White House

 

Biden Expected To Create New Grand Canyon National Monument To Block Mining, Sources Say — “President Biden is leaning toward designating a vast area near the Grand Canyon as a national monument to safeguard it from uranium mining, according to five people familiar with the plans. Leaders of local tribes and environmentalists have spent years lobbying to protect areas near the park from potential uranium mining, which they say would threaten aquifers and water supplies. They have asked Washington to double the protected area around the canyon by including 1.1 million acres of public lands in a Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni Grand Canyon National Monument. Want to know how your actions can help make a difference for our planet? Sign up for the Climate Coach newsletter, in your inbox every Tuesday and Thursday. Biden is doing a tour through Arizona next week. The White House previously announced that the president would make climate change and his environmental agenda a focus of his stops on the tour. Federal officials have started telling tribal and environmental groups to be available for a potential Grand Canyon announcement early next week, which would fall during Biden’s travel, said four of the people, all of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an announcement not yet public. White House officials had no immediate comment Friday.” [The Washington Post, 8/4/23 (+)]

 

'A Sacred Place': Advocates For New Grand Canyon Protections Rally In Hopes Biden Will Act — “Native American advocates for Grand Canyon land and water protections sang, danced and celebrated their spiritual connections to the canyon on Saturday ahead of a presidential visit this week that they hope will culminate in the designation of a 1.1 million-acre national monument beyond the park’s boundaries. President Joe Biden plans to tour the Southwest, including Arizona, this week. Hopes are high among tribal and environmental advocates that the president will use this occasion to create the proposed Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni Grand Canyon National Monument on federal lands north and south of the Grand Canyon. Others, especially local officials in northwest Arizona, oppose the prospect. The advocates’ ultimate hope is that the monument, for which the government is expected to partner with tribes on management, will make permanent a 20-year moratorium on new uranium mining claims that the Obama administration imposed in 2012.” [Arizona Republic, 8/6/23 (+)]

 

PHOTOS: Advocates For New Grand Canyon Protections Rally In Hopes Biden Will Act This Week — “Advocates for new Grand Canyon protections rally in hopes Biden will act this week” [Arizona Republic, 8/6/23 (+)]

 

Biden Strongly Considering Designating New National Monument Around Grand Canyon — “President Joe Biden is strongly considering declaring a vast area around the Grand Canyon as the nation’s newest national monument, according to two sources familiar with the plans. Biden will visit Arizona next week as part of a swing through that state, New Mexico and Utah. The president is expected to talk during the trip about his administration’s response to climate change and investments in clean energy as part of the Inflation Reduction Act. ‘No decisions have been made,’ White House spokesperson Abdullah Hasan said in a statement, commenting on the potential designation. ‘But I can tell you that President Biden has conserved more land and water in his first year than any president since JFK, and his climate protection record is unmatched.’” [CNN, 8/4/23 (+)]

 

Biden Expected To Designate Grand Canyon Monument — “President Joe Biden is expected to designate a new national monument protecting lands outside the Grand Canyon National Park during his trip to Arizona next week, according to three people who work for conservation groups familiar with the plans. Those people were granted anonymity to speak about the White House’s plans before a formal announcement. No details were immediately available about the site’s footprint or whether it would include the full amount of acres sought by Native American tribes. The likely monument designation — first reported Friday by The Washington Post — would mark a major victory for Arizona lawmakers, tribes and conservation advocates who have urged Biden to protect the lands, which they argue need to be shielded from possible uranium mining in the area. Leaders from a dozen Native American tribes have been pushing for years to protect lands around the Grand Canyon in northern Arizona that are managed by the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management. The Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni Grand Canyon National Monument they want to see created includes about 1.1 million acres of land.” [E&E News, 8/4/23 (=)]

 

