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


** Wyoming land acquisition shows the way to 30x30
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Monday, June 6, 2022
Marton Ranch and the North Platte River via Google Earth

The acquisition of more than 35,000 acres of formerly private land in Wyoming shows how the Land and Water Conservation Fund is key to the success of the Biden administration's 30x30 initiative. The Bureau of Land Management last week completed its purchase of Marton Ranch ([link removed]) , which runs along 8.8 miles of the North Platte River. The acquisition opens public access to another 40,000 acres of state and federal public lands that were previously unreachable, creating a 118-square-mile area of contiguous public land.

The purchase was facilitated by The Conservation Fund, which emphasized that it was a win for wildlife, hunters, and fishermen.

“Everything from outdoor recreation and public access to wildlife habitat to agriculture, continuing to the riparian corridor, which is a rare habitat in Wyoming, to helping out the local economy,” said Dan Schlager ([link removed]) , Wyoming state director at The Conservation Fund. “The wildlife habitat includes the North Platte River. And it's a premier destination for catching trophy rainbow and brown trout.”

President Biden made increased access to public lands a cornerstone of his environmental policy when he signed an executive order setting a goal to protect 30 percent of America's land and waters by 2030. The purchase demonstrates how public-private partnerships are key to that goal.

The Bureau of Land Management “works hard to provide additional access to previously inaccessible public lands by working with partner organizations,” BLM Director Tracy Stone-Manning said ([link removed]) . “We are so grateful for these partnerships that allow us to conserve and expand access to public lands for many generations to come.”
Quick hits


** Army Corps blocks strip mine near Okefenokee wetlands
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Washington Post ([link removed]) | Associated Press ([link removed])


** BLM completes largest land purchase in Wyoming to date
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Wyoming Public Media ([link removed]) | Wyoming Tribune Eagle ([link removed]) | Cowboy State Daily ([link removed]) | Outdoor Life ([link removed])


** LWCF funds 160-acre acquisition along Escalante Creek in Colorado
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Grand Junction Daily Sentinel ([link removed])


** Necefer: Paying lip service to Indigenous knowledge won’t fix climate change
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Outside ([link removed])


** Grijalva accuses mining company of illegally grading washes near Tucson
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Arizona Daily Star ([link removed])


** New Mexico oil and gas leases from 2016 could be reversed after court ruling
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Carlsbad Current Argus ([link removed]) | E&E News ([link removed])


** Scientists warn Colorado on track to lose half its snow by 2080
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Denver Post ([link removed])


** ‘Lost plants’ found in Saguaro National Park
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Arizona Daily Star ([link removed])
Quote of the day
” We have already crossed thresholds of irreversible impacts for some Indigenous people ([link removed]) . I have seen how the warming of the Arctic has permanently displaced ([link removed]) entire villages ([link removed]) and disrupted ([link removed]) thousands of years of cultural traditions and ways of knowing. In my home community, I have witnessed large swaths of rangeland turn to sand dunes and medicinal plants I once collected move to higher latitudes and elevations due to warming temperatures and two decades of drought.”
—Dr. Len Necefer, Outside ([link removed])
Picture this


** @mypubliclands ([link removed])
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The North Platte River is the only floatable waterway in central Wyoming and has become the destination fishery for the state, rated as a blue ribbon fishery by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. Game fish species here include rainbow, brown and cutthroat trout. In addition to fishing, visitors here also enjoy floating, waterfowl hunting, wildlife viewing, picnicking and camping. This river has become a vital part of the social and economic values of central Wyoming.

📸 Bob Wick

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