Top Interior Official Resigned Amid Claims Of Intimidating Behavior. “When the Director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) abruptly resigned last week after less than six months in his post, the agency gave no explanation. But an e-mail from a BIA employee obtained by TPM claims the director, Bryan Rice, exhibited aggressive and intimidating behavior toward her in an incident she believes was captured by a surveillance camera. The woman involved and her supporters have been urging tribal leaders — via e-mail and social media — to submit Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to the Interior Department for the video of the alleged incident. At least five did so in the weeks leading up to Rice’s resignation, according to the agency’s FOIA logs.” [Talking Points Memo, 5/2/18 (=)]
Zinke files: Jump-starting a car, wearing a ranger hat wrong. “Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke got his hands dirty this weekend. In a spur-of-the-moment move, the Interior boss helped jump-start a woman’s car in a parking lot in Great Smoky Mountains National Park on Saturday. Zinke was touring the park to promote the ‘National Park Restoration Act’ alongside Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) when he encountered Belinda Drew, whose white Buick was almost out of gas.” [E&E News, 5/1/18 (=)]
To fend off cactus thieves, NPS turns to microchips. “Saguaro National Park is experimenting with a new method of deterring thieves: microchips. The park has long had a problem with thieves taking off with its iconic saguaro cactuses. In some cases, the cactuses are dug up right from the ground and sold for more than $100 per foot. ‘It’s absolute robbery, and it’s absolute criminal activity,’ said Kevin Dahl of the National Parks Conservation Association. ‘And it’s for profit.’ In an effort to prevent the thievery, the National Park Service has embedded microchips in 1,000 of the roughly 1.9 million cactuses in the park.” [E&E News, 5/1/18 (=)]
The Tribes v. Donald Trump. “For 20 minutes in the television studio, Branch is silent as a lake. Her inscrutable expression cracks just once. It happens at the beginning of Trump’s speech, when he turns to Orrin Hatch, the senior senator from Utah, who has fiercely advocated for downsizing the Bears Ears monument. ‘You meet fighters and you meet people that you thought were fighters, but they’re not so good at fighting,’ Trump says. ‘He’s a fighter.’ Branch’s eyes lead the rest of her face into a wide smile, the kind that’s not entirely warm; the kind that telegraphs, Bless your heart. A fighter. At that, Ethel Branch laughs out loud.” [Outside Online, 5/1/18 (+)]
Supervisor Arnold defends plan to drill new oil well at Carrizo Plain National Monument. “County Supervisor Debbie Arnold defended new drilling at an oil well in the Carrizo Plain National Monument on Tuesday, saying is not outside the monument’s management plan and ‘it’s a very small footprint.’ She discussed the project that was recently approved by the Bureau of Land Management under the Interior Department during a San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday in response to public comments on the issue. ‘The decision reaches monument objectives,’ said Arnold, whose district includes part of the Carrizo Plain. She is a member of the national monument’s advisory committee.” [San Luis Obispo Tribune, 5/1/18 (=)]
Gianforte: Congress working on forest jobs. “As a group of land managers debated ways to find jobs in Montana’s public forests, Rep. Greg Gianforte assured them Congress was working on the problem too. ‘The fundamental solution is we’ve got to get back and manage our forests again,’ Gianforte, R-Montana, told the Montana Counties Forest Summit attendees on Tuesday. ‘Until we do, these severe fire are going to continue. We know the benefits when we manage our forests. There’s healthier forests, more habitat, more wildlife, we have jobs and the fires are less severe.’ Gianforte touted the elements of the Resilient Federal Forest Act he cosponsored in the House of Representatives.” [Missoulian, 5/1/18 (=)]
Op-Ed: Zinke and Alexander: How to protect America’s ‘best idea’. “Our bipartisan proposal, then, is the latest chapter in this American story of conservation: using revenues from energy development on federal lands as mandatory or automatic funding to help pay for the national park maintenance backlog. In this connected age -- where our attention is increasingly held hostage by the glowing pixels of a five-inch screen -- unplugging, taking in the magnificent vistas of our national parks, and reconnecting with the beauty and wonder of the natural world is more important than ever. National parks preserve beauty for everyone -- regardless of socioeconomic status -- to share. Parents rescue children from their digital diet to feast on a world of natural splendor. We learn there the history of our home regions of East Tennessee, of Montana -- and of our nation’s capital.” [CNN, 5/2/18 (~)]
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: Protect Colorado’s parks and forests. “Sen. Gardner, it’s time to listen. Join youth on a hike on one of Colorado’s many trails, visit with families at an urban park made possible through LWCF or talk with one of the many outdoor recreation companies that depend on public lands to succeed. In doing so, we hope you will hear why your leadership on these issues matters.” [Pueblo Chieftain, 5/2/18 (+)]
