Two scientists have left the Interior Department after Zinke demanded confidential energy data. “Two senior U.S. Geological Survey officials have stepped down after Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke demanded that they provide his office with confidential data on the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska before it was released to the general public.” [Washington Post, 2/21/18 (=)]
Interior Department’s Drone Army Fights Fires and Monitors Wildlife. “There are now more government eyes in U.S. skies than ever before. The Interior Department is dramatically amplifying its use of drones, launching thousands of unmanned flights to help manage the nation’s public lands, and creating the largest federal drone program outside of the Pentagon.” [Wall Street Journal, 2/21/18 (=)]
AP | Investigators: US wildlife official broke law with grants. “A senior official at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service broke the law with his involvement in awarding $324,000 in conservation grants to a nonprofit where his wife worked as a contractor, according to federal investigators. As chief of the agency’s international conservation division, Richard Ruggiero made a series of grant awards and extensions to the International Fund for Animal Welfare beginning in 2014, according to a report from the Interior Department’s Office of Inspector General.” [Washington Post, 2/21/18 (=)]
BLM opens methane rule rewrite for comment. “Tomorrow marks the start of a 60-day comment period on a proposal to roll back an Obama-era rule curbing natural gas waste on federal land. The changes, which are slated for publication in tomorrow’s Federal Register, were released by the Bureau of Land Management last week. The proposed language is seen as effectively rescinding the 2016 Methane and Waste Prevention Rule (Energywire, Feb. 14). Oil and gas industry groups have fought to kill the Obama rule through legal, congressional and administrative avenues. Republican lawmakers who spearheaded attempts to revoke the regulation under the Congressional Review Act welcomed BLM’s changes.” [E&E News, 2/21/18 (=)]
BLM revisions don't get to heart of local troubles. “If the Trump administration finalizes its proposal to change guidance for natural gas waste on public lands, a key region in the debate over the regulation may see some economic benefit. But gains for energy operators in northwest New Mexico — and elsewhere — could come at an annual cost of $23 million in lost royalty payments to the public, according to a 2010 Government Accountability Office report. That loss has been overlooked in the Bureau of Land Management’s proposed update to the 2016 Methane and Waste Prevention Rule, said Amanda Leiter, who served as deputy assistant secretary of land and minerals management at the Interior Department, overseeing BLM under former President Obama.” [E&E News, 2/22/18 (=)]
Offshore Drilling
Zinke meets with California governor on offshore drilling. “Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke met with California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) on Tuesday to hear the governor’s objections to oil and natural gas drilling off the state’s coast. Brown’s press secretary said the two met privately in his Sacramento office. ‘This meeting was an opportunity to continue last month’s conversation ... regarding the state’s strong opposition to the federal government’s decision to expand oil and gas drilling off of California’s coast,’ spokesman Evan Westrup said in a statement.” [The Hill, 2/21/18 (=)]
Royalty panel should fix ‘dysfunctional’ leasing — report. “When the Interior Department’s royalty council convenes its second meeting next week, one nonprofit hopes the panel will examine federal offshore leasing policies. Current bidding and leasing procedures fail to capture ‘fair market value’ on offshore tracts, according to a report out today from the Project on Government Oversight (POGO). Interior’s ‘dysfunctional system’ has existed for years, spanning Republican and Democratic administrations, said David Hilzenrath, chief investigative reporter for POGO. But the federal government’s offshore leasing methodologies are ripe for a redo under President Trump, who ‘promised to bring dealmaking acumen’ to the executive branch, Hilzenrath said.” [E&E News, 2/22/18 (=)]
