Interior

 

BLM

 

Stone-Manning: 'It's Time To Rebuild' BLM After Trump 'Disruption'. According to Politico, “The Bureau of Land Management continues to move forward on plans to move its national headquarters to Washington while maintaining a Western headquarters in Grand Junction, Colo. BLM Director Tracy Stone-Manning outlined in an all-staff email yesterday details about an Employee Advisory Group that is being formed to help ‘guide decision making about how best to structure the BLM Headquarters in Washington, D.C. and the Western Headquarters in Grand Junction in order to be effective, responsive and dynamic.’ The advisory group, which will include up to 20 employees who ‘represent all HQ directorates, as well as folks from state, district, and field offices,’ will serve for nine months — from next February through September — and will provide the bureau’s leadership with ‘rolling recommendations through the course of its tenure’ on how best to execute the reorganization effort, Stone-Manning wrote. BLM has established an online site where employees can nominate colleagues for the advisory group through Jan. 3. ‘The backbone of the BLM is you and your colleagues and the work we all do together. We want to hear and learn from you about what will work best,’ Stone-Manning said. She added: ‘The disruption from the last couple years led to the departure of hundreds of employees and all their institutional knowledge. It’s time to rebuild.’” [Politico, 12/16/21 (=)]

 

FWS

 

Op-Ed: Concern Over Biden’s Choice To Head Federal Wildlife Agency. According to an op-ed by David Parsons in CounterPunch, “The Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. No individual may be appointed as the Director unless he is, by reason of scientific education and experience, knowledgeable in the principles of fisheries and wildlife management. Note that the provision requires both ‘scientific education’ and ‘experience.’ President Biden’s nominee for the job, Ms. Martha Williams, a lawyer, has three years of experience as Director of the Montana Department of Wildlife, which meets the experience requirement. However, she lacks the requirement of ‘scientific education’ in the ‘principles of fisheries and wildlife management.’ Her official resume cites a bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia and a Juris Doctor from the School of Law at the University of Montana. The subject matter of her bachelor’s degree has not been revealed by the Biden Administration, but in an interview with the Missoulian (Jan 21, 2017, Updated Feb 28, 2017), she acknowledged she is ‘not a biologist.’ Ms. Williams appears to lack the ‘scientific education’ prong of the two-prong legal standard. A biological education is necessary to making good decisions. Without an understanding of the living world and its fundamental principles, it’s difficult for leaders to consider all the factors that are important, from life cycle needs to ecological relationships, to toxicology, and scientific integrity.” [CounterPunch, 12/17/21 (-)]

 

NPS

 

Chuck Sams Sworn In As 19th Director Of National Park Service. According to Politico, “A month after getting confirmed by the Senate, Charles ‘Chuck’ Sams III was sworn in today as the new director of the National Park Service, filling a position that had been left vacant for nearly five years. Sams, the former executive director of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation in Oregon, is now the 19th NPS director and the first Native American to lead the 105-year-old agency. Sams was sworn in by Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, who said the new director ‘understands the importance of connecting people to nature.’ ‘I am thrilled to work with him as the Interior Department works to make our national park system accessible to all Americans,’ she said. Sams thanked Haaland and President Biden ‘for entrusting in me the care of one of America’s greatest gifts: our national park system.’ ‘I am also incredibly proud to work with the dedicated employees of the National Park Service,’ he said. Sams is the first NPS director to be confirmed by the Senate since 2009, when Jonathan Jarvis took the job for eight years under former President Obama. After Jarvis left in 2017, four temporary directors filled the job during the Trump administration.” [Politico, 12/16/21 (=)]

 

