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


** Burgum tries to play both sides on national monuments
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Monday, April 28, 2025
Valley of the Gods in Bears Ears National Monument, Utah. Bureau of Land Management, Wikimedia Commons ([link removed])

On Friday, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said ([link removed]) that shrinking national monuments is not a top priority for the Trump administration, despite internal documents that show otherwise.

Interior officials are looking closely ([link removed]) at where they can abolish or greatly reduce the size of national monuments designated by previous presidents. At least six national monuments are under the microscope as of now, including Baaj Nwaavjo I'tah Kukveni–Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument in Arizona, Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument in New Mexico, and Chuckwalla National Monument in California. Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments in Utah, which President Trump illegally shrunk during his first term, are also on the list.

Conservation and Indigenous advocates argue ([link removed]) that the monuments represent vital ecological and sacred cultural sites that local communities worked for decades to protect, and there is little demand ([link removed]) to develop mineral resources within their boundaries.

Leaders in New Mexico are among those speaking out against attacks on national monuments. “The mining and energy extraction narrative is, I think, a distraction,” said ([link removed]) Patrick Nolan, director of the nonprofit Friends of the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks. “I think the true intention here is to dismantle the public lands system and signal this administration’s intention to roll back conservation lands.”


** Quick hits
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Burgum confirms Interior is reviewing national monument boundaries

The Hill ([link removed]) | E&E News ([link removed])

New Mexico leaders vow to defend national monuments

Albuquerque Journal ([link removed])

Wildfires this year expected to exceed historical averages

The Hill ([link removed])

In Wyoming, the Eastern Shoshone Tribe decided to classify buffalo as wildlife. Here's why

Associated Press ([link removed]) | High Country News ([link removed])

Interior solicits employees' resumes in preparation for widespread layoffs

Government Executive ([link removed])

A rare glimpse inside the mountain tunnel that carries water to Southern California

Los Angeles Times ([link removed])

Can Trump bring back ‘clean, beautiful coal’?

High Country News ([link removed])

During migration season, turn off your lights to help birds fly safe

CPR News ([link removed])


** Quote of the day
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” Any president that would seek to undermine any national monument anywhere in America shows a lack of appreciation for the value that those protected lands have for those communities.”

—New Mexico State Senator Jeff Steinborn, Albuquerque Journal ([link removed])


** Picture This
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@grandcanyonnps ([link removed]) and @grand_canyon_conservancy ([link removed])
From evergreen, to deciduous, to solidified in rock, trees are a big part of the national park experience.

Some parks are dedicated to giant trees like sequoias and redwoods, and others let historic monuments or canyons take the spotlight.

Either way, our woody friends offer shade, food, beauty, and a look into the past, but what makes one tree better than the other—we'll let you decide who to “root” for!

Visit the link to check out the iconic national park trees and find your favorite!

go.nps.gov/gc-bb

#ArborDay ([link removed]) #ArborDay2025 ([link removed]) #NationalParkWeek ([link removed]) #GrandCanyon ([link removed]) #GrandCanyonNationalPark ([link removed]) - NPS photo/M. Quinn

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