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


** Jimmy Carter asks court to protect Alaska wilderness
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Wednesday, May 11, 2022
President Jimmy Carter signs ANILCA in 1980. Carter Presidential Library ([link removed])

Former President Jimmy Carter took the rare step of weighing in on a court case ([link removed]) that could shape the future of wilderness in Alaska. Carter filed an amicus brief this week in the litigation over a proposed road through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge.

The community of King Cove ostensibly wants the road to provide year-round access to an all-weather airport, but the court noted that the land swap to create the road, as approved by then-Interior secretary David Bernhardt, would allow for commercial uses ([link removed]) . In March, a three-judge panel reversed an initial ruling that stopped the land swap.

President Carter's filing in the case notes that the appellate decision undermines one of his signature legislative achievements, the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980 (ANILCA).

“It is overbroad and permits the Secretary of Interior to undo Congressionally designated Wilderness and other conservation lands. Unless reversed, it would open tens of millions of acres of public lands for adverse development,” Carter said ([link removed]) .
Quick hits


** The secret to passing climate legislation—even in red states
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Grist ([link removed])


** Biden administration defends social ‘cost of carbon’ metric at Supreme Court
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E&E News ([link removed])


** Interior Dept. to release report on Indigenous boarding schools
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Associated Press ([link removed])


** Over half of U.S. in drought as wildfires burn, tornado activity surges
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NBC News ([link removed])


** BLM expert predicts Utah fire season is about a month away
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KSL Newsradio ([link removed])


** Bypass to fix Colorado aquatic traffic jam gets green light
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Daily Camera ([link removed]) | E&E News ([link removed])


** Opinion: Derogatory names of natural landmarks are dehumanizing
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Writers on the Range ([link removed])


** How Colorado landed on a list of the top beaches in the U.S.
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KDVR ([link removed]) | Out There Colorado ([link removed]) | Travel + Leisure ([link removed])
Quote of the day
” We really cannot win on climate change without including rural America in finding solutions.... We often think of rural America as being very opposed to climate policies, but I think that’s not a very accurate portrayal of what’s happening.”
—Devashree Saha, World Resources Institute, Grist ([link removed])
Picture this


** @mypubliclands ([link removed])
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From early spring to late fall, nature puts on a spectacular show with public lands. Wildflowers come in all shapes, sizes, and colors and grow in unusual places. You can see them in mountain meadows and along forest edges, but these colorful displays can surprise you in salt marshes and across desert plains. 🌹🌻🌷🌼

See stunning displays of these desert beauties at the Bureau of Land Management’s Mojave Trails National Monument in California.

📸 Bob Wick

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