Congress

 

Grijalva Touts Poll Showing Ariz. Support For Grand Canyon Monument — “Arizona Democratic Rep. Raúl Grijalva on Wednesday touted the results of a newly released poll showing voters in his home state would support President Joe Biden designating a new national monument around Grand Canyon National Park. Grijalva, the top Democrat on the Natural Resources Committee, and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) have urged Biden to use his executive authority to establish the 1.1-million-acre Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni Grand Canyon National Monument. This would protect lands around the Grand Canyon in northern Arizona that are managed by the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management. ‘This is about the Grand Canyon; this is an opportunity,’ Grijalva said during a call with reporters organized by the Grand Canyon Trust, which paid for the poll and supports the national monument designation. He added: ‘I hope, sooner [rather] than later, there’s an indication that indeed we’re going to move forward with a monument designation. I feel strongly that that is possibly one of the most important things that can happen in the next few months or so.’” [E&E News, 8/2/23 (=)]

 

 

Department of the Interior (DOI)

 

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM)

 

The Way The Wind Blows — “President Joe Biden’s bold goal to deploy 30 gigawatts of wind generation off the shores of the United States by 2030 is within reach, according to an analysis out Wednesday from S&P Global Market Intelligence. Based on the current project pipeline, the U.S. should have nearly 2 gigawatts installed by 2025, up to 11 gigawatts by 2026 and just over 30 gigawatts by the end of the decade, the report found. Another 13.2 gigawatts is planned to come online in the 2030s. Much of that growth is driven by European energy companies capitalizing on lucrative subsidies in the Inflation Reduction Act, S&P found. Denmark’s Ørsted has proposed 7 gigawatts of capacity, while Spain’s Iberdrola has pledged 5.6 gigawatts and British oil giant Shell is targeting 3 gigawatts. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has so far only approved three utility-scale offshore wind farms — most recently the 1.1 gigawatt Ocean Wind 1 project off New Jersey — but is accelerating reviews after the Trump administration slowed them down, the S&P report noted. BOEM is currently reviewing 11 projects and has pledged to review at least 16 by 2025, comprising more than 27 gigawatts.” [Politico, 8/3/23 (=)]

 

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)

 

USGS Places Want Ad For Dead Butterflies — “U.S. Geological Survey scientist Julie Dietze has been vigilantly watching the mailbox at her office in Kansas since April. Envelopes sent in from various states hold treasures like a sphinx moth in a watch box, a monarch butterfly wrapped in tissue paper — and the occasional cicada. These strange gifts aren’t a surprise for the federal agency dedicated to environmental research. USGS is creating a new database of insects in the order Lepidoptera — which includes butterflies, moths and skippers — to identify contaminants and environmental factors that could be contributing to a decline in their populations. Dietze, the scientist in charge of the project, is using community science to make it happen by calling on people in six states to mail dead insects to her lab. Since the project launched in April, Dietze said she has received more than 100 insects, but uptake was slow-going. ‘Every day I would watch the mailbox in my office, and one day, a week after, I received an envelope and I asked my colleagues, ‘Did you put this here so I didn’t feel bad?’ she said. ‘I opened it, thought it would be a beautiful swallowtail [butterfly], and it was a bag of purple dust.’” [E&E News, 8/2/23 (=)]

 

 

Department of Commerce (DOC)

 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

 

NOAA Doles Out $50M To Upgrade 6 National Marine Sanctuaries — “Seven national marine sanctuaries across the country will get nearly $50 million to pay for infrastructure upgrades, tapping money approved by Congress in the Inflation Reduction Act. … More than a third of the funding, $17 million, will go to the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary in Maui. NOAA said the funding would help build climate resilience into the visitor and community center and support construction of a boathouse for a 38-foot boat used for whale research. An additional $15 million will go to the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary in Provincetown, Mass., to help pay for the construction of a new visitor center. The Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary in Seaside, Calif., will receive $7 million for more office space at the California State University Monterey Bay campus. The Mallows Bay-Potomac River National Marine Sanctuary in Nanjemoy, Md., one of the country’s newest sanctuaries, will get $5 million for the design of a staff office and visitor center. And smaller amounts will go to the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary in Port Angeles, Wash., which will get $3 million to pay for a marine discovery center, and the Greater Farallones and Cordell Bank national marine sanctuaries in San Francisco, which will receive $2 million to help repair and upgrade NOAA’s office and visitor center.” [E&E News, 8/2/23 (=)]

 

 

Outdoor Industry

 

