** Exposing attacks on public lands workers
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Tuesday, October 22, 2019
Malheur Wildlife Refuge ([link removed])

Federal land management agency employees were assaulted or threatened ([link removed]) at least 360 times from 2013 to 2017. The Government Accountability Office released a report ([link removed]) with the count, likely an underestimate, looking at employees from the Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife Service, Forest Service, and National Park Service⁠—agencies with on-the-ground employees charged with protecting public lands. Numerous cases were investigated by the FBI as domestic terrorism cases.

"To carry out their critical missions to manage the resources on over 700 million acres of federal lands... officials and facilities are often the most visible and vulnerable representatives of the federal government in remote areas and have been subject to a range of threats and assaults," warned the report author. This morning, the House Natural Resources Committee is scheduled to hold a hearing ([link removed]) on protecting federal employees from extremist attacks on public lands.


** Fighting rollbacks in the courts
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Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser sits down with Go West, Young Podcast ([link removed]) to talk about how he chooses when to take the Trump administration’s environmental rollbacks to court, and when to stay on the slidelines.
Quick hits


** Interior proposes new plan to make camping in national parks worse
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Outside ([link removed])


** Taking the Trump administration to court over environmental and climate policy rollbacks
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Go West, Young Podcast ([link removed])


** Interior's public land workers were threatened or assaulted 360 times in recent years
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Associated Press ([link removed]) | Washington Post ([link removed]) | The Hill ([link removed]) | E&E News ([link removed])


** BLM reinstates whistleblower fired after criticizing agency's enforcement of federal grazing laws
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E&E News ([link removed]) | Associated Press ([link removed])


** Moab, Utah residents celebrate removal of 10 million tons of toxic uranium tailings from Colorado River bank
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KUNC ([link removed])


** Coalition presses lawmakers to block Air Force plan to downsize a Nevada wildlife refuge
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Nevada Current ([link removed])


** Colorado's Gunnison River Valley looks to balance public land use for conservation, recreation, and ranching
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Crested Butte News ([link removed])


** Opinion: "Recently-released Lewistown draft plan is not how smart and durable land management decisions should be made"
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Billings Gazette ([link removed])
Quote of the day
Privatizing America’s public campgrounds and jacking up national-park fees to appease big-business concessionaires and powerful corporate campaign donors is just the latest egregious attempt to rip public lands out of public hands."
—Jayson O’Neill, Western Values Project ([link removed])
Picture this


** So you think this tiny horned lizard is cute? When threatened, it intimidates attackers by squirting blood from its eyes as a defense mechanism. Let that thought haunt you #ReptileAwarenessDay ([link removed]) #California ([link removed]) @USFWS ([link removed]) | @ ([link removed]) Interior ([link removed])
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