Biden Admin Blocks More Than 1.5 Million Acres From Oil Drilling After Eco Groups' Legal Challenges — “The Biden administration proposed a plan to lock up nearly 1.6 million acres of public lands from oil and gas development across western Colorado in response to multiple legal challenges filed by environmental groups. In a draft supplemental environmental impact statement announced Thursday, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) issued so-called resource management plans for its Grand Junction Field Office and Colorado River Valley field offices which oversee mineral leasing in the area. The proposal would restrict the two offices to leasing just 239,000 acres and 143,000 acres, respectively, for fossil fuel production, a total reduction of about 80%. ‘Public participation is key to the development of Resource Management Plans,’ BLM Upper Colorado River District Manager Greg Larson said in a statement. ‘This new analysis will ensure the BLM’s management of these areas will best serve our multiple use mission for the future.’ BLM’s proposal comes after years of legal challenges spearheaded by several environmental groups that argued the federal government failed to take climate change and greenhouse gas emissions into consideration when formulating its resource management plans, which are issued by field offices to outline how they will manage designated lands for the next 20 years.” [Fox News, 8/4/23 (-)]

 

President Joe Biden To Visit Grand Canyon Tuesday — “Among his stops on the trip is the Grand Canyon on Tuesday. He is scheduled to land in Arizona Monday night. Biden is expected to discuss his administration’s investments and climate change during the trip. The Center for Western Priorities released a statement Friday saying that Biden may designate 1.1 million acres surrounding the Grand Canyon as the Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni Grand Canyon National Monument during his visit. According to the Center of Western Priorities, the designation, as proposed by the Grand Canyon Tribal Coalition, would protect the area from uranium mining, helping to safeguard underground aquifers and critical drinking water supplies for nearby communities. Lauren Bogard, the director of campaigns for the Center of Western Priorities, released the following statement: Recent Stories from abc15.com ‘The Grand Canyon is one of the most iconic and widely recognized natural features in the world, drawing millions of visitors each year to marvel at its grandeur and appreciate the winding path of the Colorado River through its canyons. What is less well known is the human history of the Indigenous people who trace their ancestral roots to this area and want to see this sacred landscape protected from the threat of uranium mining. The establishment of this monument is driven by a large group of Tribes, and it is both timely and critical that their narrative be a central part of the story of what makes this area magnificent and worthy of greater protection and respect.” [KNXV-TV, 8/6/23 (+)]

 

VIDEO: Biden To Designate Grand Canyon As National Monument: Report — “The Washington Post reports that President Joe Biden may designate a vast area near the Grand Canyon as a national monument, and that would safeguard it from uranium mining. The report says Biden’s announcement could be made next week when the president visits Arizona.” [KSAZ-TV, 8/6/23 (=)]

 

VIDEO: Biden Administration Could Designate Surrounding Grand Canyon Land As New National Monument — “Biden Administration could designate surrounding Grand Canyon land as new national monument” [KVOA-TV, 8/5/23 (=)]

 

Biden To Block Uranium Mining On 1M Acres Around Grand Canyon: Report — “This US national park is ranked the deadliest — with highest numbers of deaths, missing person reports since 2018 The Biden administration is considering designating a million acres of land surrounding the Grand Canyon as a new national monument, which would bar uranium mining in the area. The move comes after years of lobbying by local Native American tribes and environment advocates for beefed-up protections against uranium mining in areas surrounding the second-most popular national park in the country. White House spokesperson Abdullah Hasan told the Washington Post, which first reported the news about the designation, that no decisions have been made on the monument. Native American tribes, who have long pushed for a monument honoring their connections to the Grand Canyon, have asked the White House to safeguard 1.1 million acres of public land surrounding the national park by declaring them the Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni Grand Canyon National Monument. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland visited with tribal leaders in May to discuss conservation efforts.” [New York Post, 8/5/23 (=)]

 

Biden Is Expected To Permanently Block Grand Canyon Mining — “President Biden is likely to announce the creation of new national monument to protect about a million acres of land around the Grand Canyon from uranium mining as soon as next week, according to three people familiar with the matter. Senior officials in the Biden administration have been speaking in recent weeks with Native tribes, environmental groups and members of the Arizona congressional delegation, and some of those people have been told to prepare for ‘a possible announcement’ when Mr. Biden visits Arizona next week. The three people familiar with the matter asked not to be identified in order to discuss internal deliberations. Abdullah Hasan, a White House spokesman, said that final decisions about the monument designation had not been made. But he added, ‘I can tell you that President Biden has conserved more land and water in his first year than any president since J.F.K., and his climate protection record is unmatched.’ The area in question is already off limits to uranium mining, a designation made by President Barack Obama in 2011. But those protections are set to expire in 2032. If Mr. Biden were to designate the land as a national monument, those conditions would be permanent. The expected announcement was first reported by The Washington Post.” [The New York Times, 8/4/23 (=)]

