National
An Explosion In Visitors Is Threatening The Very Things National Parks Try To Protect. “The sun has risen over Delicate Arch, a famous, hulking mass of red sandstone you might remember best as having once been an ubiquitous screen saver. The miles-long climb for a family photo beneath the 52-foot-tall behemoth at Arches National Park is worth it for Judy Lee and daughter Lindsey Cho. They're on a road trip through the Southwest from their home in Orange County, Calif.” [NPR, 7/9/21 (+)]
Amid dangerous heat wave, Death Valley closes in on record-high temperatures. “Several dozen heat enthusiasts crowded around a large digital thermometer outside the Furnace Creek Visitor Center on Saturday afternoon, convinced they had just witnessed a new world record temperature. The reading had just hit 135 degrees — the highest temperature the thermometer had ever recorded — though a separate and more accurate National Weather Service sensor was still stuck at a mere 129 degrees, short of a record.” [Washington Post, 7/11/21 (+)]
A Federal Probe Into Indian Boarding School Gravesites Seeks To Bring Healing. “The United States is about to undertake a national investigation into hundreds of American Indian boarding schools that from the 1800s through the 20th century served to "kill the Indian to save the man," according to one school's founder. On June 22, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland announced the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative in an address to the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) during a virtual conference. It came weeks after the discovery of 215 Indigenous children's remains were found at a school site in British Columbia.” [NPR, 7/11/21 (+)]
‘Punch in the gut’: Alaska sues Biden administration for stalling reopening of federal lands. “Alaska is fighting the Biden administration’s move to delay the reopening of millions of acres of federal land, including allotments for tribal veterans, accusing the Interior Department of seeking to keep vast swaths of the state locked up as “de facto parks.” The state sued in federal court last week to stop the Interior Department from reversing the Trump administration’s January release of 28 million acres in Alaska from federal temporary land withdrawals, making available the areas to natural-resources development.” [Washington Times, 7/11/21 (-)]
Interior poised to nix uranium from 'critical mineral' list. “The Interior Department has signaled it will remove uranium from its roster of critical minerals when it releases a draft of the updated list this fall. The U.S. Geological Survey published the initial list of 35 elements in 2018 following an order by then-President Trump aimed at shoring up the supply of minerals for which the United States relies on imports.” [E&E News, 7/9/21(=)]
Committee takes up oceans, climate and public lands bills. “The House Natural Resources Committee will vote this week on oceans and climate legislation from Chair Raúl Grijalva. The committee is holding a markup and hearing on a trove of bills, also including a measure to address climate change affecting U.S. territories. The Arizona Democrats' "Ocean-Based Climate Solutions Act," H.R. 3764, would enact a plastics tax to raise money for ocean conservation.” [E&E News, 7/12/21 (=)]
State and Local
Oil regulators deny new fracking permits. “California denied 21 oil drilling permits last week in the latest move toward ending fracking in a state that makes millions from the petroleum industry but is seeing widespread drought and more dangerous fire seasons linked to climate change.” [E&E News, 7/12/21 (=)]
Op-Ed, Editorial, and Analysis
Op-Ed: What’s needed to create a national monument. “This is where the Antiquities Act can play a crucial role for Nevada. The Biden administration must use it to designate Avi Kwa Ame Nevada’s fourth national monument. It is the right thing to do.” [Las Vegas Sun, 7/11/21 (+)]
Op-Ed: Fish act on shared knowledge. So should we. “President Joe Biden’s administration has set an ambitious but necessary goal to conserve 30% of our lands, waters and ocean by 2030. Many members of Congress, like Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper and Reps. Joe Neguse and Diana DeGette, all from my home state of Colorado, already support Biden’s goal. Reaching this 30X30 goal with increased MPA coverage will give our oceans a chance to adapt to climate change and continue to provide us with the vital ecosystem services we rely on — like oxygen, food, jobs and recreation.” [Boulder Daily Camera, 7/10/21 (+)]
Editorial: Decades too late, the public may get some answers on children lost to Native American boarding schools. “It is long past time for answers and the reckoning and reconciliation that hopefully can come with an honest accounting. As Ms. Haaland explained: “We just want to give the public an opportunity to know and understand. They deserve to know what happened to the people that they love, the ancestors who were lost. . . .The generational trauma is real, and we deserve to have some closure, if you will, right? We deserve to have answers to these longstanding questions so that folks can begin to rest a little bit easier at night.”” [Washington Post, 7/9/21 (+)]