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, […]
The post The year in public lands appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

The year in public lands

News, interviews, and history with newsmakers and environmental advocates, focused on parks and public lands across the American West. Produced by the Center for Western Priorities, formerly known as Go West, Young Podcast.

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The proposed Mimbres Peaks National Monument would add protections for lands overseen by the Bureau of Land Management in Luna County, New Mexico near the city of Deming. The collaborative effort is locally-led by elected leaders, business owners, economic development advocates, hunters, youth leaders, conservationists, and students. The proposal would protect approximately 245,000 acres in an area that contains documented cultural and historic sites that continue to hold importance to modern day Tribes and Pueblos, and also provides diverse outdoor recreation opportunities including hunting, hiking, equestrian use, biking, camping, picnicking, photography, and more. According to a recent independent economic analysis, the proposal would bring a much needed boost to the area, broadening access to nature and creating new jobs and revenue through increased visitation.
Hear from a father and son who know and love this region and want to see it protected: Ray Trejo works for New Mexico Wildlife Federation and is currently a Luna County Commissioner. BJ Trejo lives in Deming and is working as an organizer for New Mexico Wilderness Alliance. He is also Ray’s son.
News

DOD, Interagency Partners Designate 5 New Sentinel Landscapes – U.S. Department of Defense
Sign the petition to support the proposed Mimbres Peaks National Monument
Proposed national monument would be economic boon for area – Las Cruces Sun News
New Polling Confirms Strong Majority Support for an Owyhee Canyonlands National Monument – Protect the Owyhee
Owyhee Video Postcard – Center for Western Priorities

Credits
Hosts: Kate Groetzinger & Aaron Weiss 
Feedback: podcast@westernpriorities.org
Music: Purple Planet
Featured image: Florida Mountains in the proposed Mimbres Peaks National Monument
The post Protecting the Mimbres Peaks in Southern New Mexico appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

Protecting the Mimbres Peaks in Southern New Mexico

Aaron and Kate are joined by Kristen Miller, Executive Director of the Alaska Wilderness League, to talk about some big steps to protect public lands in Alaska made by the Biden administration this spring. They include increased protections for 13 million acres inside the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, as well as the cancellation of a proposed 200-mile road that would have stretched across part of Alaska called the Ambler Road. 
News

The U.S. just took its biggest step yet to end coal mining – Washington Post
The coal industry, running on fumes, likely to shrink more with new EPA power plant rule – USA Today
Biden administration restricts oil and gas leasing in 13 million acres of Alaska’s petroleum reserve – Associated Press
Tribes, activists gird for fight over Ambler Road rejection – E&E; News
Haaland visits site of proposed Southern California monument – E&E; News

Credits
Hosts: Kate Groetzinger & Aaron Weiss 
Feedback: podcast@westernpriorities.org
Music: Purple Planet
Featured image: BLM/Flickr
The post A huge step forward for public lands in Alaska appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

A huge step forward for public lands in Alaska

Aaron and Kate are joined by Davina Smith, who represents the Navajo Nation on the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition, and Lauren Henson, who is the Collaborative Management and Tribal Support Specialist for the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition, to talk about the Bears Ears draft monument management plan, which came out in March. We talk about how the draft plan came together and how to get involved.
Click here for an automatically-generated transcript.
News

Biden Expands Two National Monuments in California – New York Times
Submit a public comment through the Coalition website – Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition
Submit a comment through the BLM – Bureau of Land Management
Bears Ears draft management plan public hearings – Bureau of Land Management
Democrats seek probe of foreign mining on public lands – E&E; News

Credits
Hosts: Kate Groetzinger & Aaron Weiss 
Feedback: podcast@westernpriorities.org
Music: Purple Planet
Featured image: brucerinehart/Wikimedia Commons
The post Behind the scenes of the Bears Ears draft management plan appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

Behind the scenes of the Bears Ears draft management plan

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.
Click here for an automatically generated transcript.
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.

Why April was a huge month for public lands

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.

The year in public lands

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