 

Biden Administration Faces Challenges Over Proposal To Block More Land From Oil Drilling — “The Biden administration has announced a proposal to block 1.6 million acres of public Colorado land from oil and gas development amid legal challenges filed by environmental groups. Get ready for gas prices to skyrocket. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) issued a draft Thursday, proposing that just 382,000 acres of Colorado land be reserved for fossil fuel production, marking an 80% decrease compared to the original 1.6 million acres.” [PJ Media, 8/5/23 (-)]

 

Biden Heads Southwest — “President Joe Biden is expected to designate a new national monument in Arizona this week to permanently protect land outside Grand Canyon National Park from uranium mining, POLITICO’s E&E News reports. The land is currently under a 20-year moratorium on new mining imposed by the Obama administration, but advocates and lawmakers have called for a monument designation to make it permanent. The White House hasn’t confirmed Biden will make the designation, but he’s set to speak in Arizona on Tuesday on his administration’s ‘historic investments in conservation and protecting our natural resources.’ Biden is also set to travel to New Mexico on Wednesday, where he’ll give remarks on how the Inflation Reduction Act is ‘unleashing a clean energy manufacturing boom.’” [Politico, 8/7/23 (=)]

 

Op-Ed: The Biden Administration Must Establish The Grand Canyon National Monument — According to Andie Madsen, “It’s clear that the Biden administration and Interior Secretary Deb Haaland are leading the way forward in incorporating Indigenous leaders and tribes into public land policy. Recently, Secretary Haaland visited Arizona and heard from members of the Grand Canyon Tribal Coalition. The Grand Canyon Tribal Coalition is attempting to protect parts of the greater Grand Canyon landscape to honor the significant cultural and historic values it holds through a national monument designation. Additionally, the designation would rectify the uranium mining history in the area while protecting the watershed from future uranium mining. The Grand Canyon Tribal Coalition’s story and Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni Grand Canyon National Monument feel familiar to those who were involved in the Bears Ears struggle not so long ago. Utahns remember that oil and uranium mining were central in the Trump administration’s decision to shrink Bears Ears National Monument. It’s no different in the Grand Canyon: The historical mining, processing and transportation of uranium in the area have left a toxic legacy of health, safety and environmental damage, adversely impacting tribes and local communities in northern Arizona.” [The Salt Lake Tribune, 8/7/23 (+)]

 

 

Congress

 

Daines Reintroduces Bill Declassifying 100,000 Acres Of Wilderness Study Area — “U.S. Sen. Steve Daines has reintroduced legislation to declassify Wilderness Study Areas totaling 100,000 acres in Montana. He has brought similar legislation that failed in 2017, and again in 2022. This newest iteration of the Montana Sportsmen Conservation Act is a repeat of the 2022 version requesting declassification of three wilderness study areas; one near Great Falls in the Little Belt Mountains, the Hoodoo Mountain area near Lincoln and the third at Wales Creek near Ovando. Daines said the parcels are not suitable for study area designations which only allow non-motorized recreation. He has said he will continue to refuse to support U.S. Sen. Jon Tester’s Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Act, also reintroduced this summer, unless these wilderness study areas are declassified as general public lands.” [Montana Public Radio, 8/4/23 (=)]

 

 

Department of the Interior (DOI)

 

Bureau of Land Management (BLM)

 

