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


** Senator Mike Lee is trying to militarize wilderness
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Thursday, October 30, 2025
Beaver Dam Mountains Wilderness in Utah, Bob Wick/Bureau of Land Management via Flickr ([link removed])

After his attempts to sell off national public lands failed earlier this year, U.S. Senator Mike Lee of Utah is trying a new approach—leveraging concerns over illegal immigration to disintegrate national public lands. As journalist Wes Siler writes in his newsletter ([link removed]) , Lee continues to look for any excuse to push the federal government to get rid of national public lands.

Lee's latest effort, the Border Lands Conservation Act, would give the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Customs and Border Protection authority over congressionally-designated wilderness areas and would allow activities such as road construction, infrastructure installation, and logging operations in wilderness areas within 100 miles of the border with either Mexico or Canada. If passed, this would transfer authority to DHS of more than 3 million acres of wilderness in the Lower 48, and more than 6 million acres of wilderness in Alaska ([link removed]) .

The bill could also open the door to DHS takeover of even more wilderness acres. "While some of the provisions of Senator Lee’s bill appear to limit its reach to border areas, the bill’s provisions that amend the 1964 Wilderness Act apply to every Wilderness in the nation,” said Wilderness Watch Executive Director George Nickas ([link removed]) . "DHS is spread across the entire U.S., and it’s not hard to imagine a Homeland Security Secretary concocting a border security reason to send bulldozers or aircraft or install remote video surveillance systems in any Wilderness in the National Wilderness Preservation System if Lee’s bill becomes law."


** Quick hits
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Businesses near Joshua Tree National Park feel the strain of the government shutdown

NPR ([link removed])

Shutdown, staffing cuts taking a toll at National Park Service

Roll Call ([link removed])

Can BLM ignore land-use plans and lease off-limits wildlife habitat for drilling?

WyoFile ([link removed])

New Mexico starting cleanup for abandoned uranium mines, but says more funding needed

Source NM ([link removed])

Without renewables, AI is pushing climate goals out of reach

Inside Climate News ([link removed])

All operational U.S. liquefied natural gas terminals have violated pollution limits, says report

Guardian ([link removed])

Plan to kill 450,000 owls creates odd political bedfellows

Los Angeles Times ([link removed]) | E&E News ([link removed])

A river restoration in Oregon gets fast results: The salmon swim right back

New York Times ([link removed])


** Quote of the day
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” Leaving the parks open to be trashed or damaged, and then requiring employees to ‘fix’ it all when they go back to work is unacceptable and unfair.”

—Bill Wade, Association of National Park Rangers, Roll Call ([link removed])


** Picture This
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@utahgeologicalsurvey ([link removed])
Moqui Marbles form in the Jurassic-age Navajo Sandstone when iron minerals precipitate from groundwater flowing underground. Over time, these iron concretions are exposed by erosion and gather loosely into "puddles" on the ground.
Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Garfield County
Photo: Adam Hiscock

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