Some national parks could stay open if the federal government shuts down. “Some national parks may remain open even if the federal government shuts down. The Interior Department said Thursday it would allow limited access to many national parks and other public lands if Congress is unable to pass a spending bill before midnight Friday, triggering a government shutdown. ‘We fully expect the government to remain open,’ Interior Department spokeswoman Heather Swift said in a written statement.” [USA Today, 1/19/18 (=)]
In reversal, parks will remain open if there’s a shutdown. “In a reversal from 2013, national parks will remain open even if Congress allows the federal government to partially shut down this weekend, the Interior Department said today. The closure of parks sparked great public anger during previous shutdowns, with congressional Republicans taking a greater share of the criticism, despite a Democrat being in the White House.” [E&E News, 1/18/18 (=)]
Former National Park Advisers Swing Back At Interior Department’s ‘Slanderous’ Claims. “Faustinos, who in 2011 retired as executive officer of the San Gabriel and Lower Los Angeles Rivers and Mountains Conservancy, said Swift’s condemnation only confirmed that she and her colleagues made the right decision to leave. The actions taken by Zinke’s team over the last year are not consistent with the values of the park service or the board, she said. ‘This administration tends to double down whenever they get challenged on anything, and that’s exactly what happened,’ she told HuffPost. ‘I’m not shocked or surprised. I’m disappointed. I am beyond belief that we’re actually in this situation.’” [HuffPost, 1/18/18 (+)]
Price hike would make national parks look like ‘exclusive club,’ resigning NPS board member says. “The interior secretary did not consult with the board over the fee hikes, or a recent decision to end a ban on plastic water bottles in the parks. ‘It’s not only about not consulting. More importantly, obviously some of the people making these decisions and recommendations live in a rarefied field that most of us don’t,’ Faustinos said. ‘We’re trying to increase access to parks, so changing the entry fee for that is just crazy. I don’t understand the thinking there. Charging more for certain parks, it just makes that look frankly like an exclusive club that only people who have the money can go to.’” [Yahoo News, 1/18/18 (+)]
Why the National Park advisory board imploded. “Interior Department spokeswoman Heather Swift did not respond to a request for comment, but told the conservative Washington Examiner that the department ‘welcomes’ the resignations of members who she claims ignored sexual harassment issues in the Park Service. Former Alaska governor and advisory board chairman Tony Knowles says sexual harassment didn’t fall under the board’s purview. He also talked with High Country News about why he quit and what the board’s dissolution means for the national park system. The following has been edited for length and clarity.” [High Country News, 1/18/18 (+)]
BLM defends offering more leases. “Brian Steed, the Bureau of Land Management deputy director for programs and policy, yesterday defended his agency’s push to auction new oil and gas leases, despite thousands of inactive permits, siding with industry representatives who argued such delays are a necessity in their business. Steed testified before the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources, which held an oversight hearing on efforts by the Trump administration to ease restrictions on energy extraction on public lands. During the hearing, Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.), a member of the subcommittee, asked Steed to justify offering new leases when records show 7,950 BLM permits unused at the end of fiscal 2016.” [E&E News, 1/19/18 (=)]
Permitting backlog grew slightly last year. “The federal government had 76 more pending drilling applications at the end of fiscal 2017 than it did at the close of fiscal 2016, according to the Bureau of Land Management. BLM last year listed cutting through the backlog of applications for permit to drill (APDs) as one of its top priorities (Greenwire, April 10, 2017). The bureau is ‘working diligently’ to improve its permitting protocols, Brian Steed, BLM’s deputy director of programs and policies, told lawmakers on a House Natural Resources subcommittee yesterday (see related story).” [E&E News, 1/19/18 (=)]