BLM Proposal Continues New Oil And Gas Leasing On Public Lands — “July was the hottest month in recorded history, but critics of the Bureau of Land Management’s new oil and gas rules warned the proposal ignores the primary driver of a warming planet: the burning of fossil fuels. Melissa Hornbein, senior attorney at the Western Environmental Law Center, said by continuing to lease public lands for oil and gas development, the BLM is missing an opportunity to create a just transition to clean energy that protects workers and communities. ‘And to provide mechanisms for economic support for operators who need to phase out of federal fossil fuels,’ Hornbein explained. ‘There’s going to be a lot of money in recovering abandoned and unreclaimed wells, and there’s a lot of work that needs to be done.’ The Biden Administration has defended the rule to increase royalties companies have to pay, and raise bonding requirements to prevent operators from abandoning well sites. Industry groups have called those measures draconian, and say they will discourage development.” [Public News Service, 8/4/23 (=)]

 

Biden Admin Moves To Ban New Oil Leases On 1.6 Million Acres Of Land — “The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) issued a Thursday proposal that would ban new oil leasing on about 1.6 million acres of land in Colorado, according to E&E News. The proposal is part of wider initiative of the federal government to settle litigation with environmentalist groups who have pursued legal challenges against the government’s land use policies, according to E&E News. If finalized, the proposal could decrease the estimated number of oil wells in the affected lands by 600 over the next two decades, according to E&E News. The proposal would also designate nine zones of BLM-owned land as ‘areas of critical environmental concern,’ amounting to over 100,000 acres in the state, according to E&E News. Colorado is responsible for 4% of U.S. domestic crude oil production and is the fifth largest crude oil-producing state in the country, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.” [The Daily Caller, 8/4/23 (-)]

 

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM)

 

Making Waves In The Gulf — “The next week-and-a-half will be something of a nailbiter for oil companies that had been looking forward to the September lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico. Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is expected to release new stipulations the industry fears will put potentially millions of acres of federal waters either off limits or make them less accessible to drilling operations. The new rules would come out by Aug. 18 in a Notice To Leasees and BOEM’s Proposed Notice Of Sale. They would stem from an agreement the National Marine Fisheries Service signed with the Sierra Club and other green groups to settle a lawsuit over how it conducted a Trump-era analysis of how oil development in the Gulf affects endangered species. The settlement entails NMFS recognizing that a swath of Gulf waters stretching from the western tip of Florida to the southern tip of Texas may be an unknown habitat for the endangered Rice’s whale that now needs protecting. ‘BOEM typically includes a lease stipulation in lease sales to protect endangered species, including but not limited to the Rice’s Whale, and the stipulation may be updated as appropriate for Sale 261 next month,’ BOEM spokesperson John Filostrat said in an email. ‘As noted in the Proposed Notice of Sale, some areas may be excluded from the lease sale in September.’” [Politico, 8/7/23 (=)]

 

New US Offshore Wind Lease Areas In Central Atlantic Are Inadequate, Groups Say — “Dive Brief: The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management on Monday announced it has finalized three new offshore wind lease areas off the coasts of Virginia, Maryland and Delaware, after ‘extensive’ engagement with stakeholders — which one climate group said resulted in the proposed areas being shrunk excessively. ‘79% of all the initially proposed offshore wind lease space in the central Atlantic was cut – that is far above what is usually cut in this kind of process,’ Jamie DeMarco, Maryland director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, or CCAN, said in an interview. BOEM said that the three areas, which total 356,550 acres, would support 4 GW to 8 GW of offshore wind energy capacity.” [Utility Dive, 8/3/23 (=)]

 

National Park Service (NPS)

 

Op-Ed: Celebrating 3 Years Of The Great American Outdoors Act — According to Kevin Schneider, “Our national parks, including Acadia, are often touted as ‘America’s greatest idea’ – but throughout my career, I have come to think of them as ‘America’s greatest responsibility.’ The National Park Service is in the forever business, and we have a responsibility to future generations to leave our national parks better than we found them. Park rangers across the nation take this responsibility very seriously – and we regularly find ways to be good stewards of our public lands with extraordinarily limited resources It was humbling to watch Maine’s federal delegation come together to be the first to unanimously support the most important piece of legislation for our national parks in decades – the Great American Outdoors Act, enacted Aug. 4, 2020. As the Department of the Interior celebrates the anniversary of the Great American Outdoors Act’s initial $6.5 billion investment in national parks over a five-year period, we cheer the critical foundation it provides for national parks across the country to address extensive maintenance repair backlogs. This work ensures visitors can continue to have life-changing experiences at these special places for generations to come.” [Portland Press Herald, 8/6/23 (+)]