Op-Ed: Congress should invest in national parks. “Let’s all call on Congress to pass legislation that will start to make real progress on restoring parks to the pristine condition visitors expect and deserve. Tell your lawmakers to act now so that in the words of President John F. Kennedy, ‘future generations may know the majesty of the earth as we know it today.’” [Chinook Observer, 5/1/18 (+)]
Op-Ed: Southern Utah county’s targeting of Navajo candidate revives shades of Jim Crow. “My last column tied a malicious felony prosecution of a conservation advocate and her husband to an anti-environmentalist culture in San Juan County. Another case currently being pushed by county officials suggests a Jim Crow atmosphere in rural southeastern Utah as well. The County Commission has accused commission candidate Willie Grayeyes, a Democrat and a Navajo, of illegally filing to run for office because he is a resident of Arizona, even though he has been registered to vote in San Juan Country for 34 years, has cast votes there the past 26 years and is a member of the Navajo Utah Commission, which requires state residency.” [Salt Lake Tribune, 5/2/18 (+)]
Op-Ed: Offshore energy and a strong military go hand-in-hand. “For decades, politicians and critics in the media have been claiming that the United States must reduce its reliance on oil imports. Such reliance was blamed for U.S. military operations in the Middle East. Between the fracking revolution and open ocean energy exploration, the day of U.S. energy independence is drawing near. You would think politicians and media critics would be happy to have within our grasp what they have always claimed that they wanted: A secure America which is energy independent. It’s strange that they are not celebrating.” [Houston Chronicle, 5/1/18 (+)]
Op-Ed: It’s time to enshrine the Land and Water Conservation Fund permanently. “The LWCF is a sound investment. That is why I have joined with 223 of my colleagues in the House of Representatives to co-sponsor legislation to permanently reauthorize the LWCF. Currently, the act has required reauthorizing every few years, putting this vitally important program on a rollercoaster of uncertainty. This should end. The LWCF has proved its value to Oregon and the nation. It is time to make it permanent – for the benefit of all Oregonians and our recreation economy.” [Statesman Journal, 5/1/18 (+)]
Op-Ed: Earth Day a reminder to save our national monuments. “Thankfully, Zinke did not recommend boundary changes for our national monuments. However, he did recommend changes that could forever alter the characters of these unique places by allowing development, energy exploration and other activities that could harm our businesses that depend on protected public lands. So, one year later, our national monuments are still at risk, and our livelihoods are in question. We ask President Donald Trump to listen to the veterans, sportsmen, small-business owners and his own supporters and leave protections for our national monuments intact.” [Albuquerque Journal, 5/2/18 (+)]
Editorial: Outdoor life helps boost state tourism. “And these activities are economic drivers: According to a report this year from the Outdoor Industry Association, American consumers spend a total of $887 billion every year on outdoor recreation. The mid-valley is tapping into that rich market, with help from state tourism officials. (It’s no coincidence that the animated new video from Visit Oregon features outdoor vistas.) The best thing about targeting that outdoor recreation market is that these are activities that continue, day in and day out across the mid-valley, rain or shine — even during a total solar eclipse.” [Albany Democrat-Herald, 5/1/18 (+)]
Editorial: Time to gush for American oil production. “North American energy independence was discussed in 2012 as a game-changer that would strengthen America in world affairs. Today, this is no longer a goal but a fact. The oil and gas industry is one that creates wealth, provides well-paid jobs and benefits without subsidies, and that reduces trade deficits. Oil won’t last forever, but it will last a long time. The world needs American energy, and we’re selling it to them. Politicians should avoid embracing extreme environmentalist ideas that won’t reduce the world’s thirst for energy, but would ship American oil producers’ good jobs overseas.” [Washington Examiner, 5/2/18 (-)]
Editorial: Ease offshore drilling rules? No. “Some Florida lawmakers are telling constituents that we’re OK. All voters need to do to protect our offshore waters is vote ‘Yes’ on a constitutional amendment on the November ballot banning drilling operations in state waters. What they’re not saying is state waters on the Atlantic Coast of the state end three miles offshore and nine miles off the Gulf Coast. The Deepwater Horizon well was hundreds of miles off our West Coast and did millions in damage to the environment and economy of the Panhandle region. It’s reckless to ease regulation and oversight of offshore drilling, now or anytime in the foreseeable future.” [St. Augustine Record, 5/1/18 (+)]