** Nevada governor signs executive order to safeguard sagebrush ecosystem
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Wednesday, August 25, 2021
N ([link removed]) evada Sagebrush Ecosystem Program ([link removed])

On Monday, Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak signed a new executive order aimed at safeguarding the state's sagebrush ecosystem and the wildlife that depend on it ([link removed]) . The executive order is aimed at protecting sagebrush habitat and migration corridors of species such as pronghorn and sage-grouse through a Nevada Habitat Conservation Network. “Whether it is mule deer or desert tortoises no animal thrives without a healthy ecosystem,” Sisolak said ([link removed]) , “and this executive order puts a crucial focus on the corridors through which wildlife migrate to survive.”

The Nevada Departments of Wildlife, Conservation, and Transportation will head up the project ([link removed]) , working in tandem to create Sagebrush Habitat and Connectivity Plans. Such planning and analysis ([link removed]) will allow the state to more effectively and intentionally conserve declining wildlife populations, better identify migration corridors, approach conservation efforts collaboratively, and tailor infrastructure developments within the state to take such factors into account.

Shortly after Sisolak's order, the Bureau of Land Management's Nevada office (BLM) announced a new policy for prioritizing the conservation and restoration of big-game migration corridors on public lands ([link removed]) . The Nevada BLM's new policy complements the executive order ([link removed]) by providing guidance on the removal and modification of connectivity-reducing fences, directing the agency to avoid development in crucial winter range and migration corridors, and prioritizing research opportunities.

These new developments emphasize the importance of ecological connectivity ([link removed]) and wildlife corridors ([link removed]) in protecting fragile ecosystems. Similar efforts are ongoing across numerous Western states ([link removed]) ; all of these efforts, from establishing land protections for corridors to encouraging agency and department coordination will be essential to conserving an ecologically functional 30% of America by 2030 ([link removed]) .


** Interior announces first oil drilling sales of Biden era
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Yesterday afternoon, the Interior Department told a federal judge that it will soon begin the process of holding new onshore and offshore oil and gas lease sales ([link removed]) , restarting the leasing process as early as next Tuesday ([link removed]) . The timeline puts Interior on track to hold offshore lease auctions as early as October ([link removed]) , and onshore auctions in early 2022 ([link removed]) . The resumed sales come after a court ordered a preliminary hold
([link removed]) on the Biden administration's leasing pause; the pause was meant to give the department time to assess the leasing program.

The Interior Department has stated ([link removed]) that it "will continue to exercise the authority and discretion provided under law to conduct leasing in a manner that fulfills Interior’s legal responsibilities, including to take into account the programs’ documented deficiencies." Jesse Prentice-Dunn of the Center for Western Priorities clarified, saying ([link removed]) , "The law is clear. Interior Secretary [Deb] Haaland has broad discretion to determine which lands—if any—are available for oil and gas leasing. Given the urgency of the climate crisis, and the well-documented shortcomings of the leasing system, she must ensure that any public land leases that are put up for auction fully account for the costs that our children and grandchildren will have to pay."
Quick hits


** Tribe, Acoma Pueblo governor, former Interior Secretary urge Biden to overhaul oil program
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Associated Press ([link removed]) | E&E News ([link removed]) | Albuquerque Journal ([link removed]) [Pueblo governor]


** The incredible shrinking Colorado River
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High Country News ([link removed])


** Scientists launch effort to collect water data in US West as farmers, ranchers are pummeled by drought
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Associated Press ([link removed]) [Water data] | New York Times ([link removed]) [Ranchers] | Colorado Sun ([link removed]) [Farmers, NM]


** The story of two Americas in a changing climate: one parched, one soaked
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New York Times ([link removed]) | Bloomberg ([link removed])


** The call to reform the oil and gas leasing system
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KHOL ([link removed])


** Wyoming preps for less water as drought creeps up
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WyoFile ([link removed])


** Smoke from faraway wildfires may be worse for you than if it came from blazes in your own backyard
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Colorado Sun ([link removed])


** Vintage pictures show our national parks when they were young
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National Geographic ([link removed])
Quote of the day
The oil and gas industry has been allowed to call the shots in leasing federal lands across the West. The accumulated impact of 100 years of rampant oil and gas development on public lands in the American West is substantial.”

—Paul Reed, an Archaeology Southwest archaeologist who authored a new report about energy impacts on Indigenous landscapes, A ([link removed]) lbuquerque Journal ([link removed])
Picture this


** @U ([link removed]) SFWSRefuges ([link removed])
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CAPTION CALL! These two Kodiak bear cubs at Kodiak National #WildlifeRefuge ([link removed]) in Alaska ([link removed] ([link removed]) ) could use a clever caption. Got one? We’ll name our favorite tomorrow. (Photo: Lisa Hupp/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)

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