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


** Interior, Utah officials hold closed-door meeting on national parks
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Thursday, December 4, 2025
Capitol Reef National Park, Alan Szalwinski via Flickr ([link removed]) , CC BY-NC 2.0 ([link removed])

Earlier this week, associate deputy Interior secretary Karen Budd-Falen participated in an invitation-only, closed-door meeting with state and local officials to discuss national park management issues ([link removed]) .

The meeting, convened by Utah's Public Lands Policy Coordinating Office, was described as a "brainstorm" and a "government-to-government" meeting, but was not open to the media or the public. Some county commissioners and state legislators were invited, but at just below the numbers that would have triggered the state's open-meeting laws ([link removed]) . A Utah official acknowledged ([link removed]) that some legislators were told they couldn't attend due to concerns about the size of the meeting.

Topics discussed included ([link removed]) eliminating reservation and timed-entry programs and other permit systems, allowing off-highway vehicle access in Capitol Reef and Canyonlands national parks, and other complaints from the state and counties about "unacceptable" management strategies designed to protect park resources from unmanaged overuse. "It really was just a whole day of wishlists," said Barbara Bruno ([link removed]) , mayor of Springdale, who attended the meeting. "It was all about how these properties are economic drivers for the state. Nobody talked about preserving the natural resources."

"The secrecy around yesterday’s meeting says it all. Instead of an open and transparent conversation, the state of Utah ran a closed-door event where it unveiled its management priorities and direction for the NPS units in Utah," Neal Clark, wildlands director at the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, said in a statement ([link removed]) . "Americans should see the State’s actions for what they clearly are: a power grab to gain control of and undermine the National Parks and federal public lands in Utah."


** Quick hits
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Conservation groups decry Trump's BLM pick

Arizona Daily Star ([link removed])

Report: Rescinding oil and gas rule could cost taxpayers billions

Aspen Public Radio ([link removed])

Members of MT congressional delegation oppose fast-tracking proposed mine near Bitterroot River headwaters

Daily Montanan ([link removed]) | KPAX ([link removed])

Nearly 1,000 acres near Yosemite National Park returned to California Tribe

SFGATE ([link removed])

How ranchers accused of breaking the rules dodge oversight

High Country News ([link removed])

Interior watchdog fields growing rate of complaints

E&E News ([link removed])

Colorado’s 2025 'water year' was abnormally hot and dry

CPR News ([link removed])

Helicopter hunters challenge ranchers over access to landlocked public land

Cowboy State Daily ([link removed])


** Quote of the day
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” We relied on this ecosystem for thousands of years, and now we don’t have to ask permission to gather our foods and medicines there anymore. It’s a sanctuary, and a place where we can go and be, and have our own sovereignty over how we want to exist on the landscape.”

—Tara Fouch-Moore, Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation, SFGATE ([link removed])


** Picture This
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@mypubliclands ([link removed])
Nestled along the beautiful Agua Fria River in Arizona, Agua Fria National Monument is home to one of the most significant prehistoric sites in the American Southwest. This year, we proudly celebrate 25 years of preserving and sharing this desert oasis and its rich history!

Join us in exploring the stories and heritage that make Agua Fria special at the 🔗 in our bio.

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