Fishing, Hunting Groups Say Members Can Build Support For New National Monuments — “Federal law gives the president power to create national monuments, and a new report from several fishing and hunting groups argues that taking their interests into account will help build coalitions for new monuments. The report says Congress is gridlocked and ‘public land conservation is often not prioritized even when strong local and bipartisan support exists.’ But, it adds, the 1906 Antiquities Act provides a means for the president to do ‘what Congress has failed to accomplish.’ The report – ‘National Monuments: a hunting and fishing perspective’ – also notes that designating monuments can be controversial. John Gale of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, one of the groups behind the report, said his coalition of public lands users can help build support for new monuments. Trout Unlimited and the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership were also involved in the report. ‘Hunters and anglers carry outsized influence, both politically and in how much they use our public lands and waters,’ said Gale, vice president of policy and government relations for his organization.” [Boise State Public Radio, 8/2/23 (=)]

 

Op-Ed: Outdoor Recreation Economy Is Growing — Legislation Could Get In The Way Of Welcoming New Recreationists   — According to Ambreen Tariq, “Appropriations bills recently passed by the House of Representatives prevent land and water management agencies from investing in Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) training for their staff and prohibit the flying on property of any flags other than the U.S. flag. DEIA education provides value insight on diverse perspectives and the history of exclusion in our shared public spaces; this education is a critical tool to ensure land managers are properly trained in making all people who walk through their doors, or into the great outdoors, feel welcome, safe and supported. Similarly, our public lands must reflect the richness of our society and acknowledge the contributions of every individual who calls this country home. By allowing flags, like the Pride flag, to fly at important historical landmarks we loudly proclaim that although safe spaces were not always a part of American history, our public lands today are a reflection of our nation’s progress, representing the struggles, triumphs and resiliency of those who made tremendous personal sacrifices fighting for equality and justice. ” [Route Fifty, 8/2/23 (+)]

 

 

States & Local

 

Arizona

 

The Extreme Heat In Phoenix Is Withering Some Of Its Famed Saguaro Cactuses, With No End In Sight — “After recording the warmest monthly average temperature for any U.S. city ever in July, Phoenix climbed back up to dangerously high temperatures Wednesday. That could mean trouble not just for people but for some plants, too. Residents across the sprawling metro are finding the extended extreme heat has led to fried flora, and have shared photos and video of their damaged cactuses with the Desert Botanical Garden. Nurseries and landscapers are inundated with requests for help with saguaros or fruit trees that are losing leaves. Phones have been ‘ringing nonstop’ about everything from a cactus to a citrus tree or ficus, said Sophia Booth, a landscape designer at Moon Valley Nursery, which has nearly a dozen locations across the Phoenix suburbs. ‘A lot of people are calling and saying their cactus is yellowing really hard, fell over or like broken arms, that sort of thing,’ Booth said. ‘Twenty-year-old trees are losing all their leaves, or they’re turning a crisp brown.’” [Associated Press, 8/3/23 (+)]

 

California

 

California’s Iconic Joshua Trees Are Burning Up. They May Be Impossible To Replace — “A light rain fell on the Mojave National Preserve, where firefighters continued their nearly weeklong battle Wednesday against an unusual desert wildfire that has incinerated countless Joshua trees and threatens to forever alter California’s high desert landscape. Crews were aided by the arrival of monsoonal moisture, which brought some rain and humidity that helped slow the spread of the 82,000-acre York fire, which was about 30% contained Wednesday. But in many ways, the damage has already been done. The fire is the largest to burn through the eastern Mojave in recorded history, surpassing the 71,000-acre Hackberry complex fire of 2005 and searing through a delicate ecosystem already strained by invasive species and the burning of fossil fuels. ‘The reality is that Joshua trees are already in a state of decline because of global warming and increasing frequency of drought,’ said James Cornett, an ecologist who specializes in the species. ‘And then on top of that, you throw on a fire like the York fire, and these trees are not likely to recover in our lifetime.’” [Los Angeles Times, 8/3/23 (+)]

 

Iconic Joshua Trees Burned By Massive Wildfire In Mojave Desert — “A massive fire burning through the desert in California and southern Nevada has scorched tens of thousands of acres in a biodiverse national preserve and torched its iconic Joshua trees. The York Fire – already California’s largest fire of the year – has burned more than 82,000 acres as of Wednesday morning, fire officials said. It began Friday in the New York Mountains of California’s Mojave National Preserve and crossed state lines into Nevada on Sunday. The fire is burning through and threatening groves of Joshua trees – the branching, spiky plants of the Mojave Desert that can live more than 150 years. Some of the trees have already fallen victim to the flames and burned, Marc Peebles, a spokesperson for California’s incident management team for the fire, confirmed to CNN on Wednesday.” [CNN, 8/2/23 (+)]

 

