
Key news from August, 2018:
- The Bureau of Land Managment released draft management plans for lands carved out of Grand Staircase-Escalante and the lands remaining in Bears Ears, opening up nearly 700,000 acres for mining and drilling. The proposal also recommended selling or transferring 1,610 acres cut from Grand Staircase-Escalante into private hands. Less than 72 hours later, Deputy Secretary David Bernhardt issued a memo ordering the Bureau of Land Management to scrap its sell-off proposal.
- President Trump blamed California’s giant wildfires on “bad environmental laws” in a series of tweets and was immediately met with swift push-back. Secretary Zinke then blamed the fires on “environmental terrorists” and denied the impacts of climate change, as the Commerce Department ordered NOAA to allow water use to surpass the limits of the Endangered Species Act despite experts pointing out a lack of water was not an issue.
- Politico previously reported on a real estate deal between Halliburton and Secretary Zinke. Zinke denied knowing about the plans despite hosting a Halliburton official in his office and receiving emails about the plans for a microbrewery.
- A group of bipartisan lawmakers spoke out in favor of the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which is set to expire at the end of September. Hundreds of projects are at risk if Congress fails to reauthorize and fully fund the program.
- Some 1,400 Coloradans gave Interior Secretary Zinke a chilly reception by protesting outside of a conservative political conference in Steamboat Springs where he gave a keynote speech. Scores attended a “Stand for Our Land” rally, opposing Zinke’s efforts to shrink national monuments and dramatically expand oil and gas development across the West.
What to watch for in September:
The Land and Water Conservation Fund expires September 30 — will Congress reauthorize the critical land conservation program? The Bureau of Land Managment will hold oil and gas lease sales in a number of western states, with plans to auction off hundreds of thousands of acres of public lands. The Interior Department is holding a comment period for the management plans for Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments. Interior’s Royalty Policy Committee will meet in Colorado on September 13.

Best Reads of the Month:
Secretary Zinke hired his high school football friend to block climate research at Interior
Zinke said he would never sell public land. But the Interior is considering it.
Column: “A Green Wave is coming this November, the pent-up force of the most overlooked constituency”

From the Center for Western Priorities
Westwise Blog:
- The Interior Secretary’s latest microbrewery denial is a howler
Ryan Zinke’s claims of ignorance are undermined by his own emails - Trump administration to industry: Come mine and drill our national monuments
Draft management plans for lands illegally cut from Grand Staircase-Escalante, Bears Ears seek widespread resource extraction, minimize protections - Trump administration to endangered species: We’re coming for you
Bill would have harmed popular Land and Water Conservation Fund

Go West, Young Podcast:
In this episode of CWP’s Go West, Young Podcast, pollster Brian Gottlieb and CWP Executive Director Jen Rokala discuss the new Winning the West poll on the importance of public lands issues to Western voters.
New Report: Funding America’s Future

A new report by the Center for Western Priorities, Funding America’s Conservation Future, offers a data-driven analysis of the Land and Water Conservation Fund’s (LWCF) accomplishments and examines what is at stake if Congress fails to renew the critical land conservation program. The report, which identified and examined upwards of 800 LWCF projects proposed from 2014 through 2017, provides a unique look at the scope and scale of LWCF successes for communities and states across the nation.
The analysis found 293 U.S. public land and Forest Legacy LWCF projects successfully completed between 2014 and 2017 in 42 states, conserving at least 431,000 acres. An additional 92 LWCF projects proposed during this period, encompassing 221,000 acres, are in the process of being completed.
The Land and Water Conservation Fund is the primary source of funding to enhance access to public lands across the country, but the popular program will expire if Congress does not reauthorize it by the end of September 2018. If Congress fails to reauthorize and fully fund LWCF, a minimum of 223 LWCF projects that would protect 318,000 acres are on the line if the program expires at the end of September.Quote of the month
Quote of the Month:
“Lovers of the outdoors, users of the outdoors, and friends of nature and conservation far outnumber the opponents. Just to give one example: There are an estimated 45 to 60 million active birdwatchers in the U.S. — or ‘birders,’ as they prefer to be called — contributing more than $40 billion annually to the U.S. economy.”
— Timothy Egan, author and New York Times columnist
Photo of the Month:

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