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


** Trump aims to dismantle national park system
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Monday, May 5, 2025
Montezuma Castle National Monument, Arizona, Wikimedia Commons ([link removed])

President Donald Trump's proposed 2026 budget would gut the National Park Service, slashing $1.2 billion ([link removed]) from the agency's current $4.8 billion budget. $900 million of the cuts would come from NPS operations—a proposal that Theresa Pierno, the president and CEO of the National Parks Conservation Association called ([link removed]) “nothing less than an all-out assault on America's national parks.”

The proposal calls for giving away an undisclosed number of the park service's 433 sites to states, an idea that Jennifer Rokala, executive director of the Center for Western Priorities called “a non-starter.”

“States can’t afford to manage them,” Rokala said ([link removed]) , “so the inevitable outcome is the closure, then privatization of our most treasured public lands.”

The rest of the proposed Interior and Agriculture department budgets are similarly bleak. The president called on Congress to rescind national monument designations, and proposed selling national forests in order to “rightsize their real property footprint.”

The budget also calls for eliminating the Forest Service's role in fighting wildfires, instead consolidating all wildfire operations under the Interior department. That would put one of Elon Musk's DOGE operatives ([link removed]) , acting Interior Assistant Secretary Tyler Hassen, in charge of all wildfire response across the country.

New nature doc sees the Colorado River as an opportunity, not a crisis

In the latest episode ([link removed]) of CWP's podcast, The Landscape ([link removed]) , Kate and Aaron dive into the details of the proposed Trump budget, then Kate talks to Len Necefer, CEO and founder of NativesOutdoors, about his new documentary, The American Southwest ([link removed]) , and how he's advocating for public lands under the second Trump administration. Listen now ([link removed]) or subscribe on Apple Podcasts ([link removed] the landscape) .


** Quick hits
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Trump's Interior secretary has close ties to the de-extinction company he promotes

Public Domain ([link removed])

Trump budget is an "all-out assault" on public lands

USA Today ([link removed]) | National Parks Traveler ([link removed]) | Outside ([link removed]) | SFGate ([link removed]) | E&E News ([link removed]) | Can We Still Govern? ([link removed])

House budget proposes millions in parks cuts, imagines billions in oil and gas sales, re-opens management plans

Bloomberg ([link removed]) | National Parks Traveler ([link removed]) | E&E News ([link removed]) | CPR News ([link removed])

Former NPS director warns Trump is harming parks for future generations

Inside Climate News ([link removed])

Corner-crossing experts urge caution in wake of Wyoming ruling

WyoFile ([link removed])

DOGE funding freezes, staffing cuts to impact outdoor projects this summer

Steamboat Pilot & Today ([link removed])

Trump awakens long-dead fight over mining inside national park land

Las Vegas Review-Journal ([link removed])

Opinion: Trump's cuts to research on Utah's dust storms puts economy and health at risk

Salt Lake Tribune ([link removed]'&utm_source=1500+CWP+List+Daily+Clips+and+Updates&utm_campaign=d06bcdb8c6-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2025_05_04_11_40&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-d06bcdb8c6-84302525)


** Quote of the day
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” Even a cursory look at the data shows that NPS cannot keep adding more and more visitors with fewer and fewer employees. The proposed 30% cuts would devastate national parks, while saving a grand total of 0.003 ([link removed]) % of the federal budget.”

—Pamela Herd and Don Moynihan, Can We Still Govern? ([link removed])


** Picture This
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@BLMNational ([link removed])
The public lands we manage directly and indirectly benefit the health, wealth, and well-being of local communities. In 2023, recreation-related visits in Wyoming contributed over $211 million to our nation's economy.

📸 Hogan Reservoir; Sarah Beckwith

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