** July, in brief
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Interior Secretary Deb Haaland during her July visit to Colorado. She is flanked by Colorado senators John Hickenlooper on the left and Michael Bennet on the right. Photo: @SecDebHaaland ([link removed])


** Key news from July:
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* Interior Secretary Deb Haaland visited ([link removed]) the new Bureau of Land Management (BLM) headquarters in Grand Junction, Colorado as part of a three-day tour of the state. Secretary Haaland visited the new HQ at the request ([link removed]) of Colorado Senator John Hickenlooper as she mulls whether the agency headquarters should remain in Grand Junction or move back to Washington, D.C. ([link removed]) Speaking at a news conference, Secretary Haaland said ([link removed]) , “We need to provide a path forward for clarity and to avoid having employees face
renewed uncertainty under future administrations. We owe it to the people of Grand Junction as well.”
* The U.S. Senate approved a motion ([link removed]) to discharge Tracy Stone-Manning's nomination to lead the Bureau of Land Management by a party-line vote of 50-49 ([link removed]) . The passage of the motion clears the way for floor debate and a full senate vote on confirmation. The Senate took this unusual measure to discharge her nomination from the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, which last week deadlocked in a 10-10 vote ([link removed]) . Montana Senator Jon Tester defended Stone-Manning's qualifications and decried the politically-motivated attacks on her nomination from his colleagues, stating
([link removed]) , "They have dragged a good person's name through the muck, in a cynical smear campaign ginned up by folks who would rather play politics than see a qualified, competent woman running the Bureau of Land Management...It is a shame that we have people who put politics above people and our public lands."
* Senators reached agreement ([link removed]) to begin consideration of a once-in-a-generation bipartisan infrastructure spending package ([link removed]) that includes historic investments to help tackle the climate crisis. The White House shared a fact sheet ([link removed]) on the framework of the legislation, which will include the largest investment in clean energy transmission and electric vehicle infrastructure in history, and the creation of a new Grid Deployment Authority to modernize the electric grid for 21st century standards. The bill also calls for the largest investment in clean drinking water and waste water infrastructure in American history to deliver clean water to millions of families, and
delivers billions in funds to clean up superfund and brownfield sites, reclaim abandoned mine land, and cap orphaned gas wells.
* Lake Powell has officially reached the lowest water level on record ([link removed]) , driving home the impact of climate change-fueled drought. Lakes Mead and Powell on the Colorado River are the nation's two largest reservoirs, and a prolonged trend of warm and dry conditions is pushing them to record lows. Nearly 40 million people ([link removed]) , including dozens of tribes, depend on the river’s water. Now, the climate crisis threatens to break that foundation ([link removed]) . "We bent nature to suit our own needs," said ([link removed]) Brad Udall, a climate and water expert at Colorado State University. "And now nature is going to bend us."
* The editorial boards of the Denver Post ([link removed]) , New York Times ([link removed]) , and the Chicago Sun Times ([link removed]) are calling on President Biden and Interior Secretary Deb Haaland to be more aggressive than their predecessors when it comes to conservation. The editorials explicitly suggest Biden consider using the Antiquities Act to designate more areas for conservation and that he make a significant down payment on the 30x30 goal to protect 30% of America's land and waters by 2030 by restoring protections for Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments.
* Record breaking numbers of people have visited parks and public lands ([link removed]) within the past year to escape the confines of pandemic-related restrictions, and this year is on track to continue that trend. Officials at Yellowstone National Park tracked 938,845 visits in June ([link removed]) , making it the busiest June on record by a long shot—attendance was 64% higher than in June of 2020 and 20% higher than that same month in 2019. The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on National Parks is held a hearing ([link removed]) "to review the impacts of overcrowding in our national parks on park resources and visitor experiences and to consider strategic approaches
to visitor use management."
* The Biden administration restored ([link removed]) environmental protections to Alaska's Tongass National Forest that were removed by former President Trump. As one of the world's largest intact temperate rain forests ([link removed]) , the Tongass is also one of the world's largest carbon sinks ([link removed]) , storing the equivalent of about 8% ([link removed]) of the carbon stored in all the forests of the lower 48 combined.
* As of late July ([link removed]) , at least 86 large fires in 12 states are currently burning in the United States, according to the National Interagency Fire Center ([link removed]) . That's an area covering almost 1.5 million acres with smoke from wildfires in the West traveling across the country as far away as New York City ([link removed]) . More than 2.77 million acres ([link removed]) have burned so far in 2021, about 800,000 more than at the same time last year but less than in 2019 and other previous years. Of the fires currently burning, the largest by far is Oregon’s Bootleg Fire ([link removed]) , a sprawling blaze that has burned nearly 409,000 acres ([link removed]) and even began generating
([link removed]) its own weather, including high winds and lightning.