Wildfires Threaten Iconic Joshua Trees — “California’s largest wildfire is threatening iconic Joshua trees in the Mojave National Preserve. The York fire started Friday and has expanded to burn more than 82,000 acres as of Wednesday morning, according to fire officials. The fire, about 60 miles south of Las Vegas, straddles the California-Nevada border and is already the largest in California so far this year. It is 23 percent contained as firefighters contend with searing temperatures and high winds. The winds have spawned ‘fire whirls,’ fire and smoke tornados that rarely occur in wildfires. Erratic winds have also sent columns of fire more than 20 feet into the air and have allowed the blaze to spread more easily. Vegetation in the region — including juniper bush, Joshua trees and other desert-hardened brush — is extremely dry in the summer and ripe for flame, according to fire officials. More than 400 fire personnel have been deployed to the area.” [The Hill, 8/2/23 (+)]

 

California’s Largest Wildfire Of The Year Threatens Fragile Desert Ecosystem — “The hundreds of firefighters battling California’s largest wildfire this year in the Mojave national preserve have to work strategically to avoid disrupting a fragile ecosystem. The York fire burns in the Mojave national preserve on 30 July. The York fire, which erupted last Friday, has burned through more than 125 sq miles (323.7 sq km) across the California desert toward the Nevada border. The preserve’s delicate ecosystem, home to desert tortoises and about 200 rare plants, has already undergone devastating damage. The blaze has destroyed pinyon pines, junipers and probably many of the region’s famous, spikey-topped Joshua trees. Joshua trees, which are unique to this region of the world, are particularly vulnerable to wildfire since they have not adapted to surviving big fires. The species had already been hit hard in August 2020, when the Dome fire ripped through more than 43,000 acres in another part of the preserve and burned about 1.3m Joshua trees.” [The Guardian, 8/2/23 (+)]

 

Colorado

 

Mineral Co. Says Oil Biz Used Crypto Scheme To Keep Leases — “A Colorado minerals company is suing oil and gas producer Bonanza Creek Energy Operating Co. LLC in state court, alleging it forfeited leases to oil wells but is using a cryptocurrency mining scheme to hold onto the land and deprive the minerals company of owed royalties. In a complaint filed Monday, Hobe Minerals Limited Liability Co. said Bonanza, which has merged with codefendant Civitas Resources Inc., signed leases starting in 2015 to drill 160 wells across eight oil and gas locations owned by Hobe, but only ever drilled one well on each location. And instead of building a pipeline to collect and sell gas produced from the wells, Bonanza decided to flare off and burn the gas, resulting in a loss of profits and royalties to Hobe that would have resulted from the sale, until the Colorado Energy and Carbon Management Commission prohibited the practice, according to the complaint. After that, Hobe said in the complaint, Bonanza shut down its oil well production in late 2021 and 2022 — never reestablishing production and sales. Instead, Hobe alleges, Bonanza contracted with a third-party cryptocurrency mining operation, in which Bonanza would sporadically operate the wells to provide gas to the CCM operation but wouldn’t produce enough gas to sell commercially.” [Law360, 8/2/23 (=)]

 

Maine

 

Interior Auditors Question States’ Use Of Wildlife Grants — “Interior Department auditors found an unwelcome new wrinkle when they were examining how the Maine Department of Marine Resources used federal grants. Dollars that the auditors explained were ‘intended for conservation purposes’ were instead being used to help pay down the state’s unfunded pension and health liabilities. ‘This money was accordingly unavailable for the defined purposes of the grants; namely, for conservation, restoration, and management of wildlife and sport fish resources,’ the Interior Department’s Office of Inspector General noted in its most recently published report. The dollars added up, as Maine has a policy of devoting 30 percent of its federally funded payroll costs to the unfunded liabilities. Between 2017 and 2019, that amounted to $386,763 in federal grant funds going to pension and health obligations rather than conservation. ‘The efficiency and effectiveness of federal grants are potentially reduced when a state directly charges a federal grant to pay down unfunded liabilities,’ the OIG stated, adding that ‘if states use a greater proportion of ... grant funding to pay down unfunded liabilities, less funding is available to accomplish the grant’s agreed-upon objectives.’” [E&E News, 8/2/23 (=)]

 

Montana

 

Mont. Judge Blocks Water Pipeline Through Fed. Wilderness — “A Montana federal judge on Wednesday blocked upcoming construction of an oxygenated water pipeline planned by federal wildlife managers to help restore an imperiled fish species, ruling the project would permanently alter a designated wilderness. Environmental advocates suing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to stop the project raised serious questions whether the agency violated the Wilderness Act with its plan, U.S. District Judge Donald W. Molloy said, granting the advocate’s bid for a preliminary injunction. Even though the FWS showed conserving a dwindling population of Arctic grayling in the area of Red Rock Lakes Wilderness was a valid exercise of the Wilderness Act, it was questionable whether the project was necessary to protect the fish under the strict requirements of the law, Judge Molloy said. ‘That is especially so where the proposed action will have a negative impact on the area’s wilderness character and involve most of the activities prohibited by the act, including mechanical transport, motorized equipment, motor vehicle, motorboats and temporary roads, as well as the permanent installation of a structure,’ the judge said.” [Law360, 8/2/23 (=)]