Bill would take Ariz. tracts out of any president’s hands. “Only Congress would be able to expand or create new national monuments in Arizona under a bill House Republicans introduced this week. H.R. 4797, introduced by Arizona Reps. Andy Biggs and Paul Gosar, would amend Title 54 of the U.S. Code by adding their state to the ban against the ‘extension or establishment’ of national monuments through an act of Congress. Under the existing code, Wyoming is the only state where the president may not unilaterally designate new monuments.” [E&E News, 1/18/18 (=)]
Bill calls for state oversight of drilling on federal land. “Utah Sens. Orrin Hatch and Mike Lee are among five senators unveiling a legislative proposal to allow state oversight of oil and gas development on federal lands, as well as tribal and state purview of hydraulic fracturing regulations. The Opportunities for the Nation and States to Harness Onshore Resources for Energy, or ONSHORE Act, was unveiled Thursday as a way to address federal backlogs, eliminating permitting delays and duplicative regulations, sponsors said. ‘Punishing regulations and permitting delays have plagued the federal oil and gas permitting process for years,’ said Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo.” [Deseret News, 1/18/18 (-)]
Forthcoming guidance on migratory birds raises flap. “Interior Department lawyers are now preparing to flesh out their controversial recasting of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Despite recent bipartisan pushback, the department’s top lawyers will initiate the follow-up guidance needed by bureaus applying the new standard that the law doesn’t cover unintentional killing of birds (E&E News PM, Dec. 22, 2017).” [E&E News, 1/18/18 (=)]
Big-game hunters stock new international wildlife panel. “Serious big-game hunters will now help Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke take aim on policies ranging from elephant trophy imports to foreign wildlife protections. Stacked with some of the nation’s most public hunting enthusiasts, the new International Wildlife Conservation Council will promote the ‘benefits that result from U.S. citizens traveling to foreign nations to engage in hunting,’ according to the Interior Department (Greenwire, Nov. 8, 2017). Its newly appointed members appear ready, even as skeptics raise red flags.” [E&E News, 1/18/18 (=)]
Senate environment panel chief backs probe into uranium imports. “On Tuesday, Energy Fuels and Ur-Energy filed what is called a 232 petition to the Commerce Department, asking its secretary Wilbur Ross to investigate the effects of uranium imports on national security and for President Donald Trump to use his authority to ‘adjust imports to ensure the long-term viability of the U.S. uranium mining industry.’” [Reuters, 1/18/18 (=)]
U.S. Secretary of the Interior meets with Kiowa tribe members. “United States Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke was in Carnegie on Thursday to speak to members of the Kiowa tribe. Secretary Zinke said during his time as secretary, he’s learned that every tribal Nation is different and he wants to reorganize some things. ‘So our reorganization is going to look at how we move the rules of engagement, the authority, the flexibility, the resources to the front line so we can do it better,’ he said.” [KSWO, 1/18/18 (=)]
Idaho lease sale postponed over sage grouse concerns. “The Bureau of Land Management has agreed to postpone a planned March 5 oil and gas lease sale in eastern Idaho after a coalition of environmental groups protested that the agency had not fully analyzed the potential impacts of drilling in greater sage grouse habitat. The planned lease sale involved a single, 836-acre parcel near the Grays Lake National Wildlife Refuge. BLM agreed to postpone the online lease sale until it conducts more study on the parcel. BLM last week issued its decision document, which the groups only received today. It was signed by BLM acting Idaho Director Peter Ditton.” [E&E News, 1/18/18 (=)]
Proposed Nevada wilderness could be Trump-era first. “Nevada’s Pershing County could become home to the first new wilderness designations of the Trump era. A bill that cleared the House of Representatives by voice vote on Wednesday would designate seven new wilderness areas covering more than 136,000 acres in the northern Nevada county. It still needs Senate approval and a presidential signature -- or veto override -- to become law.’ [Reno Gazette-Journal, 1/18/18 (+)]
Muir Woods, Alcatraz and other parkland likely to close in federal shutdown. “If Congress doesn’t reach a spending deal by the end of Friday, a trip to Muir Woods or Alcatraz this weekend could be off the agenda. The National Park Service plans to order visitors ‘to leave the park immediately’ in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area in the event of a cutoff in federal funding, under a policy the agency drew up in the fall during a showdown like the one unfolding this week in the nation’s capital.” [San Francisco Chronicle, 1/17/18 (=)]
