** Trump's national park commercialization plan
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Tuesday, November 5, 2019
Hidden Lake in Glacier National Park:
but one piece of our national heritage that is threatened by Trump's national park privatization plan.
Photo by Tim Rains, G ([link removed]) lacier NPS ([link removed])

A new proposal ([link removed]) under consideration by the Trump Administration would allow private companies to play a larger role in national parks, transferring public assets and heritage to private industry ([link removed]) . The set of recommendations, which were issued by the Interior Department’s controversial Outdoor Recreation Advisory Committee, proposes blackout dates for senior discounts; privatizing campgrounds; and commercializing parks through Wi-Fi access, food trucks, and Amazon deliveries.

The proposal is justified by the Trump administration as a response to federal agency maintenance backlogs—even as the administration proposes steep cuts to those agencies. The move toward privatization would be in direct conflict with the original vision of national parks as a celebration of wonder and exploration in the outdoors. Such proposals ([link removed]) are also contrary to the mission of the National Park Service to conserve rather than exploit the lands they are tasked with stewarding.

The recent proposal comes from a committee organized by former Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke in 2017, which includes a number of business executives with a vested interest in park privatization. In 2017, the Washington Post reported ([link removed]) that NPS officials had issued a warning that 4 of the people nominated to serve on the panel had been flagged for conflicts of interest.
Quick hits


** Trump exits Paris Agreement, isolates America
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E&E News ([link removed]) | Washington Post ([link removed]) | NRDC ([link removed])


** Trump administration misses goal, out of time for Arctic Refuge lease sale this year
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E ([link removed]) &E News ([link removed]) | A ([link removed]) laska Public Media ([link removed])


** Trump's national park commercialization plan
Los Angeles Times ([link removed]) | USA Today ([link removed]) | Los Angeles Times Opinion ([link removed]) | Mercury News ([link removed])
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** Sage-grouse draft recovery plan estimates huge commitment, conservationists skeptical
The Daily Sentinel ([link removed]) | M ([link removed]) ontrose Daily Press ([link removed])
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** Vulture capitalists take Wyoming coal mines from bankrupt giants
E&E News ([link removed])
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** Complaint accuses BLM chief of 'inappropriate' ethics
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E&E News ([link removed])


** Wyoming committee advances bill to stimulate oil and gas leasing
Casper Star-Tribune ([link removed])
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** Opinion: Where do ATVs belong on public lands?
Salt Lake Tribune ([link removed])
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Quote of the day
The corporate interests on this committee stand to financially benefit from the privatization and corporate giveaways they are empowered to make. And they are strategically inflating the Park Service’s maintenance backlog to use it as a talking point to scare the public into accepting privatization as necessary in our national parks.”
—Nicole Gentile
Deputy Director of Public Lands
Center for American Progress
L ([link removed]) os ([link removed]) Angeles Times ([link removed])
Picture this


** @m ([link removed]) ypubliclands ([link removed])
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We asked you to decide who should be crowned “Cutest Bat of 2019” and the votes are in… Spike the spotted bat is this year’s #BatBeautyContest ([link removed]) winner!
Spike is a spotted bat (Euderma maculatum), known for its distinctive white spots on its black fur and its large translucent ears. The spotted #bat ([link removed]) is perhaps one of North America's most striking mammals.

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