November, in brief
What you may have missed and need to know
Key news from November:
- A new proposal under consideration by the Trump Administration would allow private companies to play a larger role in national parks, transferring public assets and heritage to private industry. The National Park Service also quietly announced it disbanded the Zinke-era parks advisory panel stacked with industry representatives.
- Washington, D.C.-based Bureau of Land Management employees received reassignment letters, kicking off a 30-day clock for each employee to accept a forced relocation, resign, or face potential termination. Acting BLM Director William Perry Pendley said he would relocate to Grand Junction if he is formally nominated.
- According to a batch of over 900 pages of emails, Interior Secretary David Bernhardt frequently let agency ethics officials know which decisions he preferred from their office.
- In energy news, Arizona’s Navajo Generating Station — the largest coal plant in the West — shut down after 45 years in operation. The Navajo Nation also announced it will no longer financially back the purchase of coal mines.
- The Trump administration announced a draft plan that would open millions of acres in the Alaskan Arctic to oil and gas drilling.
- A state audit revealed that Utah’s oil and gas regulators failed to enforce environmental and safety rules for decades. Although regulators identified many instances in which standards were violated, they could not identify a single fine ever issued against an oil and gas operator in the last 24 years.
- The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee voted to fully and permanently fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund. It is unclear if, or when, Majority Leader McConnell would schedule a vote before the full Senate.
What to watch for in December:
- The Trump administration is expected to roll back land protections for millions of acres of California desert by reversing the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan to make way for energy development.
- BLM employees being relocated to Grand Junction, Colorado have until the middle of December to agree to move or face termination.
- The last short-term spending bill funds the federal government through late December. If another spending bill isn’t agreed upon, national parks could be closed, or kept open without staff like last year.
Best Reads of the Month
Opinion: What do Western voters want in 2020? We asked them
Air quality is better everywhere except the West, thanks to wildfires
Column: Secretary Bernhardt’s previous lobbying raises questions about sweetheart deal for his former client
Interior Department to allow some offshore drillers to pay lower, or even no royalties to taxpayers
Minneapolis Star-Tribune editorial board issues call to stop Twin Metals mine
From the Center for Western Priorities:
Funding America’s Public Lands FutureA new report from the Center for Western Priorities lays out a bold vision for the future of conservation funding and land management across the United States. Not only do agencies have massive backlogs, but agencies within the Department of the Interior and Department of Agriculture face increasing challenges in the years ahead, including climate change, development, and increasing visitation.
Westwise Blog:
Developing the California Desert
The Trump administration is poised to roll back land and wildlife protections in the name of “energy dominance”
Go West, Young Podcast:
Steve Ellis on the BLM “relocation”
We talk to 38-year civil service veteran Steve Ellis about what’s happening inside Bureau of Land Management headquarters as the Trump administration sends letters forcing most employees to relocate their families or quit.
What Western voters want in 2020
We take a deep dive into the Center for Western Priorities’ Winning the West poll to find out what Western voters want to hear from candidates in the 2020 election. Download the full poll results or highlights presentation.
Quote of the month:
Many ecosystems and wildlife species are nearing the point of no return. Protecting and restoring 30 percent of our lands and waters by 2030, with more protected in the decades following, is a necessary step to stem the collapse of our natural systems.”
Picture this:
Read the Report
