** A year of climate hell—and hope
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Thursday, December 2, 2021
Foil wrapped around the base of the General Sherman tree in Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks, National Park Service ([link removed])

With one month left in 2021, a look back reveals a year in which the effects of climate change became increasingly visible across the West. Writing at the Los Angeles Times, Sammy Roth recaps the wildfires, falling water levels, and heat waves that marked 2021 ([link removed]) .

But, Roth notes, the future is not entirely bleak. The water shortage declaration on the Colorado River came about because of an agreement between states to give up water they would otherwise be entitled to under the bedrock laws governing the river.

And the Biden administration set an official goal of protecting 30 percent of America's land and waters by the end of the decade, setting the stage for a patchwork of conservation measures across federal, state, and private lands.

As Roth writes, “Collaboration is key. The last year made that abundantly clear. Whether Westerners can come together to reduce emissions and fortify themselves against the disasters on the horizon is yet to be seen.”
Quick hits


** The West went through climate hell in 2021 but there's still hope
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Los Angeles Times ([link removed])


** Idaho mapping project highlights access to public lands previously identified as landlocked
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Idaho Statesman ([link removed])


** Colorado decommissions unused roads to restore sage-grouse habitat
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Gunnison Times ([link removed])


** Company behind Oregon LNG export terminal proposal finally calls it quits
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Oregonian ([link removed]) | OPB News ([link removed]) | Associated Press ([link removed])


** Oil and gas industry claims New Mexico became even more dependent on boom and bust cycles in 2021
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Associated Press ([link removed]) | Albuquerque Journal ([link removed])


** Wyoming's refusal to change derogatory road name shows challenge ahead for federal renaming order
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Powell Tribune ([link removed]) | Deseret News ([link removed])


** 50 years after ANSCA, Alaska Natives are still cleaning up contaminated land
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Indian Country Today ([link removed])


** Illegal marijuana farms pose risk to California's parched national forests
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NBC News ([link removed])
Quote of the day
It’s really cool to see the progress. From afar, it still looks like a road but the vegetation is slowly growing back in there, and ideally one day the sage will grow back in and it’ll just blend back into the landscape.”
—Gunnison Trails director Tim Kugler, Gunnison Times ([link removed])
Picture this


** @mypubliclands ([link removed])
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Grab a sweater, some boots, and maybe a pumpkin spice latte for a virtual trip over to autumn in Oregon....🍁☕👢

Between Eugene and the coast, just off Hwy 126, lies Whittaker Creek. This tributary of the Siuslaw River is a remote place where visitors can be surrounded by fall colors and experience solitude.

📸 Lindsey Pruett, BLM-Oregon

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