Look West: Public lands and energy news from the Center for Western Priorities
** Beneath the surface, national parks are struggling
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Monday, July 21, 2025
Grinnell Glacier, Glacier National Park via Flickr ([link removed])
As visitors travel to and spend time at national parks this summer, many may not notice effects of the Trump administration's drastic cuts to park staffing. But beneath the surface, many Park Service units are struggling, according to an interview in High Country News ([link removed]) with Jeff Mow, former superintendent of multiple National Park Service units including Glacier National Park in Montana.
According to Mow, the Park Service has focused its remaining resources on visitor services, ensuring that the visitor experience meets expectations and avoiding reports of issues such as closed campgrounds, filthy bathrooms, and uncollected trash. "They are putting the focus on visitor services so that the visitors coming aren’t going to see a whole lot of changes from what they might have seen the year before," says Mow ([link removed]) .
However, visitor services are just one part of the work the Park Service does. "There are two halves to the National Park Service mission. One half is preserving the resources for future generations, and they are taking away the emphasis on preserving the resources," Mow explains ([link removed]) . Over the long term, this prevents the Park Service from caring for the very resource each unit is supposed to be protecting. "When we lose the resource, it’s gone," says Mow ([link removed]) . "We may be losing the very purpose for which each unit was established."
** Quick hits
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NM Gov. Lujan Grisham floats enshrining public lands protections in state law
Source NM ([link removed])
Interior closing two National Park Service training centers
National Parks Traveler ([link removed])
U.S. merit board judge certifies class of fired Interior Department workers
Reuters ([link removed])
NM state land commissioner turns to courts to force oil well cleanup
Santa Fe New Mexican ([link removed])
Feds approve mine drilling in Amargosa critical environmental area
Nevada Current ([link removed])
Grand Canyon wildfire brings terror, loss, and tough questions
Guardian ([link removed])
Southwestern drought likely to continue through 2100, study finds
Inside Climate News ([link removed]) | New York Times ([link removed])
From nuisance to natural engineer: How beavers are helping restore Arizona's wetlands
KGUN ([link removed])
** Quote of the day
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”
Having been on the staffs of both centers, I can attest to the significant loss to the NPS and its employees if these centers are closed. This is yet another adverse step in the overall deterioration in developmental opportunities for NPS employees.”
—Bill Wade, Association of National Park Rangers, National Parks Traveler ([link removed])
** Picture This
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@elmalpaisnps ([link removed])
We humans tend to be visual creatures, but have you ever tried using any of your other wonderful senses, like hearing, when you're out in nature? With a cacophony of sounds in the world, we challenge you to listen to the lava after a rainstorm. Vesicular basalt contains many holes for water to run through, and there is plenty of basalt to listen to at El Malpais!
What is vesicular basalt? It is a porous rock, meaning it has many small holes or cavities called vesicles formed by gas bubbles as the lava cooled. These vesicles contribute to the rock’s porosity and, if interconnected, can allow water to travel through and seep deeper into the ground.
After it rains, you can hear the water moving through these millions of holes. When you hear this sound, you can gladly know that the water has slowed down, rather than run off the land immediately, like in flash floods. Plants and animals will take advantage of the small pockets of life-giving water that collect in the porous basalt.
The sounds of water can vary, and it may take many sessions of listening. There can be slow percolations of water with gentle sounds like trickling, dripping, gurgling or bubbling, especially during a light rainfall. Heavy rain would lead to a louder and maybe even rushing sound, however, we do not recommend hiking during a heavy storm. Hearing rainwater pass through the lava is listening to the natural process of water filtration.
El Malpais and other national park sites are the perfect place to spend World Listening Day, practice active listening, and appreciate the sounds of the environment around you.
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