Kate and Aaron are joined by the Wilderness Society’s Michael Carroll and Justin Meuse to talk through a handful of federal regulations, or rules, that were finalized in late March and April. These rules touch on everything from methane waste on public lands to ecosystem restoration to caribou herds in Alaska. Some of these rules are already in effect, and some will take effect soon. Together, they are a framework for more responsible and climate-friendly public land management.

News

• 5 Early Takeaways From the Biden Administration’s Conservation Atlas – Center for American Progress
• The U.S. just changed how it manages a tenth of its land – Washington Post
• Biden hikes cost of drilling on federal lands as Trump courts oil donors – Washington Post
• Biden administration takes stride on public lands renewable energy with final rule – The Wilderness Society
• Biden limits oil drilling across 13 million acres of Alaskan Arctic – Washington Post
• BLM announces final methane waste rule – New Mexico Political Report
• More solar on public lands? Digging into BLM’s plan – The Landscape
• BLM proposes stronger greater sage-grouse conservation plans – Bureau of Land Management

Credits

Hosts: Kate Groetzinger & Aaron Weiss 

Feedback: podcast@westernpriorities.org

Music: Purple Planet

Featured image: BLM/Flickr

The post Why April was a huge month for public lands appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

Kate and Aaron are joined by Trout Unlimited CEO Chris Wood, who has been with TU for twenty years, following a career as chief policy director at the U.S. Forest Service during the Clinton administration. Chris talks about how an influx of federal funding for ecosystem restoration is supercharging the group’s work reconnecting streams and rivers, as well as how his group is engaging in legislative mining reform.

Click here to read an automatically generated transcript of the episode.

News

• Biden administration bars drilling in Colorado’s Thompson Divide landscape – The Hill
• Feds announce final renewable energy rule for public lands – NM Political Report
• Oil and gas companies must pay more to drill on federal lands under new Biden administration rule – Associated Press
• U.S. clamps down on oil and gas firms releasing potent greenhouse gas – Washington Post

Credits

Hosts: Kate Groetzinger & Aaron Weiss 

Feedback: podcast@westernpriorities.org

Music: Purple Planet

Featured image: Salmon using a fish ladder; Wikimedia Commons

The post Swimming upstream with Trout Unlimited appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

Kate and Aaron are joined by author Betsy Gaines Quammen to talk about public lands and extremism. Betsy has written two books about extremism in the West. Her first, American Zion, looks at the connection between Mormonism and extremism. Her second book, True West, which came out last year, digs into the myths that define the West.

News

• Interior rule aims to crack down on methane leaks from oil, gas drilling on public lands – Associated Press
• Proposed Chuckwalla National Monument video – Center for Western Priorities
• California tribe that lost 90% of land during Gold Rush to get site to serve as gateway to redwoods – Associated Press

Credits

Hosts: Kate Groetzinger & Aaron Weiss 

Feedback: podcast@westernpriorities.org

Music: Purple Planet

Featured image: USFWS/Flickr

The post Talking public lands extremism with Betsy Gaines Quammen appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

Kate and Aaron are joined by three members of the reporting team behind, Lithium Liabilities, a groundbreaking investigation into how lithium mining could affect the West’s water supply. Emma Peterson, Morgan Casey, and Lauren Mucciolo are part of a large team of editors, photographers, and reporters who worked on the investigation at the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism.

Click here to read an automatically generated transcript of the episode.

News

• Feds publish “unprecedented” Bears Ears plan – Land Desk
• Lithium Liabilities – Cronkite News
• Comment on Bears Ears draft management plan – Bureau of Land Management
• Shutting off Arizona’s spigot to Saudi Arabian cows and political bull – Arizona Republic

Credits

Hosts: Kate Groetzinger & Aaron Weiss 

Feedback: podcast@westernpriorities.org

Music: Purple Planet

Featured image: Doc Searls/Flickr

The post Will lithium mining dry up the West? appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

Kate and Aaron are joined by pollsters Lori Weigel and Dave Metz to discuss the 14th Annual Colorado College State of the Rockies Project Conservation in the West poll. The poll surveys voters in Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Utah and Colorado on their environmental views. This year, it found support for conservation of nature is higher than ever.

Click here to read an automatically generated transcript of the episode.

News

• Wyoming Legislature’s two chambers OK ‘Kelly Parcel’ sale to feds for $100M – WyoFile
• Bipartisan conservation poll shows increasing concern over environmental issues in Western States – CPR News
• Feds Deny Dam Permits on Tribal Lands – Grand Canyon Trust

Credits

Hosts: Kate Groetzinger & Aaron Weiss 

Feedback: podcast@westernpriorities.org

Music: Purple Planet

Featured image: BLM/Flickr

The post What Western voters want in 2024 appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

Kate and Aaron are joined by Justin Meuse, Director of Government Relations for Climate and Energy at the Wilderness Society, to talk about a proposal from the Bureau of Land Management to prioritize around 22 million acres of public land for utility scale solar development across the West. They discuss why planning matters, how much solar development to actually expect if this plan proceeds, and how you can get involved.

