The Landscape Center for Western Priorities

Kate and Aaron are joined by the Wilderness Society’s Michael Carroll and Justin Meuse to talk through a handful of federal regulations, or rules, that were finalized in late March and April. These rules touch on everything from methane waste on public lands to ecosystem restoration to caribou herds in Alaska. Some of these rules are already in effect, and some will take effect soon. Together, they are a framework for more responsible and climate-friendly public land management.

Click here for an automatically generated transcript.

News



* 5 Early Takeaways From the Biden Administration’s Conservation Atlas – Center for American Progress

* The U.S. just changed how it manages a tenth of its land – Washington Post

* Biden hikes cost of drilling on federal lands as Trump courts oil donors – Washington Post

* Biden administration takes stride on public lands renewable energy with final rule – The Wilderness Society

* Biden limits oil drilling across 13 million acres of Alaskan Arctic – Washington Post

* BLM announces final methane waste rule – New Mexico Political Report

* More solar on public lands? Digging into BLM’s plan – The Landscape

* BLM proposes stronger greater sage-grouse conservation plans – Bureau of Land Management



Credits

Hosts: Kate Groetzinger & Aaron Weiss 

Feedback: podcast@westernpriorities.org

Music: Purple Planet

Featured image: BLM/Flickr

Kate and Aaron are joined by Trout Unlimited CEO Chris Wood, who has been with TU for twenty years, following a career as chief policy director at the U.S. Forest Service during the Clinton administration. Chris talks about how an influx of federal funding for ecosystem restoration is supercharging the group’s work reconnecting streams and rivers, as well as how his group is engaging in legislative mining reform.

Click here to read an automatically generated transcript of the episode.

News



* Biden administration bars drilling in Colorado’s Thompson Divide landscape – The Hill

* Feds announce final renewable energy rule for public lands – NM Political Report

* Oil and gas companies must pay more to drill on federal lands under new Biden administration rule – Associated Press

* U.S. clamps down on oil and gas firms releasing potent greenhouse gas – Washington Post



Credits

Hosts: Kate Groetzinger & Aaron Weiss 

Feedback: podcast@westernpriorities.org

Music: Purple Planet

Featured image: Salmon using a fish ladder; Wikimedia Commons

 

Kate and Aaron are joined by author Betsy Gaines Quammen to talk about public lands and extremism. Betsy has written two books about extremism in the West. Her first, American Zion, looks at the connection between Mormonism and extremism. Her second book, True West, which came out last year, digs into the myths that define the West.

News



* Interior rule aims to crack down on methane leaks from oil, gas drilling on public lands – Associated Press

* Proposed Chuckwalla National Monument video – Center for Western Priorities

* California tribe that lost 90% of land during Gold Rush to get site to serve as gateway to redwoods – Associated Press



Credits

Hosts: Kate Groetzinger & Aaron Weiss 

Feedback: podcast@westernpriorities.org

Music: Purple Planet

Featured image: USFWS/Flickr

Kate and Aaron are joined by three members of the reporting team behind, Lithium Liabilities, a groundbreaking investigation into how lithium mining could affect the West’s water supply. Emma Peterson, Morgan Casey, and Lauren Mucciolo are part of a large team of editors, photographers, and reporters who worked on the investigation at the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism.

Click here to read an automatically generated transcript of the episode.

News



* Feds publish “unprecedented” Bears Ears plan – Land Desk

* Lithium Liabilities – Cronkite News

* Comment on Bears Ears draft management plan – Bureau of Land Management

* Shutting off Arizona’s spigot to Saudi Arabian cows and political bull – Arizona Republic



Credits

Hosts: Kate Groetzinger & Aaron Weiss 

Feedback: podcast@westernpriorities.org

Music: Purple Planet

Featured image: Doc Searls/Flickr

Kate and Aaron are joined by pollsters Lori Weigel and Dave Metz to discuss the 14th Annual Colorado College State of the Rockies Project Conservation in the West poll. The poll surveys voters in Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Utah and Colorado on their environmental views. This year, it found support for conservation of nature is higher than ever.

Click here to read an automatically generated transcript of the episode.

News



* Wyoming Legislature’s two chambers OK ‘Kelly Parcel’ sale to feds for $100M – WyoFile

* Bipartisan conservation poll shows increasing concern over environmental issues in Western States – CPR News

* Feds Deny Dam Permits on Tribal Lands – Grand Canyon Trust



Credits

Hosts: Kate Groetzinger & Aaron Weiss 

Feedback: podcast@westernpriorities.org

Music: Purple Planet

Featured image: BLM/Flickr

Kate and Aaron are joined by Justin Meuse, Director of Government Relations for Climate and Energy at the Wilderness Society, to talk about a proposal from the Bureau of Land Management to prioritize around 22 million acres of public land for utility scale solar development across the West. They discuss why planning matters, how much solar development to actually expect if this plan proceeds, and how you can get involved.

View an automatically generated transcript of this episode here.

News



* Why Utah leaders just rejected a valuable Bears Ears land swap – Salt Lake Tribune

* BLM analysis aims to optimize solar energy development throughout the West – Bureau of Land Management

* Arizona Republicans challenge Biden’s designation of a national monument near the Grand Canyon – Associated Press

* 2024 State of the Rockies Conservation in the West poll – Colorado College

* Comment on the Solar PEIS



Credits

Hosts: Kate Groetzinger & Aaron Weiss 

Feedback: podcast@westernpriorities.org

Music: Purple Planet

Featured image: BLM/Flickr