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


** Alaska seeks control of federally-protected lakes and rivers
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Thursday, January 8, 2026
Togiak National Wildlife Refuge; Photo by: USFWS/Steve Hillebrand ([link removed])

Alaska is aggressively seeking control of federal lands ([link removed]) beneath rivers and lakebeds in the state, a move that could dismantle environmental protections in national parks and preserves and undermine the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System. The Trump administration is fast-tracking the state's request for control of this land, according to public inspection notices ([link removed]) published in the Federal Register Tuesday.

Alaska is asserting ([link removed]) that it received title to all navigable waters when it became a state in 1959, including the land beneath them. State officials argue that federal control of these lands creates jurisdictional ambiguity ([link removed]) and that Alaska should have the same sovereignty over its waterways as other states. But former federal officials say that transferring these lands to the state could weaken environmental protections ([link removed]) established by the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act.

“This is part of the Dunleavy Administration’s effort to attack federal authority over natural resource management—including subsistence fishing and hunting under ANILCA,” Robert T. Anderson, who served as Interior solicitor in the Biden administration, told Bloomberg Law ([link removed]) .

State ownership of these submerged lands would include any minerals found in them, according to legal experts. ([link removed])

BLM nominee has big ties to oil industry

Steve Pearce, President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Bureau of Land Management, earned as much as $1 million last year ([link removed]) from a business associated with oil and gas development and owned interests in oil leases in New Mexico and Oklahoma, according to a financial disclosure form posted last week by the Office of Government Ethics ([link removed]) .

Pearce reported that he earned between $100 thousand and $1 million from “Industrial equipment (Frac tanks lease to purchase)” in the disclosure ([link removed]) . Pearce and his wife have divested their oil lease holdings in New Mexico, according to the disclosure. If confirmed, Pearce said in his ethics agreement ([link removed]) that he will sell his interest in oil and gas leases in Oklahoma and turn over leadership of his oilfield services company to his wife.


** Quick hits
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White House completes plan to curb bedrock environmental law

Associated Press ([link removed]) | E&E News ([link removed])

Trump and Burgum took an ax to public lands in 2025—but there's more to come

E&E News ([link removed])

Colorado Parks and Wildlife launches potential hunting opportunity for wild bison

KUNC ([link removed])

Accessing public land in Wyoming remains complicated, even after corner-crossing case settled

Outdoor Life ([link removed])

Public lands budgets largely skirt major cuts in bipartisan proposals

E&E News ([link removed]) | KUNC ([link removed])

Trump admin official reportedly made millions from fast-tracked lithium mine

SFGate ([link removed])

Moose torture case puts Wyoming back in national spotlight

Mountain Journal ([link removed])

4,000 landowners control over 60% of Montana’s private land

Mountain Journal ([link removed])


** Quote of the day
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” Congress is aware of the importance of renewable energy as part of the BLM's contribution to energy generation, along with managing for conservation, recreation and wildlife. Hopefully the Department of the Interior can follow along.”

—Nada Wolff Culver, former principal deputy director of BLM, E&E News ([link removed])


** Picture This
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@Interior ([link removed])
A beautiful winter phenomenon, hoarfrost forms during clear, calm nights, turning America’s public lands into picturesque winter landscapes. The morning is the best time to look for hoarfrost because the sun melts the fragile crystals quickly. ❄️

Photo by @yellowstonenps ([link removed])

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