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


** Historic agreement establishes tribal co-management of Bears Ears National Monument
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Tuesday, June 21, 2022
Utah Dine Bikeyah members and monument supporters gather to celebrate new signage for Bears Ears. Photo courtesy of Aldean Ketchum.

Five tribes with ties to the Bears Ears region signed a cooperative agreement ([link removed]) with the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service which grants them more power in the management of Bears Ears National Monument. The document reestablishes the Bears Ears Commission ([link removed]) to handle day-to-day decisions. The tribes will submit a land management plan to the Bureau of Land Management, which will then incorporate the recommendations into its own plan.

This agreement establishes a model for co-management ([link removed]) between tribes and the federal government where there is an ongoing collaboration with the people who have the traditional ecological knowledge about the land.

“Today, instead of being removed from a landscape to make way for a public park, we are being invited back to our ancestral homelands to help repair them,” Carleton Bowekaty, lieutenant governor of the Zuni Pueblo Tribe, said in a statement ([link removed]) .

The signing of the agreement was celebrated ([link removed]) with the unveiling of a new Bears Ears entrance sign that includes the insignia of the five tribes.


** Creative solutions required to address water crisis
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New data from the ([link removed]) Upper Colorado River Commission ([link removed]) shows that the amount of water available in Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming decreased by about 1 million acre-feet compared with the previous year. In response to the data, Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Touton delivered a warning ([link removed]) to Congress that Colorado River water users must cut their water usage by as much as one-fourth by the end of next year, or reservoirs will not be able to produce hydropower.

The urgency of the drought in the West requires a multitude of inventive solutions, as Tanya Trujillo, the Interior Department’s assistant secretary for water and science said during a speech ([link removed]) , “We need to be taking action in all states, in all sectors, and in all available ways.” In an attempt to take action for her state, New Mexico Representative Melanie Stansbury introduced a package of bills known as the "aquabus" ([link removed]) .

To discover a local perspective on water in the West, check out the new series Headwaters ([link removed]) from KBUT, made with support from The Water Desk ([link removed]) .
Quick hits


** Republican drive to tilt courts against climate action reaches a crucial moment
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New York Times ([link removed])


** Yellowstone National Park's neighboring towns face a long recovery from flood damage
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Wyofile ([link removed]) | Associated Press ([link removed]) | CNN ([link removed]) | Washington Post ([link removed])


** Renewable energy is the “new cash crop” on Colorado's Eastern Plains
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Colorado Sun ([link removed])


** Forest Service, Nez Perce Tribe sign land restoration work deal
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Associated Press ([link removed]) | E ([link removed]) &E ([link removed]) News ([link removed]) | Idaho Capital Sun ([link removed])


** Momentum grows for permanent protections for Caja Del Rio
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Associated Press ([link removed])


** Interior to launch mental health program for wildland firefighters, boost wildfire spending
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Colorado Newsline ([link removed]) | O ([link removed]) regon Capital Chronicle ([link removed]) | Big Country News ([link removed])


** Contreras Fire burns over 17,000 acres, reaches Kitt Peak National Observatory
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Arizona Republic ([link removed]) | New York Times ([link removed])


** Interior Department adds $103 million for wildfire hazards and land rehabilitation
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Los Angeles Times ([link removed]) | Sierra Sun Times ([link removed])
Quote of the day
” One thing is perfectly clear: That climate change will continue to make fires in the West larger and that we must continue to invest in conservation of our ecosystems. We must and we will continue to stay coordinated because the reality is that these days… it’s ‘fire years,’ no longer ‘fire seasons.’”
—Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, C ([link removed]) olorado Newsline ([link removed])
Picture this
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** @K ([link removed]) atmaiNPS ([link removed])
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Have you ever seen such a pair of prints? These prints were found on the beach by Brooks Lake. Can you identify them? As much as we’d like to think these two were spending quality time together, chances are they are from two separate visits. What tracks have you seen lately?

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