** Protecting public lands could help reduce pressure on our most popular parks
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Friday, August 6, 2021
Activists and tribes in Nevada are seeking national monument designation for Spirit Mountain, known as Avi Kwa' Ame in Mojave, St ([link removed]) an Shebs ([link removed])

The National Park Service is planning to start promoting lesser-known parks, in an attempt to relieve some of the visitation pressure on popular destinations like Arches and Yosemite. The solution came out of a senate subcommittee hearing on national parks last week ([link removed]) , in which lawmakers heard from park officials about the negative impacts sky-rocketing visitation is having to their parks.

Shannon Estenoz, Interior’s assistant secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks, confirmed the plan on a call this week ([link removed]) , saying that overcrowding is occurring at just a small fraction of the country’s 423 national parks. That’s good, because there are tons of amazing sites to see outside of Yosemite. And there are even more outside of the national park system, as former Bureau of Land Management photographer Bob Wick pointed out on our podcast last week ([link removed]) .

The Biden administration is right to embrace the diversity of our public lands. But it should go further by designating new national monuments and protecting lands through administrative means, by creating wildlife refuges and conservation areas. All of these options provide recreational opportunities, while helping the administration meet its urgent goal of conserving 30% of America’s lands and waters by 2030.

There are a number of grassroots proposals for new monuments ([link removed]) the Biden administration could use the Antiquities Act to protect. And monument designation often leads to the creation of new trails and signage, making it easier for Americans to get outside close to home. Similarly, new conservation areas and wildlife refuges can provide recreation opportunities in underserved parts of the United States.

The Biden administration has already taken an important step toward improving outdoor access and protecting public lands, by investing $2.8 billion in our national parks and the Land and Water Conservation Fund ([link removed]) . But it can and should do more to protect our public lands.

Quick hits


** Some farmers and ranchers in Arizona are completely out of water
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Los Angeles Times ([link removed])


** Extreme lawmakers want to give states authority over extraction on federal public lands
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Huffington Post ([link removed])


** California’s Yurok Tribe turns to farming, amid salmon decline
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Cronkite News ([link removed])


** Save the salmon rallies planned across the Northwest
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Public News Service ([link removed])


** Interior planning campaign to promote less popular parks
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National Parks Traveler ([link removed])


** Report finds federal leasing pause has minimal impact on Western states
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Colorado Newsline ([link removed]) | Casper Star-Tribune ([link removed])


** Wildfire consumes Northern California town of Greenville
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New York Times ([link removed])


** Utah gets new trade show to replace Outdoor Retailer
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Salt Lake Tribune ([link removed])
Quote of the day
It’s not just the environment. We’re facing a whole system that needs to be changed.”
—Yurok tribal member Sammy Gensaw on food access, Cronkite News ([link removed])
Picture this


** @I ([link removed]) nterior ([link removed])
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The @BLMNational ([link removed]) Basin and Range National Monument in Nevada is a vast and rugged landscape that redefines our notions of distance and space and where opportunities for solitude abound.

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