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


** Biden to issue Earth Day order to safeguard old-growth forests
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Friday, April 22, 2022
Spectacular tree in Admiralty Island National Monument in Alaska's Tongass National Forest. Photo by Don MacDougall, Forest Service ([link removed])

President Biden is expected to sign an executive order ([link removed]) today that will lay the groundwork for protecting some of America’s biggest and oldest trees.

Biden's order will direct the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management to inventory mature forests nationwide ([link removed]) , and require the agencies to identify threats to old-growth trees ([link removed]) (generally, those over 80 years old) and use that information to write new policies that protect them.

The administration’s action reflects a broader strategy to combat climate change through the America the Beautiful plan ([link removed]) to conserve more land, including the trees that store the most carbon. A 2020 study ([link removed]) of six national forests in the Pacific Northwest found that just 3 percent of the largest trees contained roughly 42 percent of the carbon.

The president’s order will not ban logging of mature and old-growth trees, a move that is likely to disappoint more than 70 environmental groups that recently called on Biden ([link removed]) to enact new protections for mature and old-growth trees which currently aren’t prohibited from being turned into lumber.


** Nebraska voters reject Ricketts' 30x30 disinformation
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A group of Nebraska conservation organizations, including the Nebraska Farmers Union, Nebraska Wildlife Federation, Nebraska Land Trust, and The Nature Conservancy released new polling of 501 registered Nebraska voters ([link removed]) that indicated overwhelming support for conservation easements and voluntary conservation programs, such as the conservation reserve program, which pays farmers to set aside land for wildlife conservation.
95 percent of respondents said they supported voluntary conservation programs, which Lori Weigel of New Bridge Strategy, the agency that conducted the poll, called ([link removed]) “about as good as it ever gets in support for anything.”

On a press call with reporters, John Hansen, president of the Nebraska Farmers Union ([link removed]) criticized Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts, the American Stewards of Liberty, and other opponents of Biden's America the Beautiful plan for using “conspiracy theories, misinformation and mischaracterizations” to spread fear and distrust about voluntary federal conservation programs. The Center for Western Priorities' most recent report, The 30x30 Disinformation Brigade ([link removed]) details the tangled web of lies peddled by anti-conservation extremists to undermine American conservation efforts ([link removed]) .
Quick hits


** New podcast! Renowned environmental law professor John Leshy on the history and future of public lands
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The Landscape ([link removed])


** How Nebraska's governor became a general in a right-wing war against Biden's conservation goal
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HuffPost ([link removed])


** Researchers say jaguars could return to the Southwest but only by maintaining habitat connectivity corridors
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The Conversation ([link removed])


** Report: Western U.S. tops the list for unhealthy air quality
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USA Today ([link removed]) | E&E News ([link removed])


** California leads effort to let rivers roam, lower flood risk
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Associated Press ([link removed])


** Biden to issue Earth Day order to safeguard old-growth forests
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Washington Post ([link removed]) | E&E News ([link removed]) | NPR ([link removed])


** National parks are the world's "living laboratories"
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ABC News ([link removed])


** Greenwashing obscures the urgency to protect the Earth every day
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Arizona Republic ([link removed])
Quote of the day
” This Earth Day is a good moment to reflect on how investments in nature — especially those that have become federal law — have benefited Americans for more than a century. It’s time for Congress to double down on those investments to give our remarkable landscapes and waters, and all of those who depend on them for their livelihoods and well-being, the best chance of thriving into the future."
—Marcia Argust, The Pew Charitable Trust, The Hill ([link removed])
Picture this


** @BLMNational ([link removed])
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#NationalParkWeek ([link removed]) is a great time to get outside & visit the parks. The @NatlParkService ([link removed]) offers a range of outdoor activities for visitor enjoyment including bicycling, camping, fishing, hiking, snowshoeing, & more [link removed]… ([link removed]) . Photo: Theodore Roosevelt National Park

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