Look West: Public lands and energy news from the Center for Western Priorities
** Trump admin, lawmakers still want public lands for housing
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Thursday, July 24, 2025
BLM-managed national public lands in Utah, BLM Utah via Flickr ([link removed])
Public lands advocates celebrated a victory when Senator Mike Lee of Utah removed a public land sell-off provision from the budget reconciliation bill after massive public backlash. But lawmakers in Congress, as well as the Trump administration, continue to pursue the idea through other means.
Still ongoing is a joint initiative ([link removed]) between the Interior and Housing and Urban Development departments to identify national public lands that would be suitable for housing development. A memorandum of understanding ([link removed]) signed between the two departments in March outlined a number of tasks, including an inventory of available public lands and an assessment of their suitability for housing development, and a report on the initiative's progress. So far, none of these items has been made public ([link removed]) .
"We just saw how massively unpopular this idea is, and even if they repackage it, people across the West will continue to reject privatizing public lands," Michael Carroll, Bureau of Land Management campaign director for The Wilderness Society, told Public Domain ([link removed]) .
** Quick hits
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Lawmakers move to slash funding for this southern Utah national monument
Salt Lake Tribune ([link removed]) | E&E News ([link removed])
Interior gifts Navy land in the Arizona desert
KJZZ ([link removed]) | E&E News ([link removed])
Colorado issues notices to companies in falsified data case over cleanup of 404 oil and gas sites
Denver Post ([link removed])
Excitement for Wyoming rare earth mining contradicts disdain for renewables
Inside Climate News ([link removed])
BLM approves fast-tracked Nevada geothermal project
Reno Gazette Journal ([link removed]) | Nevada Current ([link removed])
Activists opposing a Nevada lithium mine were surveilled for years, records show
ProPublica ([link removed])
How a national monument's new welcome center honors Native Americans
Associated Press ([link removed])
Opinion: Recreation.gov quietly privatizes your access to public land
More Than Just Parks ([link removed])
** Quote of the day
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” I would argue that a large portion of the projected need [for rare earth minerals] is in clean energy...The excitement over rare earths is sort of at odds with the destruction of demand for clean energy.”
—Steve Feldgus, former Interior principal deputy assistant secretary for land and minerals, Inside Climate News ([link removed])
** Picture This
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@usinterior ([link removed])
About 1.25 million years ago, a massive eruption formed the 14-mile-wide Valles Caldera.
At sunset, New Mexico’s @vallescaldera ([link removed]) still glows with echoes of its fiery volcanic past.
The volcano is dormant but not extinct. It still shows signs of life through scattered hot springs and boiling sulfuric acid fumaroles.
Join us in celebrating Valles Caldera’s 25th anniversary! From July 25 to 27, the park will host a three-day event with guest speakers, cultural demonstrations, ranger-led programs, night sky viewing, and more.
Photos by Andrew Gordon
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