Buford resident Rod Miller to challenge Liz Cheney in U.S. House race. “While Miller expects he and Cheney would find common ground on matters such as fiscal conservatism, he differs ‘dramatically’ with her positions on public lands, he said. In December, Cheney introduced a bill to increase the number of days that heli-skiing would be allowed in wilderness-quality land south of Teton Pass, according to the Associated Press. The Jackson Hole News and Guide reported that some conservationists saw the move as Cheney attempting to manage Teton County wilderness issues from Washington, D.C. That’s something Miller said he takes issue with. ‘(It’s) thwarting the work of local people and imposing on them a decision from Congress, and that’s wrong,’ he said.” [Wyoming Tribune Eagle, 1/18/18 (=)]
Wyoming’s two national parks note record visitation. “Grand Teton National Park announced a record number of visitations in 2017 for the fourth consecutive year. The park received more than 4.9 million visits, according to a news release, a increase of 3 percent more than the prior record set in 2016. The high volume included August, when tens of thousands of people descended on the park to view the total solar eclipse. Park officials noted 65,000 more visitors compared to the prior August.” [Billings Gazette, 1/18/18 (+)]
More Oil And Gas Leases Open Up In Sage Grouse Core Area. “In the first quarter of 2018, the Bureau of Land Management will place seven times more acres of sage grouse habitat on sale in Wyoming for oil and gas drilling than it did during the same time last year. Holly Copeland, conservation scientist with The Nature Conservancy, crunched the numbers.” [Wyoming Public Media, 1/18/18 (=)]
Ammon Bundy Led Two Armed Standoffs Against The Government, And He’s Prepared To Do It Again. “Despite spending two years behind bars awaiting the outcome of criminal trials for the armed standoffs, the Bundy family remained undeterred in their feud with the federal government, one that has gained thousands of supporters in the West. ‘I’m not going to run from something like that, but then again, I never was looking for it,’ Bundy, 42, said Wednesday in a phone interview. ‘But if it is necessary again to limit and bring awareness to what our form of government is doing — and our governments in general are doing it — I think I would have to consider it again.’” [Buzzfeed, 1/18/18 (=)]
Cliven Bundy, allies to speak in Paradise Saturday. “In addition to Bundy, speakers will include Andrea Parker, whose husband, Eric Parker, joined Bundy’s 2014 Nevada protest; Shawna Cox, who was recently acquitted of charges related to the Oregon occupation; Chris Briels, the former Harney County, Oregon fire chief who resigned to support the Bundys; Roger Roots, a member of Cliven Bundy’s legal defense team; Billy Hill, a Trout Creek resident active in land-use issues; and State Sen. Jennifer Fielder, R-Thompson Falls. On her Facebook page, Fielder wrote that ‘I will be there to hear first-hand accounts from those who risked their lives to expose injustice and grave wrongdoing by the federal government, and I will present why I am requesting corrective actions’ for actions taken against the Bundy-led protests in Nevada and Oregon.” [Daily Inter Lake, 1/18/18 (=)]
Cliven Bundy to Speak at ‘Freedom and Property’ Rally in Sanders County. “Ryan Busse, the national board chair of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers and a Kalispell resident, said he was shocked that a state senator had agreed to speak alongside Bundy, even someone like Fielder who has frequently championed the transfer of federal lands to the state of Montana since she was elected in 2012. ‘I think that an elected political official from one of the two major political parties essentially hosting and endorsing what amounts to the outright thievery of public land is establishing a really bad and dangerous precedent,’ Busse said.” [Flathead Beacon, 1/18/18 (=)]
Virginia’s senators ask for off-shore drilling hearings in Virginia Beach and Eastern Shore. “U.S. Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner requested Thursday that federal officials conduct public hearings in Virginia Beach and the state’s Eastern Shore on proposals to allow drilling for oil and gas off Virginia’s coast. The Virginia Democrats sent a letter to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke asking for the hearings after Zinke’s department shunned the coastal communities and set up one in-state hearing in Richmond. The agency also did not plan a session near North Carolina’s Outer Banks, choosing to schedule a hearing three hours away in Raleigh. The Richmond hearing was scheduled for Tuesday, but was postponed because of the snowstorm. No new date has been set.” [Virginian-Pilot, 1/18/18 (+)]
