Look West: Public lands and energy news from the Center for Western Priorities
** Utah inks deal giving it more control over national forests
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Friday, January 9, 2026
Utah's Wasatch-Cache National Forest; Source: CanyonChaser at the English-language Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 ([link removed])
Utah Governor Spencer Cox and U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz signed a 20-year agreement ([link removed]) yesterday that gives Utah a greater role in management decisions on more than 8 million acres of national forest land. State officials say the deal ([link removed]) will improve efficiency and collaboration, but conservation groups warn it could be bad ([link removed]) for Utah's national forests.
“This agreement strips federal protections, shuts the public out of decision-making, and puts Utah’s old-growth forests directly on the chopping block,” said Laiken Jordahl ([link removed]) , national public lands advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity. Steve Bloch, legal director at the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, said the change ([link removed]) “sets the stage for Utah officials to have both a heavy hand and the loudest voice” in the room, “crowding out all other stakeholders.”
Utah has had a Shared Stewardship Partnership ([link removed]) with the Forest Service in place since 2019, but this deal goes further ([link removed]) than previous agreements, giving the state and counties more say in planning and implementing watershed restoration and grazing and recreation projects, like trails and campgrounds. Utah is the third state to sign an updated stewardship agreement with the Forest Service this year, following Idaho ([link removed]) and Montana ([link removed]) .
Oil and gas auction gets zero bids in Colorado
Recent federal oil and gas lease auctions highlight sharply declining oil industry interest in public lands. In Colorado, the Bureau of Land Management received zero bids ([link removed]) on 23 parcels totaling more than 20,000 acres in an auction held yesterday, even with new, lower leasing and drilling rates ([link removed]) put in place last year by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
In Wyoming, companies bid on less than 1 percent ([link removed]) of the 26,000 acres offered in a December 30 BLM lease sale. These results suggest many public lands are viewed as uneconomic by the oil and gas industry, undercutting claims that drilling is being constrained by lack of access rather than market realities.
** Quick hits
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Utah, feds ink new deal to manage 8 million acres of national forests
Salt Lake Tribune ([link removed]) | Utah News Dispatch ([link removed])
Opinion: Risch must stand with Idahoans against BLM nominee Steve Pearce
Idaho Statesman ([link removed])
Nonpartisan PAC formed in Wyoming to counter efforts to sell off public lands
Buckrail ([link removed]) | Powell Tribune ([link removed])
Wyoming’s Coursey leads National Wildlife Refuge System audit igniting sell-off worries
WyoFile ([link removed])
Feds backed Colorado’s plan to get Canadian wolves for years before abrupt shift
Colorado Sun ([link removed])
Congress once again tries to overturn Biden’s Minnesota mining ban
Politico ([link removed])
Panel of judges consider lifting injunction over controversial Oak Flat land swap
KJZZ ([link removed])
As Arizona groundwater disappears, an agricultural giant agrees to use less
Los Angeles Times ([link removed])
** Quote of the day
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” The Shared Stewardship Agreement is nothing more than a sneaky way to clearcut roadless areas in national forests in Utah... Roadless areas provide clean drinking water and function as biological strongholds for populations of threatened and endangered species.”
—Mike Garrity, executive director of the Alliance for the Wild Rockies, Salt Lake Tribune ([link removed])
** Picture This
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@grandcanyonnps ([link removed])
“It is never the same, even from day to day, or even from hour to hour.” — Clarence Dutton, 1885
Get ready for winter at Grand Canyon National Park! With light snow yesterday afternoon and evening, the National Weather Service in Flagstaff anticipates additional snowfall today, with heavier snow possible along a cold front later this afternoon and evening. Grand Canyon Village could receive 2–3 inches of snow.
Visitors are encouraged to slow down on park roads, allow extra travel time, and use caution in winter driving conditions. If you plan to hike in the canyon or along the Rim Trail, shoe traction devices are strongly recommended to help prevent slips and falls on icy surfaces.
Follow Grand Canyon National Park's weather forecast, road conditions and webcams here: [link removed]
Visitor stands on the Rim Trail near Hopi House on Jan. 8, 2026 (NPS Photo/J. Baird)
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