Charles F. Sams III Sworn In As National Park Service Director By Secretary Of The Interior Deb Haaland. According to Sierra Sun Times, “Charles F. ‘Chuck’ Sams III was ceremonially sworn in as Director of the National Park Service (NPS) by Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland today. Chuck is the first Tribal citizen to lead the agency, which has been without a Senate confirmed leader for nearly five years. ‘Everyone should have access to the outdoors no matter where they live, how much money they have, or what their background is. Chuck Sams understands the importance of connecting people to nature, and I am thrilled to work with him as the Interior Department works to make our national park system accessible to all Americans,’ said Secretary Haaland. ‘Under his leadership, the National Park Service will continue to protect our public lands for generations to come and make critical investments in the vast infrastructure that sustains our public lands and national parks.’ ‘I am honored to serve as Director of the National Park Service and thank President Biden and Secretary Haaland for entrusting in me the care of one of America’s greatest gifts: our National Park System. I am also incredibly proud to work with the dedicated employees of the National Park Service. I have no doubt that together, we’ll be able to expand access to the outdoors, protect America’s public lands, and upgrade our nation’s infrastructure system through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law,’ said Director Sams.” [Sierra Sun Times, 12/16/21 (=)]

 

Congress

 

House

 

Rep. Lowenthal, Mining, Drilling Reform Advocate, To Retire. According to Politico, “California Democratic Rep. Alan Lowenthal, a progressive and senior House Natural Resources Committee member, is retiring from Congress. Lowenthal, 80, who chairs the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources, announced today that he won’t run in next year’s midterm elections and will leave when the next session starts in January 2023. … Lowenthal has used his Natural Resources perch to push for clean energy on federal lands and for a reduction in fossil fuel production. He has also been a main voice pushing to reform the General Mining Law of 1872, which allows hardrock mining on federal land without paying royalties or abandoned mine cleanup fees. Most recently, he was a leading voice in the push to reform oil and natural gas leasing rules for federal lands and offshore, including raising fees and better ensuring that companies can clean up their activities (E&E Daily, Aug. 24). He’s pushed to clean up pollution from coal mines and orphaned wells, and to better protect endangered species and biodiversity (E&E Daily, May 20).” [Politico, 12/16/21 (=)]

 

States

 

Board Advances Utah Oil-By-Rail Project Through National Forest. According to Politico, “A proposed rail line to move oil through the Ashley National Forest in Utah advanced in the federal Surface Transportation Board yesterday. The board approved on a 4-1 vote a petition by a seven-county coalition to fast-track the 80-plus-mile-long Uinta Basin Railway project, which would cut through a 12-mile section of the national forest, including some sections covered by roadless-area protections. Board Chair Martin Oberman dissented, saying the board overlooked greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental concerns, as well as a shaky long-term future for oil production in an age of climate change. The board’s approval — which technically grants an exemption from prior-approval requirements — is pending final environmental mitigation measures from regulators. The Forest Service also has yet to issue a final decision on the portion through land it oversees, but the forest agency endorsed the project in draft record of decision last month (Greenwire, Dec. 15). In backing one of three alternatives that it said would have the least environmental impact overall, the board dismissed objections from the Center for Biological Diversity. The environmental group had warned of dangers to wildlife and contributions to climate change by boosting oil production, and it had urged the board to require the rail project to achieve net-zero emissions, including in production and use of the oil to be transported. But the board said those requirements would be exceptional.” [Politico, 12/16/21 (=)]

 

AP | Yellowstone Opens For Winter Travel, Ends Wildlife Program. According to Politico, “Yellowstone National Park opened its roads to oversnow vehicles for the winter season yesterday and has suspended a wildlife monitoring program that found snowmobiles and other such machines were having minimal effects on animals. The monitoring program for wildlife along road corridors used by snowmobiles and larger, multipassenger snow coaches began after Yellowstone adopted a plan in 2013 that restricted the number of winter vehicles allowed in the park. The plan followed years of legal disputes and temporary restrictions on the types and number of vehicles allowed, fueled by concerns that too many snowmobiles were harming air quality and disrupting the park’s bison and other wildlife. Wildlife workers observed more than 1,100 groups of animals over seven years with the restrictions in place. They found that 95 percent of bison and 81 percent of trumpeter swans had either no response to nearby oversnow vehicles or a ‘look and resume’ response, meaning the animals would look up and then resume what they had been doing. The park also evaluated air quality and found that pollution levels dropped significantly after cleaner-burning snowmobiles were introduced in 2003. While the monitoring program is suspended, rules governing winter vehicle use in the park remain unchanged.” [Politico, 12/16/21 (=)]