 

Texas

 

Biden Playing 'Shell Game' With Mussels To Sink Abbott's Border Buoys: Arrington — “A senior House Republican accused the Biden administration of playing politics following the Interior Department’s decision to list a mussels specimen found only in a part of the U.S.-Mexico border where Texas installed a floating buoy barrier as endangered. House Budget Chairman Jodey Arrington (R-TX) compared President Joe Biden’s latest move at the border to a ‘shell game’ for how it was an attempt to subvert efforts by Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) to bolster border security. ‘While Biden has failed to use federal powers to secure the border, he has no problem weaponizing the government to prevent states from doing so in his absence,’ Arrington said in a statement Wednesday, reacting to the Washington Examiner’s recent reporting. ‘Clearly, Biden is more concerned about disrupting the habitat of the Mexican mussels than disrupting the operations of Mexican cartels who are destroying the lives of Americans and migrants alike.’ Arrington questioned why the Biden administration cared now about mussels when, for years, immigrants illegally crossed the Rio Grande and disrupted their natural habitat.” [Washington Examiner, 8/2/23 (=)]

 

Wisconsin

 

Wisconsin Officials Release Revised Wolf Management Plan — “Wisconsin wildlife officials released a revised draft wolf management plan Tuesday that recommends holding the statewide population at around 1,000 animals, a concession to conservatives looking for a hard limit. The Department of Natural Resources adopted a wolf management plan in 1999 that calls for capping the statewide population at 350 wolves. The population has roughly tripled since then, leading to occasional wolf attacks on pets, hunting dogs and livestock. Hunters and farmers have pointed to the 350-animal limit as justification for generous kill quotas, angering animal rights advocates. The department released a draft of a new wolf management plan in November. The proposal didn’t include a hard population goal, instead recommending that advisory committees monitor local wolf populations and decide whether to reduce them, maintain them or allow them to grow. The draft wasn’t well received by hunters, farmers and GOP legislators. State Rep. Chanz Green (R) and state Sen. Rob Stafsholt (R) introduced a bill in March that would require the DNR to set a statewide population goal in its new plan. The measure has yet to get a hearing.” [E&E News, 8/2/23 (=)]

 

 

Analysis & Opinion

 

US Economy Needs More Energy Production From Federal Lands: Harold Hamm — “Continental Resources Chairman Harold Hamm breaks down President Biden’s war on fossil fuels on ‘Kudlow.’ The Biden administration’s efforts to restrict oil and gas production on federal lands are hurting the U.S. economy’s growth through inflation and higher energy costs, according to a leader of the American energy renaissance. Harold Hamm, chairman and founder of Continental Resources and author of the book ‘Game Changer,’ said in a Tuesday appearance on ‘Kudlow’ that the federal government needs to ‘get on with the permitting’ and ‘We need the moratorium taken off of federal lands, we’ve always developed federal lands.’ ‘What Biden did when he took all the federal lands – that’s 26% of the U.S. landmass – off the table, and about 35% of the productive capacity. So, they did that, and [what] did it do? You’re an economist – it drove inflation straight up, you know it cost more to consumers,’ Hamm told host Larry Kudlow. Hamm’s firm pioneered fracking and horizontal drilling, techniques that made the U.S. energy industry more competitive with overseas rivals.” [Fox Business, 8/2/23 (-)]

 

US Oil Industry Giant Warns Democrats' Green Energy Push Fuels A 'Doomed' Economy — “An American fracking and oil pioneer has cautioned that the Biden administration’s green transition means the end of the energy renaissance and economic prosperity. ‘If we don’t handle policy right on energy, then we’re doomed to repeat all the same things that’s happened administration after administration. We have to get it right,’ Continental Resources Chairman and founder Harold Hamm said on ‘Kudlow’ Tuesday. ‘Energy independence, it means world peace.’ ‘It’s very important. I’m a patriot, I love America,’ he continued. ‘We’ve produced something that’s very good. We have to maintain that.’ Even though President Biden has waged a war on fossil fuels over the last three years, Hamm argued Americans ‘are not going for it.’ Various policies and legislation considered by the Biden administration include $600 million for climate change spending, a moratorium on federal land or offshore drilling, electric-only vehicles by 2035, SEC regulations around environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) investments – and more.” [Fox Business, 8/2/23 (-)]

 

 

 

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