3/4 of Calif. voters oppose rollback of protections — poll. “Seventy-eight percent of California voters who participated in a new poll oppose President Trump’s decision to roll back protections on some national monuments. Of the remaining respondents, 18 percent said they supported Trump’s decision, while 4 percent answered ‘don’t know,’ according to the poll commissioned by the nonprofit Hispanic Access Foundation. Among the generations of California voters polled, 88 percent of millennials opposed Trump’s decision to shrink the original footprint of two national monuments in Utah. Strong majorities of other age groups reported resistance to the administration’s move late last year: 65 percent of Gen X respondents, 82 percent of baby boomers and 75 percent of the silent generation.” [E&E News, 2/21/18 (+)]
Utah monuments take to the catwalk at Fashion Week. “The battle over two national monuments slashed by President Trump in December has spread to the runway. At New York Fashion Week this month, designer Chris Leba of R13 Denim rolled out a line of clothing that includes slogans and photos of Utah residents fighting to protect the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments. Leba said he was hoping to ‘make a statement’ with pieces like a women’s jumpsuit with a ‘Utah Stands with Bears Ears’ sign set against a collage of protesters.” [E&E News, 2/21/18 (+)]
Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes hints at suing feds over control of public lands. “It’s been more than two years since Utah political leaders set aside $4 million for a yet-to-be-filed lawsuit aimed at ‘taking back’ 31 million acres of public land in the state controlled by the U.S. government. State leaders have hardly mentioned the land transfer idea of late, while the new administration of President Donald J. Trump delegates ever more control to states and undoes regulations and initiatives that some saw as obstacles to energy development. But a big Utah lawsuit may still be in the works, relying on a backup plan first offered by the legal consultants hired by the Utah Legislature in 2015. Meeting with rural lawmakers last week, Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes said his office is preparing a lawsuit targeting aspects of the 1976 Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA) that diminish local and state influence over public lands.” [Salt Lake Tribune, 2/21/18 (=)]
National ethics group calls for investigation of Utah Rep. Mike Noel ‘for failing to disclose conflicts of interest’. “Utah Rep. Mike Noel’s apparent failure to disclose significant land holdings worth $1.2 million near and in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument has prompted a formal ethics complaint and an inquisitive letter from a Democratic congressman to the Interior Department. Last week, the environmental group Western Values Project (WVP) released an analysis showing the irrigated land Noel owns in Kane County’s Johnson Canyon poses a potential, yet undisclosed conflict of interest. Noel’s legislative efforts to shrink the monument and win approval for the Lake Powell pipeline could benefit him personally, the group argued — but are not mentioned in legally required conflict-of-interest disclosures on file with the Utah Legislature.” [Salt Lake Tribune, 2/21/18 (=)]
Daines calls Anaconda Sportsman’s Club, Hellgate Hunters and Anglers ‘green decoys’. “As Alec Underwood talked with Sen. Steve Daines Wednesday about Daines’ proposal to remove Wilderness Study Area designations in Montana, he was taken aback when Daines referred to two prominent sporting organizations as ‘fronts ... green decoys.’ Underwood, who is a field representative for the Montana Wildlife Federation, said Daines was referring to the Anaconda Sportsman’s Club and the Missoula-based Hellgate Hunters and Anglers. Underwood told Daines that he hunts in the Sapphire WSA, and that the ‘green decoys’ remark ‘hit me pretty hard.’ Daines did not respond specifically to The Montana Standard’s question about the comment.” [Montana Standard, 2/21/18 (=)]
Protesters accuse Daines of dodging Wilderness Study Area advocates during Hamilton visit. “Senator Steve Daines says his bill to remove Wilderness Study Area designation from five Montana forest lands is aimed at wildfire safety, and resolving a stalemate that’s existed for 40 years. But protesters accuse the Senator of dodging their objections to his WSA bill during visits in Hamilton and Philipsburg. Daines has proposed removing the WSA designation from five locations, including the Sapphire and Blue Joint in the Bitterroot. But the plan is running into sharp opposition, with Ravalli County commissioners bearing the brunt of the complaints during a hearing two weeks ago. On Wednesday, Daines stopped at a Hamilton power sports dealer to discuss the proposal with snowmobilers, ATV riders and others.” [KPAX, 2/21/18 (=)]