 

Opinions

 

Op-Ed: Do Right By California’s Tribes Through The 30×30 Conservation Effort. According to an op-ed by Morning Star Gali and Kate Poole in CalMatters, “Designated months that recognize Native American Heritage and governor-appointed advisory councils are opportunities for Californians to reflect on the history of Indigenous peoples in our state, but they are not sufficient for us to redress the historic wrongs suffered by California’s tribes. In 1851, the state’s first governor declared ‘a war of extermination will continue to be waged between races, until the Indian race becomes extinct.’ Many California Indians survived the genocide of colonial settlement in California but have nonetheless been deprived of their traditional way of life by being dispossessed of their lands and culture. Californians now have an opportunity to begin to repair these historic wrongs through Gov. Gavin Newsom’s initiative known as 30×30. 30×30 is also a global effort to address the planet’s biodiversity and climate crises by protecting 30% of lands, inland waters and oceans by 2030. Newsom issued an executive order in 2020 that puts California on a path to lead this endeavor. A key part of the governor’s effort must be restoring tribal ownership and control of lands stolen during white settlement of the state. But another critical piece of the 30×30 initiative must be restoring the health and vitality of California’s rivers and native fish. We need strong commitments as the state finalizes implementation of 30×30 in its Pathways to 30×30 document, released in draft form this week.” [CalMatters, 12/16/21 (+)]

 

Op-Ed: Forests On Public Lands Should Be Carbon Reservoirs. According to an op-ed by George Wuerthner in The Register-Guard, “I recently got a message from Sen. Jeff Merkley announcing that he supported more thinning and logging of our forests to reduce large wildfires. The irony is that logging/thinning is a primary source of greenhouse gas emissions, which is contributing to climate warming ultimately driving large fires. For example, the wood products industry contributes to approximately 35% of the GHG emission in Oregon, more than the total contribution of the transportation sector. Promoting logging under the guise of reducing large fires is counterproductive. Since climate warming is the primary driver of large wildfires (not fuels), adding to anything that increases drought, high temperatures, low humidity and wind only contributes to more wildfires. There is good paleoclimatic studies showing a correlation between severe drought conditions and wildfire. The west is experiencing some of the worse drought conditions in centuries, and no surprise, there are large fires occurring. Furthermore, we have abundant evidence that thinning and other ‘fuel reductions’ like prescribed burning fail under extreme fire weather conditions. And extreme fire weather conditions are the only situations that count since nearly all large blazes occur only under such climate/weather circumstances.” [The Register-Guard, 12/15/21 (+)]

 

Op-Ed: Global Heating And Fossil Fuel Burning Are The World's Greatest Health Challenges. According to an op-ed by David Shearman in The Hill, “The salient hope for international cooperation to keep the goal of global warming under 1.5 degrees Celsius alive already seems forlorn, but we must seek to drive home to governments the fundamental implication of this aim — to keep humanity alive. The commitments given at the recent UN COP26 climate summit did not go far enough to address the looming dangers of temperature rise and the vital, drastic reduction in greenhouse gas emissions before 2030 is problematic. … Cause for concern lies within four English-speaking democracies, the U.S. and U.K., which offered leadership at COP26, as well as in Canada and particularly in Australia — which did not agree to the pledge to reduce methane emissions by 30 percent by 2030. Yet, President Biden’s campaign commitment for ‘banning new oil and gas permitting on public lands and waters’ and ‘modifying royalties to account for climate costs’ has not eventuated due to the complexities and political opposition. Additionally, the massive sale of offshore drilling leases in the Gulf of Mexico is of concern as is the continuing rise in the export of oil and gas.” [The Hill, 12/16/21 (+)]

 

 

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