** What to watch for in August:
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* The Senate is expected to confirm ([link removed]) Tracy Stone-Manning as the Director of the Bureau of Land Management, a critical land management agency that has been without Senate-confirmed leadership for four and a half years. Later this fall the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee is expected to consider the nomination of Laura Daniel-Davis to serve as the Interior Department’s Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management, a post that oversees some of the most vital agencies within the Interior Department, including the Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, and the Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation, and Enforcement.
* The Biden administration is expected to release an interim report ([link removed]) outlining next steps and recommendations on the future of the federal oil and gas program, as well as a decision on Secretary Haaland's recommendation ([link removed]) to restore Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments.

Best Reads of the Month


** Exxon lobbyist accidentally reveals corporate strategy of deception and denial, playbook for congressional inquiries
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Rolling Stone ([link removed])


**
Florida unanimously passes legislation to protect wildlife corridor from the panhandle to the keys
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The New Yorker ([link removed])


**
Investigation into Indigenous boarding schools will change how America thinks about its past
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The Week ([link removed])


**
Former BLM directors unequivocally support Stone-Manning to lead BLM
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Salt Lake Tribune ([link removed])


**
National parks are embracing Indigenous astronomy
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Outside ([link removed])


**
Opinion: Public lands pay dividends, and false narratives hurt Utahns the most
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Salt Lake Tribune ([link removed])


**
Work begins to repair damage from Trump border wall in Arizona
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Arizona Republic ([link removed])


**
Warming Western rivers are killing fish, threatening survival of fishing industry
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Associated Press ([link removed])


** 2021 Western states legislative summary ([link removed])
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** During a legislative session like no other, western states moved to conserve public lands, address drought and wildfire
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Public lands photographer Bob Wick ([link removed])

The latest episode of the Center for Western Priorities' podcast, The Landscape ([link removed]) , is a special video episode ([link removed]) with public lands photographer Bob Wick, who is retiring after more than 30 years with the Bureau of Land Management. Bob has taken some of the most iconic outdoor photos of America's national monuments and wilderness areas, and he shares some of his favorite stories in the first part of a two-episode conversation.
Emma Marris on the Klamath drought and 'Wild Souls' ([link removed])

This episode of The Landscape features a conversation with Emma Marris, author of Wild Souls: Freedom & Flourishing in the Non Human World ([link removed]) . Marris also wrote about the Klamath water shortage in The Atlantic ([link removed]) . Her earlier work includes Rambunctious Garden ([link removed]) .
Quote of the month


** "We’re at a unique moment in our political history. We have an administration that has both the necessary authority via the Antiquities Act and the required ambition to make bold, long overdue, sweeping improvements to how our nation cares for the diverse land and people who form the backbone of this country. We call on this administration to exercise this authority by listening to the diverse communities across this country asking for protected public lands and access for all."
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** —Maite Arce, Hispanic Access Foundation & Angel Peña, Nuestra Tierra Conservation Project ([link removed])
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Picture this
@Interior ([link removed])
Nature is essential to the health, well-being, and prosperity of every family and community in America. Learn more about the America the Beautiful challenge and our collaborative effort to conserve at least 30% of lands and waters by 2030. [link removed] ([link removed])

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