View an automatically generated transcript of this episode here.

News

• Why Utah leaders just rejected a valuable Bears Ears land swap – Salt Lake Tribune
• BLM analysis aims to optimize solar energy development throughout the West – Bureau of Land Management
• Arizona Republicans challenge Biden’s designation of a national monument near the Grand Canyon – Associated Press
• 2024 State of the Rockies Conservation in the West poll – Colorado College
• Comment on the Solar PEIS

Credits

Hosts: Kate Groetzinger & Aaron Weiss 

Feedback: podcast@westernpriorities.org

Music: Purple Planet

Featured image: BLM/Flickr

The post More solar on public lands? Digging into BLM’s plan appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

Driven by high uranium prices, domestic uranium mining has resumed at three locations in the U.S. after an eight-year hiatus. Kate and Aaron are joined by Amber Reimondo, Energy Director at the Grand Canyon Trust and Scott Clow, Environmental Programs Director for the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, to discuss how that will impact the Grand Canyon and Tribal communities on the Colorado Plateau.

Click here for an automatically generated transcript.

News

• First conventional uranium mining in the U.S. in 8 years has begun in Utah and Arizona – KSJD
• Alarm as first uranium mine in years opens near Grand Canyon – The Guardian
• BLM deals “big setback” to plan for massive expansion of limestone quarry above Glenwood Springs – Colorado Sun
• Native American tribe seeks designation of California monument – E&E News

Credits

Hosts: Kate Groetzinger & Aaron Weiss 

Feedback: podcast@westernpriorities.org

Music: Purple Planet

Featured image: Wikimedia Commons

The post Uranium mining returns to the Colorado Plateau appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

Kate and Aaron are joined by I Ling Thompson, CEO of The Foundation for America’s Public Lands. The Foundation is the official charitable partner of the Bureau of Land Management. Its job is to engage with local communities and the public on behalf of the agency. Thompson discusses the challenges the BLM faces and how the Foundation plans to help, as well as how members of the public can engage with the Foundation.

Click here for an automatically generated transcript.

News

• NYSE pulls plan for environmentally sustainable asset class – Reuters
• BLM plan aims to dramatically expand Western solar – E&E News
• Learn more about The Foundation for America’s Public Lands and sign up for emails

Credits

Hosts: Kate Groetzinger & Aaron Weiss 

Feedback: podcast@westernpriorities.org

Music: Purple Planet

Featured image: BLM/Flickr

The post Inside the Foundation for America’s Public Lands appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

Kate and Aaron are joined by Tony Caligiuri, president and CEO of Colorado Open Lands, a nonprofit land trust that exists to protect Colorado’s land and water resources. Colorado Open Lands works primarily with private landowners to place voluntary agreements called conservation easements on their property. Tony talks about how private land and water conservation works, as well as the vital role it plays in the national effort to protect 30 percent of U.S. land and water by 2030.

News

• First conventional uranium mining in the U.S. in 8 years has begun in Utah and Arizona – KSJD
• Conservation opponents have a new boogeyman: Natural Asset Companies – Westwise
• Native tribes are getting a slice of their land back — under the condition that they preserve it – Los Angeles Times
• Donate to Colorado Open Lands

Credits

Hosts: Kate Groetzinger & Aaron Weiss 

Feedback: podcast@westernpriorities.org

Music: Purple Planet

Featured image: BLM/Flickr

The post The private land piece of the 30×30 puzzle appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

Kate and Aaron are joined by Center for Western Priorities Executive Director Jennifer Rokala for a year-end public lands news roundup and a look ahead at 2024. Overall, 2023 was a great year for public lands. The Biden administration took some really important and concrete steps toward protecting 30 percent of U.S. lands by 2030, as well as started some important rule-makings to update public lands management and end drilling in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. But the pressure is on as we head into 2024. We talk about what public lands lovers should be watching in the new year.

News

• Road to 30 Postcards – Center for Western Priorities (proposed monument blogs, videos, and more)
• Look West monthly newsletters – Westwise
• The Biden Administration Has Reached Conservation Records in 2023 – Center for American Progress

Credits

Hosts: Kate Groetzinger & Aaron Weiss 

Feedback: podcast@westernpriorities.org

Music: Purple Planet

Featured image: USInterior/Flickr

The post The year in public lands appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.