and the problems aren't limited to national parks. A recent report found that last year national forests and grasslands saw 25% more visitors than in 2019 ([link removed]) , with the most significant increases in wilderness areas and dispersed recreation sites. At the same time as national forests are being overrun, the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) is understaffed and underfunded ([link removed]) . As a result, some counties in Colorado have spent their own tax dollars to pay USFS employees
([link removed]) , highlighting the need for public lands management funding.

However, there's also good news: the American public lands system offers many less crowded destinations that are also awe-inspiring, Instagram-worthy, and road-trip-deserving. Check out the least visited national parks ([link removed]) , and consider visiting them or finding other under-utilized public lands near you!

Booming public lands visitation shows the deep desire of Americans to get outside and experience our treasured protected areas and conserved landscapes. The problem highlights the need for improved outdoor access for all people, as not everyone can afford to travel for their nature fix. Part of the solution must be to match supply to demand and conserve 30% of America by 2030 ([link removed]) while ensuring that conservation efforts focus on user access. This expansion of protections and conservation programs must come hand-in-hand with increased funding, and will ensure that generations of Americans can enjoy the wonders of our great nation.


** Record-breaking heatwaves sweep across America
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Climate models have predicted heatwaves ([link removed]) such as those that swept across America in the past week, pushing temperatures to new triple-digit heights across the West. Over the past few days, all-time heat records were made in cities thousands of miles apart, including Sacramento, Las Vegas, Denver, and Phoenix. In Death Valley National Park, nighttime temperatures stayed above 111 degrees Fahrenheit past midnight, among the hottest nights ever recorded on the continent. Even with relief in sight this week, a new heatwave is already gaining steam ([link removed]) along the northern Pacific coast.

It's clear that what climate models have predicted is coming true ([link removed]) . For decades, scientists have warned that climate change would fuel higher temperatures, falling humidity, dwindling snowpack, and intensifying drought. The West’s current drought appears to be without precedent ([link removed]) in recorded history, and dry soils and forests have primed the region for an eruption of wildfires that has already begun ([link removed]) . We are truly in a climate crisis.
Quick hits


** Wildfires already burning all across the West, and it isn't even July yet
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Denver Channel ([link removed]) [Colorado] | Billings Gazette ([link removed]) [Montana] | Bay Area News Group ([link removed]) [California] | The Oregonian ([link removed]) [Oregon] | Arizona Republic ([link removed]) [Arizona]


** Interior fossil fuel report now at White House
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E&E News ([link removed])


** Will the BLM's new headquarters stay in the West?
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Mountain West News Bureau ([link removed])


** Public lands extremist who led armed occupation of federal refuge announces run for Idaho governor
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The Hill ([link removed])


** Trump's BLM saw messaging failures, understaffing during pandemic
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The Hill ([link removed])


** Protecting Colorado's state and federally administered spaces hinges on dollars
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Colorado Politics ([link removed])


** Opinion: Nevada needs to look at collaborative resource management planning for renewables
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Las Vegas Review-Journal ([link removed])


** Opinions: Time to fix our broken oil and gas leasing system and put people to work cleaning up oil and gas messes to avoid leaving New Mexico a wasteland
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Albuquerque Journal ([link removed]) [A broken system] | Albuquerque Journal ([link removed]) [Put people to work] | Albuquerque Journal ([link removed]) [Toxic wasteland]
Quote of the day
Our public lands present our best chance to address climate change, our biodiversity crisis and invest in our local communities and economy."

—Jocelyn Torres, field director for the Conservation Lands Foundation, N ([link removed]) evada Appeal ([link removed])
Picture this


** @I ([link removed]) nterior ([link removed])
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Snow geese in the sky. I can fly twice as high!

While this Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge rainbow isn’t reading, it is stunning. Home to some of the best birding in the U.S., this New Mexico refuge is a birder’s paradise.

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