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


** Estimates of abandoned oil and gas wells skyrocket
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Thursday, January 6, 2022
An abandoned and capped oil well in Alaska. Bureau of Land Management ([link removed])

A new analysis by the Interior Department finds more than twice as many abandoned oil and gas wells across America than previously thought. The Hill reports that the department said on Wednesday there are more than 130,000 documented orphaned wells ([link removed]) , up from a previous estimate of 56,600 wells in a 2019 analysis.

The new numbers come ahead of a webinar today ([link removed]) laying out the path for identifying and remediating orphaned wells on national public lands. The 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law includes $250 million for cleaning up and plugging oil and gas wells on federal land. That program, led by the Bureau of Land Management, will be established by January 14th. The webinar is scheduled for 12:30 pm Mountain Time today. You can register for it here ([link removed]) .

Meanwhile, a fix to the underlying problem—low bonding requirements that let oil and gas companies walk away from wells when they go bankrupt—faces an uncertain future in Congress. The Build Back Better Act passed by the House would have raised bonding rates. But Senator Joe Manchin, who effectively killed the BBB in the Senate last month, says he's had no talks ([link removed]) about resurrecting the bill.


** One year since the Capitol insurrection
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One year ago today, antigovernment extremists failed to overturn the election of President Biden. A new documentary from ABC News traces the origins of the militias ([link removed]) that backed the attempted coup to the 2014 public lands standoff with Cliven Bundy.

Historian and Johns Hopkins University professor Leah Wright Rigueur told ABC ([link removed]) that when the federal government stood down in Bunkerville, allowing Bundy to continue to graze cattle illegally on federal lands, “It gave them hope that they could do it again, and maybe do something even on a bigger scale.”
Quick hits


** This wildfire lab is helping foresters prepare for a hotter planet
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New York Times ([link removed])


** More than 40% of Americans live in counties hit by climate disasters in 2021
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Washington Post ([link removed])


** More than half of states will seek funds to clean up abandoned oil wells
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Reuters ([link removed]) | The Hill ([link removed]) | Grand Junction Daily Sentinel ([link removed])


** BLM takes formal steps to protect Greater Chaco from oil and gas drilling, opens public comment period
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Bureau of Land Management ([link removed]) | Federal Register ([link removed])


** Even as Utah prepares legal challenge to Bears Ears, state moves ahead with lucrative land swap
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Salt Lake Tribune ([link removed])


** Opinion: Trespassing case over public lands checkerboard isn't a game
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Flathead Beacon ([link removed])


** Endangered wolf spent days searching for a mate, blocked by Trump's border wall
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NBC News ([link removed])


** Fish & Wildlife Service acquires nearly 5,000 acres along Gulf Coast for migratory birds
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KUT ([link removed])
Quote of the day
” When I lay awake the first night, not able to sleep from the fire, when I was evacuated from my house, the first thing I thought of is: I need everyone to reduce their carbon emissions.”
—Louisville, Colorado Mayor Ashley Stolzmann
Washington Post ([link removed])
Picture this


** @mypubliclands ([link removed])
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"Our trail quickly ascended into a mystical altar in the clouds," wrote the photographer following this #publiclands ([link removed]) experience while hiking near Pechuck Lookout in Oregon's Table Rock Wilderness.

Don't forget to be prepared for winter weather conditions and #RecreateResponsibly ([link removed]) to ensure you have a fun and safe experience outdoors!

📸 Gabriel Amadeus

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