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


** Biden’s first year on public lands
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Friday, January 14, 2022
Center for Western Priorities photo edit

As we approach the first anniversary of President Biden’s first year in office, the Center for Western Priorities released a progress report ([link removed]) that takes stock of more than 90 policy changes impacting public lands that have been undertaken by the administration so far. The Biden administration’s first year has been a significant one, launching an unprecedented vision for land protection and addressing climate change, while also taking several inexplicable steps backwards on oil and gas drilling.

CWP identified five broad areas of focus on public lands for the Biden administration: Renewable energy, fossil fuels, the 30×30 effort to protect lands and waters, wildlife protections, and organizational changes. In those areas, we tracked 80 separate administrative actions, along with 13 other actions that did not fit neatly into the five categories.

The progress report ([link removed]) takes a look at the positive and negative impacts of the Biden administration’s actions so far, as well as the potential for the president’s conservation legacy if he follows through on policy changes that are currently underway.

On climate change, the president’s bold action to increase renewable energy was tainted by his decision to unleash a “carbon bomb” by holding a massive oil and gas lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico. Another climate progress analysis ([link removed]) from Evergreen Action finds that the administration made meaningful climate progress over the past year, but needs to move faster to meet its climate commitments.

When it comes to conservation, the president’s “America the Beautiful” initiative could become President Biden’s signature achievement if he and his administration move quickly to reach the 30×30 goal of protecting 30 percent of America’s lands and waters by the end of the decade.


** Public lands extremist charged with seditious conspiracy in Jan. 6 investigation
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Yesterday, Steward Rhodes, leader and founder of the extremist Oath Keepers militia, was arrested and charged with seditious conspiracy ([link removed]) over the plot to storm the Capitol last year. Rhodes is one of the first people so far be charged with sedition ([link removed]) , marking a major development in the sprawling investigation.

Rhodes and the Oath Keepers have been tied to public lands extremism since 2014 ([link removed]) , when they joined the infamous Bundy family standoff against the Bureau of Land Management. Since January of last year, it has become more and more apparent that there was significant overlap between backstage anti-public land insurgents and the Capitol insurrectionists ([link removed]) , ranging from far-right politicians to well-known extremists such as the Bundys.
Quick hits


** Opinion from three dozen prominent scientists: We cannot support the delisting of grizzly bears
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Mountain Journal ([link removed])


** Why won't Biden touch the Bundys?
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Mountain West New Bureau ([link removed])


** EPA rejects Wyoming haze plan, may accelerate coal plant closures
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WyoFile ([link removed])


** President Biden’s first year on public lands and climate
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Westwise ([link removed]) [Public lands] | Washington Post ([link removed]) [Climate]


** Western megadrought sets another stunning record
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CNN ([link removed])


** Texas pastor opinion: Castner Range deserves protection as a national monument
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El Paso Times ([link removed])


** The Nevada, and the West, that Sen. Harry Reid helped shape
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Nevada Independent ([link removed])


** How to identify animal tracks in the snow
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Backpacker ([link removed])
Quote of the day
” Stewardship is planning and making sure that we're using resources in a respectful way, that we're not overusing the resources to the detriment of future generations... What we've learned in that 10,000-year history [of Indigenous stewardship] is that importance of ensuring that at least seven generations from now that the same resources will be made available."

—Charles "Chuck" Sams III, Director of the National Park Service, USA Today ([link removed])
Picture this


** @U ([link removed]) SFWS ([link removed])
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So. Cold. White-tailed jackrabbits can weather temperatures below -20 degrees Fahrenheit.

How? In addition to their white winter coats, they use snow tunnels to stay warm.

Photo: Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge in Wyoming by Tom Koerner/USFWS

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