Look West: Public lands and energy news from the Center for Western Priorities


** Tracy Stone-Manning's to-do list
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Wednesday, January 5, 2022
Tracy Stone-Manning is sworn in as BLM director. Interior Department ([link removed])

Bureau of Land Management Director Tracy Stone-Manning opened up about her priorities for America's public lands. In an in-depth conversation with David McCumber, the editor of Montana Standard, Stone-Manning talked candidly ([link removed]) about everything from rebuilding the agency to oil and gas leasing to climate change.

Addressing the political polarization around climate policy, Stone-Manning said "I like the river analogy. When you're going down a raging river and you see a giant hole, one of the fun things to do is plunge into it and see if you survive. But on the other hand, you can call out, 'hole on the left' and work together to skirt it. That's what the polarization is to me — a 'hole on the left' situation. Let's acknowledge it and work around it to get to the goal, which is downstream, boat right side up."

Stone-Manning also revealed that the bureau is working on new rules governing grazing across BLM lands. "We’re in the midst of what some people call a megadrought and others call the new normal," she said. "We have to figure out how to manage for the health of the landscape. In many cases cows can help us do that if we’re really smart about how we use the tool that we call grazing. Outcome-based grazing is the new effort at the agency. The thought behind it is exactly where we need to go: Determine the outcome we’re looking for on the landscape and graze accordingly."

Read much more from Stone-Manning in her full interview ([link removed]) .
Quick hits


** After under-delivering on climate, 2022 looms large for Biden agenda
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New York Times ([link removed])


** ‘Everyone came at once’: America’s national parks reckon with record-smashing year
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The Guardian ([link removed])


** $50 million donation creates vast new nature preserve in California
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Press Democrat ([link removed]) | Tehachapi News ([link removed]) | Orange County Register ([link removed]) | Newport Beach Independent ([link removed])


** Editorial: Colorado winter wildfire shatters illusion of safety in Western suburbs
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Los Angeles Times ([link removed])


** Watch: Yellowstone grizzly bear steals fresh elk from wolf pack
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Newsweek ([link removed])


** Congressional appropriators aim to hire 1,000 new workers apiece at Interior and EPA
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E&E News ([link removed])


** National parks and public lands will be free for 9 days in 2022, starting on MLK Day
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Oregonian ([link removed]) | Arizona Republic ([link removed]) | News & Observer ([link removed])


** How a 74-year-old turned a Death Valley mining village into a model for ecologically conscious tourism
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The New Yorker ([link removed])
Quote of the day
” The last Administration said it had an energy-dominant agenda for public lands. We need to get back to our true calling, under the law, of being a multiple-use agency. Addressing conservation and climate change is part of that multiple use.”
—Bureau of Land Management Director Tracy Stone-Manning
Montana Standard ([link removed])
Picture this


** @nationalparkservice ([link removed])
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Deep. Steep. Mist-ifying. These three words only begin to describe the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. Each season you are invited to experience the canyon in different ways. In winter, the South Rim Drive is closed to vehicles beyond Gunnison Point. Rangers groom the remainder of the road for crosscountry skiing (skate and classic) and snowshoeing.

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