August, in brief

Key news from August:

• New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham signed an executive order to protect at least 30% of the state's lands by 2030 (the 30x30 goal). The new order directs state agencies to support and implement programs to conserve and protect New Mexico's lands and natural environments. 80% of New Mexicans support the 30x30 goal, and Grisham's order was applauded by a broad coalition of support.
• The Interior Department announced it will resume regular oil and gas lease sales while it appeals a court ruling that blocked President Biden's pause on those sales. The timeline puts Interior on track to hold offshore lease auctions as early as October, and onshore auctions in early 2022. The resumed sales come after a court ordered a preliminary hold on the Biden administration's leasing pause; the pause was meant to give the department time to assess the leasing program.
• President Biden announced he'll nominate Chuck Sams, a longtime Oregon tribal leader, as the next director of the National Park Service. If confirmed, Sams would become the first Native American director of the Park Service, which did not have a Senate-confirmed director for the entirety of the Trump administration.
• The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation officially declared the first-ever shortage of water on the Colorado River, announcing mandatory cutbacks that will begin next year. The declaration of a shortage by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has been anticipated for months and was triggered by the precipitous decline of Lake Mead, which stores water used by Arizona, Nevada, California and Mexico. The reservoir has fallen to its lowest levels since the Hoover Dam was built in the 1930's and is continuing to drop after years of chronic overuse and drought intensified by climate change. It now stands at just 35% of full capacity.
• A federal judge tossed out the Trump administration's environmental review of a massive oil and gas project on Alaska's North Slope. The Willow project was touted as being able to produce 160,000 barrels of oil a day, but Alaska Natives and conservation groups sued, saying the Trump administration's review violated the National Environmental Policy Act and the Environmental Protection Act. Judge Sharon Gleason agreed, saying the Bureau of Land Management made "serious" errors in its review. “BLM also failed to adequately analyze a reasonable range of alternatives for the Willow Project,” Gleason wrote, noting that considering alternatives is “a process that is ‘the heart of the environmental impact statement.’"
• The United States Senate passed a major $1 trillion funding package to improve the nation's infrastructure on a bipartisan 69-30 vote. Notably, the legislation includes significant funds to advance renewable energy, clean up abandoned oil and gas wells, mitigate wildfires, and improve Western water infrastructure. Taken together, more than $47 billion in the legislation would be directed towards responding to the impacts of climate change, marking a much-needed step in responding to the climate crisis. The Senate also passed an ambitious $3.5 trillion plan that would enact fees on carbon pollution, establish a Civilian Climate Corps, and fund public works projects to make communities and landscapes more resilient.
• The Biden administration launched a review of the federal coal leasing program, examining both the climate and fiscal impacts of burning publicly-owned coal. The review will pick up where the Obama administration left off, which paused coal leasing in 2016, but never reformed the underlying system. In addition to examining the climate costs of burning coal from public lands, the Interior Department review will also look at whether taxpayers get a fair return from the coal leasing program. Revenue has fallen drastically in recent years, from more than $1 billion in 2015 to less than $400 million last year.
• Scientists at the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change issued a damning report highlighting future impacts should countries fail to act swiftly. The report pointed squarely at fossil fuels as the main driver of climate change. 
• The Biden administration announced it will launch a new review of oil and gas leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, after suspending the leases earlier this year. The area is home to endangered polar bears, as well as the Porcupine caribou herd, whose calving grounds were included in the sale. Alaska’s Gwichʼin people, who depend on the caribou for subsistence, decried the move. The Trump administration pushed the lease sale through anyway, completing a rushed environmental analysis on the 1.1 million acre area and holding the lease sale just two weeks before he left office. The Interior Department said it will carry out a comprehensive review of the sale’s environmental impacts. The analysis could result in additional restrictions on drilling in the refuge or nullify the leases altogether.
• Visitation is booming in national parks across the country—numbers are already approaching the totals of 2019 (the most recent high, before a decrease last year during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic). While it's a good thing to have more people than ever enjoying the crown jewels of our public lands, overcrowding can damage both parks and visitor experiences. About half of all visits are occurring at only the top 23 most-visited parks, with significant congestion conditions concentrated in the most popular 12 to 15 destination parks, raising the question of whether we are loving these treasured landscapes to death. Some of these most popular parks have been forced to implement reservation systems. Such systems can help decrease congestion, but come at the cost of limiting access to everyone and potentially disappointing unsuspecting visitors.

What to watch for in September:

• This year's wildfire season has been devastating, and the season is far from over, with fires raging across much of the West and sending smoke across the entire nation. In California, more than 42,000 people have been forced to flee their homes as twelve wildfires continue to burn. At the same time as wildfire season continues, additional research has emerged on the impacts of wildfire smoke. One new study finds that exposure to wildfire smoke during pregnancy increases the risk of preterm birth, and that the risk is only getting worse. Another new study finds that wildfire smoke is transforming clouds, making rainfall less likely. Such a phenomenon could kick off a drought-fire feedback loop that would have devastating effects on the West. Climate models suggest that a smoke-induced drop in rainfall is probably already happening across much of the planet.
• 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 make a decision on Secretary Haaland’s recommendation to restore Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments.

@Interior
As summer begins to fade into the past, the greens will slowly morph into hues of yellow and orange. This late spring photo from a California section of the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail is giving us a fall feelings preview.