July, in brief

Key news from July:

• Interior Secretary Deb Haaland visited 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 of Colorado Senator John Hickenlooper as she mulls whether the agency headquarters should remain in Grand Junction or move back to Washington, D.C. Speaking at a news conference, Secretary Haaland said, “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 to discharge Tracy Stone-Manning's nomination to lead the Bureau of Land Management by a party-line vote of 50-49. 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. Montana Senator Jon Tester defended Stone-Manning's qualifications and decried the politically-motivated attacks on her nomination from his colleagues, stating, "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 to begin consideration of a once-in-a-generation bipartisan infrastructure spending package that includes historic investments to help tackle the climate crisis. The White House shared a fact sheet 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, 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, including dozens of tribes, depend on the river’s water. Now, the climate crisis threatens to break that foundation. "We bent nature to suit our own needs," said 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, New York Times, and the Chicago Sun Times 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 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, 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 "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 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, the Tongass is also one of the world's largest carbon sinks, storing the equivalent of about 8% of the carbon stored in all the forests of the lower 48 combined.
• As of late July, at least 86 large fires in 12 states are currently burning in the United States, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. 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. More than 2.77 million acres 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, a sprawling blaze that has burned nearly 409,000 acres and even began generating its own weather, including high winds and lightning.

What to watch for in August:

• The Senate is expected to confirm 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 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 to restore Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments. 

@Interior
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. https://doi.gov/priorities/america-the-beautiful