 

 

States & Local

 

California

 

AP | BLM Orders Cleanup Of Calif. Monument Oil Wells — “The Bureau of Land Management this week ordered a California oil and gas company to permanently abandon and clean up 11 idle oil and gas wells inside a prized national monument north of Los Angeles. The order, inked Tuesday, is part of a settlement between the bureau and environmental groups that had sued to block new oil and gas drilling in the Carrizo Plain National Monument, a rolling grassland that erupts in color during the annual wildflower season. BLM said in its order this week that addressing the idle wells is also part of a bureauwide practice, required since 2019, to annually review wells on public lands that are not producing. This effort reflects the agency’s larger aim, taken up in force by the Biden administration in policies like its proposed hike to new bonding and fees, to address idle — and sometimes possibly abandoned — oil and gas wells. The Carrizo idle wells, owned by Bakersfield-based E&B Natural Resources Management Corp., were ordered by BLM to be permanently abandoned and reclaimed in 2013. Then, they cropped up in a 2020 lawsuit that environmental groups brought against the Trump administration for approving an E&B project proposal that would approve the first new oil in the monument since it was established in 2001 and revamp an aging pipeline.” [E&E News, 8/4/23 (=)]

 

Michigan

 

Beaver Island Is A Pristine Environmental Haven. Will It Last? — “Deep in the heart of northern Lake Michigan is a string of islands absolutely brimming in ecological richness. Endangered Great Lakes piping plovers pitter-patter across the beaches. Threatened Pitcher’s thistle grows in such abundance it pops up in sand volleyball courts. Mature ash trees thrive and produce seeds, survivors of the statewide infestation of invasive emerald ash borer beetles. World-class smallmouth bass swim in bays and coves around the archipelago. Sandhill cranes patrol every field and meadow. Abundant deer and turkey stop what little traffic there is on the main island. And what must be millions of bumblebees and monarch butterflies dance across the blooms of countless acres of milkweed along every roadside, at every beach, and basically everywhere you look. Nature abounds on Beaver Island and across its surrounding smaller islands. The archipelago is a biodiversity powerhouse, and the locals know it.” [MLive, 8/6/23 (+)]

 

Oregon

 

Western States’ Budgets, Industries Rely On Federal Lands. So Does Wildlife. — “Across the West, a vast swath of federal land has been staked out by oil and gas drillers, miners, cattle grazers, loggers, renewable energy developers and outdoor recreationists. Soon, the federal agency that oversees those lands will allow them to be leased for a new purpose: conservation. Earlier this year, the Bureau of Land Management proposed putting conservation on an equal footing with the other permitted uses across its 245 million acres, about 10% of the land in the United States. The new rule would strengthen the agency’s ability to protect certain landscapes and allow it to assess the health of land beyond just grazing areas. ‘We have so much stress on the public lands if you look at what we’ve all seen with drought and fire and the changing landscape, as well as the demands on our public lands,’ said Nada Wolff Culver, the agency’s deputy director of policy and programs. ‘If we want to keep (providing multiple uses) successfully for future generations, this rule is timely and necessary.’ The agency is currently reviewing public comments on the proposed rule.” [Oregon Capital Chronicle, 8/7/23 (+)]

 

Utah

 

