Look West: Public lands and energy news from the Center for Western Priorities
** 100 days in, Trump has launched numerous attacks on public lands
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Wednesday, April 30, 2025
A protestor's sign at the state capitol in Denver, Colorado. Photo by Sterling Homard, Center for Western Priorities.
In its first 100 days, the Trump administration has waged a war ([link removed]) on Americans' national public lands. It gutted ([link removed]) the Environmental Protection Agency, fired thousands of Park Service and Forest Service employees, and dismissed hundreds of scientists working on the National Climate Assessment—a congressionally-required report on how climate change is affecting the country.
Last week, a leaked draft strategic plan revealed ([link removed]) the Interior department's plans to open national public lands—including national monuments designated by past presidents—to drilling and other extractive development. The plan also includes selling public lands to housing developers and weakening bedrock environmental laws like the Endangered Species Act (ESA), all in the name of an “energy emergency ([link removed]) .”
“Even in all these made up crises, the American public doesn’t want this,” said ([link removed]) Chris Hill, CEO of the Conservation Lands Foundation. “The American people want and love their public lands.”
Attacks on public lands are deeply unpopular among Western voters. Seventy-two percent ([link removed]) oppose removing protections for public lands to allow for development, 89 percent ([link removed]) support keeping national monument designations in place, and 82 percent ([link removed]) prefer building more housing within or close to existing communities rather than selling off public lands for housing.
** Quick hits
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The Trump administration’s push to privatize US public lands
Grist ([link removed])
Trump’s first 100 days, by the numbers
E&E News ([link removed])
'Unprecedented' oil well blowout occurs in Colorado
9NEWS ([link removed])
EPA must reconsider Colorado’s decision to ignore fracking pollution in state plan to clean the air
Denver Post ([link removed]) | E&E News ([link removed])
A siege on science: How Trump is undoing an American legacy
Grist ([link removed])
Burgum leans away from ‘all-of-the-above’ energy, leaving renewables behind
E&E News ([link removed])
Leaked federal roadmap for public land called ‘industry wish list’
WyoFile ([link removed])
How environmental leaders are revitalizing an Arizona river
Arizona Republic ([link removed])
** Quote of the day
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” The American public needs to understand that you can’t just turn a science switch off and then turn it back on again.”
—Rick Spinrad, former administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Grist ([link removed])
** Picture This
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@usfws ([link removed])
Wait for meeeeeeeeee!
Six not-so-graceful goslings took a leap of faith last week, following their parent from the nest and jumping to the water down below.
For the next few months these goslings will grow quickly while staying close to their parents, eventually gaining the ability to fly.
The goslings were seen at the Julia Butler Hansen Refuge for the Columbian White-Tailed Deer, on the lower Columbia River in southwest Washington.
USFWS photos: Jake Bonello
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