AP | Yellowstone Fee Proposal Advances in Wyoming Legislature. “A proposal to collect a fee at Yellowstone National Park to fund wildlife conservation efforts in the states surrounding the park is advancing through the Wyoming Legislature. The measure goes to the full Wyoming House for debate after unanimously passing a legislative committee Wednesday. Before advancing the resolution, the committee approved expanding the concept to Grand Teton National Park just south of Yellowstone.” [U.S. News, 2/21/18 (=)]
Commissioners ask Cheney to retract bill. “Teton County commissioners unanimously agreed to ask their congresswoman to scrap legislation that prescribes types of recreation allowed in the Snake River Range. The county also made a less-expected decision to draft a ‘similar letter’ combating litigation spearheaded by the Winter Wildlands Alliance and WildEarth Guardians and later signed onto by The Wilderness Society. The lawsuit claims the Bridger-Teton National Forest used an illegal process to authorize a winter-travel map showing where snowmobiles can and cannot go, while U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney’s December legislation spells out how much heli-skiing and what other types of recreation would be allowed in the Palisades Wilderness Study Area.” [Jackson Hole News & Guide, 2/21/18 (=)]
Garfield County backs BLM move to Grand Junction. “Garfield County commissioners this week threw the county’s weight behind the push to get the Bureau of Land Management’s national headquarters moved from Washington, D.C., to Grand Junction. The resolution the commissioners unanimously passed says that Grand Junction ‘is ideal for the relocation of the BLM headquarters because of the abundance of BLM lands in Mesa County, Garfield County, western Colorado and our neighboring states.’” [Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, 2/22/18 (=)]
A new structure for the Interior Department takes shape. “There are ways to improve the Interior Department without reorganizing agencies and cutting staff, Ford said, by ‘streamlining processes and prioritizing skill and accountability.’ Among the reforms he suggests are giving local offices more autonomy to make routine decisions. ‘The more time you spend on reorganization,’ Ford said, ‘the less time you spend managing limited resources.’ On a Feb. 12 conference call, Zinke said reorganization proposals will likely be going to governors in the next couple weeks and then move forward to hearings in Washington, D.C. The Interior Secretary’s timeline has frustrated Democratic members of the House Committee on Natural Resources, who say they have been left in the dark on reorganization plans. Ranking Democratic committee members Raúl Grijalva of Arizona and Donald McEachin of Virginia wrote in a recent letter to Zinke: ‘Implementing what you have called the ‘greatest reorganization in the history of’ the DOI in a piecemeal fashion using existed, unrelated authorities to avoid full scrutiny by Congress will make the task of Congressional approval more difficult, if not impossible.’” [High Country News, 2/21/18 (+)]
Op-Ed: It's Time to Think
Beyond Bears Ears. “Places like the Santa Monica Mountains and the Japanese
American Exclusion Memorial help people of color make the cultural,
psychological, and political leap to caring about a distant desert canyon in
Utah or caribou in Alaska. At my own outdoor oasis on Bainbridge Island, the
words NIDOTO NAI YONI, or “Let it not happen again,” are mounted on a stone
wall in metal letters. It’s a reference to the despicable targeting of a people
based on their race. But it’s also a sentiment that I take as a warning about
what might happen to our public lands if America clings to a narrow
interpretation of the places worth saving.” [Outside Online, 2/21/18 (+)]
Op-Ed: Zinke grants industry wish list while shutting out the public. “A clear majority of Americans, including a majority of rural Westerners who live among public lands, favor conservation over exploitation. Instead of blindly stripping away environmental protections and reducing transparency, the Interior Department should consider why the public keeps ‘interfering’ with attempts to exploit public resources. And it should remember that public lands belong to all Americans, not just those with deep pockets or political allies.” [The Hill, 2/21/18 (+)]