2 House Republicans say no oil drilling off WA coast. “Oil drilling off the Washington coast would be ‘a significant threat’ to the economy, and the coast should be taken off Trump administration drilling plans, two of Washington’s Republican House members wrote Thursday to U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke. ‘While we support the administration’s vision of making the United States energy independent, we do not believe new offshore drilling and development off the Pacific Coast of Washington is the answer,’ wrote U.S. Reps. Dave Reichert and Jaime Herrera-Beutler, R-Wash.” [Seattle Pi, 1/18/18 (=)]
To get White House attention on drilling, Mark Sanford turns to television. “Hours after the Republican went on CNN and all but accused the administration of hypocrisy — ‘you can’t say, ‘I don’t want to see an oil rig from Mar-a-Lago as I look out from the waters of Palm Beach but it’s okay to look at an oil rig from Hilton Head or Charleston’’ — Sanford got a call from Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke. ‘His first comment was, ‘I heard you were on Fox,’’ Sanford recalled in an interview with McClatchy, hardly holding back a smile.” [Miami Herald, 1/18/18 (+)]
Environmentalists speak out during offshore drilling workshop in Dover. “Delaware leaders and environmentalists are worried about what an oil spill could mean for wildlife and coastal tourism now that federal officials plan to open the East Coast to offshore drilling. ‘Certainly trying to prevent more Deepwater Horizons from happening anywhere along our coast is important,’ said Sierra Club Secretary Robin Mann, citing the catastrophic explosion at an offshore oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 that left 11 people dead and dumped 135 millions of gallons of oil in the water.” [News Journal, 1/18/18 (+)]
Op-Ed: The Mad King Flies His Flag. “It took a bribery scandal to bring down an Interior secretary in the Teapot Dome affair of the 1920s. Today, the corruption is all upfront. Energy Secretary Rick Perry gives bear hugs to coal barons, while doing all he can to have the government prop up their industry. The Environmental Protection Agency is now a wholly owned subsidiary of the polluters it is supposed to regulate. Over at Interior, they haven’t yet figured a way to charge Americans for the air we breathe. But the next time Zinke’s flag is up, something may be in the works.” [New York Times, 1/18/18 (+)]
Op-Ed: A Trojan Horse Threatens the Nation’s Parks. “The big picture is that if his bill passes, the anti-federalists of Utah will have legitimized a hostile takeover of the commons. And by becoming the bosses of the National Park Service in this small part of the American West, they will have accomplished a stunning achievement in deception.” [New York Times, 1/18/18 (+)]
Op-Ed: California must resist Trump’s reckless offshore drilling plan. “It is incumbent on all of us as parents, grandparents and citizens of the world to raise a united voice to protect our precious ocean resources and oppose this ill-conceived proposal. Our local tourist, fishing and agricultural economies and our public health depend on it. Indeed, our very survival may be at stake.” [San Luis Obispo Tribune, 1/18/18 (+)]
Op-Ed: Let’s remember that mining and Ely have a long, tangled history. “Opponents of the prospective Twin Metals mine believe that, if realized in coming years, it will irrevocably threaten the BWCA, Voyageurs National Park and Quetico Provincial Park. And indeed, if the past is prologue — given the type of mining that would be required at the Kawishiwi site, and given the records of similar mines elsewhere — it might. Yet even if the Twin Metals mine never operates, minerals-extraction proposals near Ely likely will continue forever, so entangled is mining with the city’s history.” [Minneapolis Star-Tribune, 1/18/18 (~)]
Editorial: Why Trump administration suddenly appreciates our national parks. “Thank goodness the Trump administration is working hard to keep parts of our national parks and monuments open even without staff in the event of a federal government shutdown this weekend. It’s good to know that President Donald Trump and his aides understand the love Americans feel for these sites. It’s heartwarming to see them responding to the affection people have this time of year for warm-weather spots like the Everglades, winter fun in Yosemite, and pilgrimages to Sagamore Hill in Oyster Bay and the Statue of Liberty. Wouldn’t it be nice if Trump and company felt the love 365 days a year?” [Newsday, 1/18/18 (+)]