Look West: Public lands and energy news from the Center for Western Priorities
** How the National Park Service is erasing history and science
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Monday, January 26, 2026
The names of the nine enslaved members of President George Washington's household who lived at the President's House in Philadelphia. Photo: Joseph E.B. Elliott, National Park Service ([link removed])
Hours after the Trump administration removed an exhibit ([link removed]) about the enslaved people who lived in President George Washington's household at Independence National Historical Park, the city of Philadelphia sued Interior Secretary Doug Burgum ([link removed]) for violating an agreement that requires the Interior department to confer with the city before making changes to any exhibit at the site.
The removed exhibit, titled "The Dirty Business of Slavery," included biographical information about the nine people enslaved by George and Martha Washington. Now only their names remain engraved onto a wall at the site.
"Trying to hide the nation’s history of slavery has never worked," Historian John Garrison told the Philadelphia Inquirer ([link removed]) . "We’ve been trying it over and over again throughout American history, but there have always been other people who insist that we reckon with this past, that we face it head on, that we include the full story so we can learn from it."
The New York Times also reported last week ([link removed]) on the removal of a sign at Fort Sumter in South Carolina that detailed the threats that climate change pose to the site, which could be largely underwater by the end of the century. The Trump administration has also removed ([link removed]) historical or scientific signs and films at Muir Woods National Monument in California and Lowell National Historical Park in Massachusetts.
Why a New Mexico gun rights leader opposes Trump's BLM nominee
In the latest episode ([link removed]) of CWP's podcast, The Landscape ([link removed]) , Kate and Aaron talk to Zachary Fort, president of the New Mexico Shooting Sports Association ([link removed]) , about his opposition to Steve Pearce’s nomination to lead the Bureau of Land Management. Fort discusses Pearce’s history of sponsoring legislation to sell off national public lands and his prioritization of oil and gas interests over public access. Fort argues that Pearce’s support for transferring public lands to private ownership threatens hunting and shooting opportunities that generations of New Mexicans have relied on. Listen now on Apple Podcasts ([link removed]) or westernpriorities.org
([link removed]) .
** Quick hits
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Burgum unveils cartoon mascot 'Coalie' while slashing staff and rules
Fast Company ([link removed]) | E&E News ([link removed])
From California to Pennsylvania, the Trump administration removes history and science from national parks
New York Times ([link removed]) | NPR ([link removed]) | Associated Press ([link removed]) | Philadelphia Inquirer ([link removed]) | Reuters ([link removed]) | E&E News ([link removed]) | National Parks Traveler ([link removed])
Leaked tape: Trump admin deliberately tanking morale to get parks staff to quit
The Intercept ([link removed])
Worry grows over Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument as Congress takes aim
ABC4 ([link removed]) | Deseret News ([link removed])
Arizona leaders call for reversal of Trump staffing cuts heading into wildfire season
Arizona Republic ([link removed])
Wyoming abruptly dissolves, defunds sage-grouse conservation groups after 21 years
WyoFile ([link removed])
Western officials raise concerns about Trump's BLM director nominee
Mountain West News Bureau ([link removed])
Opinion: Idahoans counting on Sen. Risch to stand up for public lands, reject Pearce nomination
Idaho State Journal ([link removed])
** Quote of the day
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” In short, Coalie has been handed an impossible job. Ironically, if any mascot could succinctly sum up the Trump administration’s asinine insistence on a fossil fuel comeback, it would be a shoddily slapped together illustration of a lump of coal.”
—Grace Snelling, Fast Company ([link removed])
** Picture This
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@protectwildutah ([link removed])
The Utah wilderness movement lost a dear friend and one of its most dedicated activists this week with the passing of Wayne Hoskisson. As a great-great-grandson of Brigham Young, Wayne was a Utahn to the core, having first explored the canyons and mesas of southern Utah on family trips as a child. Originally from Salt Lake City, Wayne spent the last 26 years as a well-loved member of the Moab community.
Wayne wore many wilderness hats over the course of his lifetime—as a dedicated volunteer for SUWA and the Utah Chapter of the Sierra Club, as the Executive Director of Redrock Forests, and most recently as a SUWA Board member. In the late 1990s, Wayne spent years hiking and photo documenting RS2477 routes throughout southern Utah—extensive fieldwork that set the stage for our longstanding legal battle and representing a comprehensive collection that we still reference to this day.
Though humble in demeanor, Wayne was a deeply passionate and effective wilderness advocate who spoke honestly and personally. Returning from military service in Vietnam, Wayne found solace in wild places and carried with him a personal truth and understanding about the importance of wilderness for healing. You could always count on him to show up—with a public comment at a meeting, a letter to the editor, or a lobbying trip to Washington, D.C.—and bring with him a deep knowledge that can only come from decades of advocacy. It’s no exaggeration to say that anyone who has been involved in wilderness issues in Utah has almost certainly crossed paths with Wayne.
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