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


** To keep his promise to Alaska, Biden must fast-track durable protections
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Monday, March 27, 2023
National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, Bureau of Land Management ([link removed])

When the Biden administration approved the massive Willow oil and gas development in Alaska this month, it also announced a series of actions to protect millions of acres of land and water in the state. But the administration has very little time left to turn those commitments into meaningful and durable protections, writes Center for Western Priorities Policy Director Rachael Hamby
([link removed]
MDNhZjM0ZWYifQ.aEmqXnoHnCnEtSmjJYnk_edMawMHp-Zt8z9dU3RAe8zlwcLGR7HCq3SkvenF5aUO03JxPEZSi2RXW2FdKXSQ5ixcGa6iNpuYLLlQRaMS7jxcm-gbpMFA_VUwMoyD-hCq6tmXXoqmj_flH_Jk9b2R621cvRWlJ2X-3AZ7oJ444mLezpo5bgEnvDrf6z_jIcYltnhf7oOO-MuI0YnQruzL-6p7E6-88bmiml0srL21hWHyWxSj5I2xK0oGRxcN9E33gZLaTbcsLxflPtq0DGjNz6Bhqjr5DCBRtyrr-Noa58am4fOiT6HVJOkDlYxzjhOsuJ0Y4m49ZgcE6f3QXDeUMg) .

The Interior department also announced ([link removed]) it is initiating a rulemaking process to protect up to 13 million acres of land in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A), the largest contiguous area of public lands in the U.S. The proposed rules, which the department says will be available in the coming months, would limit future oil and gas leasing in designated Special Areas within the NPR-A. Special Areas, such as the Teshekpuk Lake area, have been identified ([link removed]) as “containing any significant subsistence, recreational, fish and wildlife, historical, or scenic value.” Wildlife such as caribou, grizzly and polar bears, and migratory birds all rely on these intact and undisturbed habitats which will be impossible to replace if they are disturbed and fragmented by oil and
gas development.

The draft of this proposed rule, along with others, such as those to implement reforms to the oil and gas program, must be released by next month if the administration hopes to avoid having the final rule potentially overturned by Congress through the Congressional Review Act ([link removed](CRA)%20is%20a%20tool%20that%20Congress,law%20on%20March%2029%2C%201996.) (CRA). Because the CRA deadline is based on the legislative calendar, the actual cutoff date for a rule to be subject to repeal by a new Congress is a moving target, and the final date is not known until the outgoing Congress adjourns. For the Biden administration, this means the only way to be sure a rule is safe from the CRA, in the event there is a change in administrations, is to publish the final rule by April of 2024.

The federal rulemaking process is, by design, lengthy ([link removed]) . Working back from the 2024 deadline, Hamby explains
([link removed]
MDNhZjM0ZWYifQ.aEmqXnoHnCnEtSmjJYnk_edMawMHp-Zt8z9dU3RAe8zlwcLGR7HCq3SkvenF5aUO03JxPEZSi2RXW2FdKXSQ5ixcGa6iNpuYLLlQRaMS7jxcm-gbpMFA_VUwMoyD-hCq6tmXXoqmj_flH_Jk9b2R621cvRWlJ2X-3AZ7oJ444mLezpo5bgEnvDrf6z_jIcYltnhf7oOO-MuI0YnQruzL-6p7E6-88bmiml0srL21hWHyWxSj5I2xK0oGRxcN9E33gZLaTbcsLxflPtq0DGjNz6Bhqjr5DCBRtyrr-Noa58am4fOiT6HVJOkDlYxzjhOsuJ0Y4m49ZgcE6f3QXDeUMg) , means that in order for the Alaska protections to last, the Biden administration must publish a draft of those rules no later than this April.

Correction: Friday’s edition of Look West mentioned the Biden administration’s goal to approve 25,000 megawatts of renewable energy on federal lands. The administration seeks to achieve this goal by 2025, not 2050.
Quick hits


** Before Americans can visit Castner Range National Monument, the Pentagon has to clean it up
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Washington Post ([link removed]) | Stars and Stripes ([link removed]) | El Paso Times ([link removed]) [Opinion]


** National monument signs go up quickly at Avi Kwa Ame
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KSNV ([link removed]) | Nevada Independent ([link removed]) [Opinion]


** Decades before Avi Kwa Ame, Tribal nations led the way to protect the Mojave Desert
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High Country News ([link removed])


** Terry Tempest Williams is haunted by what she has seen at Great Salt Lake
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New York Times ([link removed])


** Millions lack reliable access to running water. Should they start catching rain?
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Washington Post ([link removed])


** Tester blasts Forest Service for making an end run around environmental review obligations
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Daily Montanan ([link removed])


** Passion for public lands drives new conservation areas manager in western Colorado
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Grand Junction Daily Sentinel ([link removed])


** Plans to bring grizzly bears back to North Cascades moving forward
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Yakima Herald-Republic ([link removed])
Quote of the day
” The retreat of Great Salt Lake is not a singular story. Death is what happened to vast stretches of the Aral Sea in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan by the late 2010s, now seen as one of the planet’s largest environmental disasters. Pick your place anywhere in the world and Great Salt Lake is a mirror reflecting a flashing light on what is coming and what is already here. Our natural touchstones of joy will deliver us to heartbreak. Each of us will face the losses of the places that brought us to life.”
—Terry Tempest Williams, New York Times ([link removed])
Picture this


** @usfws ([link removed])
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Spring is here, and that means mating season has come to Sagebrush Country! This type of ecosystem is found across 11 western states, including Colorado, Nevada, Northern California, Oregon, Washington, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, North and South Dakota. With over 350 species relying on sagebrush for food and shelter, they need your help finding matches! Check out these eligible bachelors and bachelorettes and #swipesagebrush for more.

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