Op-Ed: Why Is It Called Capitol Reef National Park If There’s No Reef? — According to Andy Bink, “It’s nowhere near a capitol, and it certainly doesn’t look like the color reefs you’ll find in Hawaii or off the coast of Australia. So why is this Utah national park called Capitol Reef? It’s not as complicated as you may think, but the answer is a two-part explanation. If you’ve ever been to Capitol Reef, its name will start to make sense in a moment. If you haven’t been to the park, you need to understand its geology first. Located in south-central Utah, Capitol Reef is part of the Waterpocket Fold, a warp in the Earth’s crust that stretches on for nearly 100 miles. Hundreds of millions of years ago, Capitol Reef was more like the Saharan Desert, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Then it became wet, sporting tropical forests, ferns, and swamps. It was a popular national monument, until it was robbed to extinction But then, about 180 million years ago, the area became dry again. Then, 40 million years later, it turned into a coastal area, depositing layers of sandstone and shale still seen in the park. After those layers were formed, tectonic forces raised rock layers thousands of feet, USGS explains. The layers remained mostly horizontal and formed mountains, except for one part: the Waterpocket Fold. Here, layers folded instead of breaking like the rest of the region. Erosion has since led to some of the most notable features, like Capitol Dome. This brings us to the first part of Capitol Reef’s name: Capitol.” [The Hill, 8/5/23 (+)]

 

Wyoming

 

Fatal Grizzly Attack Renews Debate Over How Many Bears Are Too Many — “Authorities have been unable to find the grizzly bear that killed a woman just outside Yellowstone National Park late last month. Last week, they called off the search. That fatal attack has renewed calls to remove Endangered Species Act protections for grizzlies, so there are fewer bears on the landscape. The latest data shows the population of grizzly bears in and around the park at 965. That’s more than quadruple the number that existed when they were first protected by the Endangered Species Act in 1975. Despite their fearsome reputation, though, grizzly bears would rather avoid people than attack them. By the numbers, visitors to the heart of grizzly country in Yellowstone National Park have about the same likelihood of being killed by a falling tree as being killed by a grizzly. That’s despite a lot more people in the area. A record 5 million people visited Yellowstone National Park in 2021. Even more frequent the surrounding mountains and forests. In that enormous region, the animals have killed a total of 10 people since 2010.” [NPR, 8/7/23 (=)]

 

 

Analysis & Opinion

 

Big Oil Holds More Federal Leases Than Previously Known – Report — “Some of the largest oil and gas companies hold hundreds more leases for production on public lands than what is listed by the Interior Department, raising questions about how federal regulations are affecting the sector, according to new data from Accountable.US, a left-leaning research group. The analysis provided first to E&E News cross-referenced leasing data from the Bureau of Land Management with oil majors’ Securities and Exchange Commission filings to get a fuller picture of how many acres and leases some of the largest energy companies hold on federal lands through their subsidiaries. The group found that 21 companies — through 300 subsidiaries — hold nearly half the federal land leases used for oil and gas operations. Among those are three of the largest U.S. oil companies, Exxon Mobil Corp., ConocoPhillips and Occidental Petroleum Corp., which alone hold nearly 15.8 percent of federal leases by the sector when subsidiaries are counted. Exxon Mobil, for example, holds 2,093 federal leases — totaling more than 450,208 acres — through 25 subsidiary companies, according to the analysis by Accountable.US. A search for ‘ExxonMobil’ in BLM data shows a much lower tally — 105 leases across two companies, totaling about 29,630 acres. Similarly, Occidental holds 2,200 federal land leases through 26 subsidiary companies, but BLM data shows approximately 124 leases. ConocoPhillips holds 1,134 leases across 21 subsidiaries, while BLM data shows about 450 leases total.” [E&E News, 8/7/23 (=)]

 

A Republican 2024 Climate Strategy: More Drilling, Less Clean Energy — “During a summer of scorching heat that has broken records and forced Americans to confront the reality of climate change, conservatives are laying the groundwork for a future Republican administration that would dismantle efforts to slow global warming. The move is part of a sweeping strategy dubbed Project 2025 that Paul Dans of the Heritage Foundation, the conservative think tank organizing the effort, has called a ‘battle plan’ for the first 180 days of a future Republican presidency. The climate and energy provisions would be among the most severe swings away from current federal policies. The plan calls for shredding regulations to curb greenhouse gas pollution from cars, oil and gas wells and power plants, dismantling almost every clean energy program in the federal government and boosting the production of fossil fuels — the burning of which is the chief cause of planetary warming.” [The New York Times, 8/7/23 (+)]

 

 

 

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