Proposed maintenance fund gets high marks. “Lawmakers voiced optimism yesterday about their ability to finally start cutting away at the $11.6 billion National Park Service deferred maintenance backlog. ‘This is a bit of a kumbaya moment in that we're coming together,’ Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) told a Senate panel, adding, ‘We would not be at this point without some compromises.’ Democratic Sen. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii agreed that addressing the parks' maintenance backlog ‘enjoys near-universal support.’ ‘Who would have thunk it?’ Hirono quipped.” [E&E News, 7/12/18 (=)]
Interior official sees 'opportunity' for oil and gas. “An adviser to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke delivered a bullish message yesterday on offshore wind and promoted its connections to oil and gas during an appearance in this longtime energy hub. ‘There is an opportunity for [the] oil and gas industry to participate in offshore wind,’ the Interior Department's Vincent DeVito said in an interview. ‘To me, it's clear as day.’ During a scheduled talk yesterday, he said offshore wind represents "an economic opportunity that we have fully embraced as part of our all-of-the-above energy strategy." European companies are known for their offshore prowess, but talk here noted potential work for U.S. companies.” [E&E News, 7/12/18 (=)]
Meet The Man — And Propaganda Machine — Behind Trump’s Latest Pardon. “After Trump took office, Lucas made the short list of potential appointees for interior secretary. Although Montana Rep. Ryan Zinke ultimately got the job, he has provided an open door to both Lucas and Protect the Harvest. Meanwhile, Brian Klippenstein, who is still listed as PTH’s executive director, now works as senior adviser to Perdue. Pence’s vice presidency has been a boon for Lucas, who, according to a Protect the Harvest spokesperson, has been friends with Lucas since before he took the office of Indiana governor.” [Buzzfeed News, 7/11/18 (+)]
Trump’s Pardoning of Two Oregon Ranchers Is a Victory for the Bundys—and an Ominous Loss for Public-Lands Advocates. “President Donald Trump waved his pardon wand a ninth and 10th time on Tuesday morning, granting clemency to two controversial Western figures: father and son ranchers, Dwight and Steven Hammond. How did a couple of cattle ranchers from Oregon get the attention of a millionaire hotel-tycoon president? If you think about Trump’s slogan—’Make America Great Again’—the Hammonds’ story fits perfectly with the mentality it embodies: The future is bad, the way things were done in the past was better. And there is nothing more #MAGA than cowboys running the West.” [Pacific Standard, 7/11/18 (+)]
GOP bill would exempt Utah from Antiquities Act. “”Designating new national monuments in Utah would require federal and state legislative action under a bill Republican Sen. Mike Lee introduced yesterday. The 'Protect Utah's Rural Economy (PURE) Act' would prevent presidents from designating or expanding a national monument in the Beehive State unless both Congress and the Utah Legislature approve the action. [E&E News, 7/12/18 (=)]
Cooper, Colorado governor tout outdoor recreation industry as 'unifying force’. “Can hiking, kayaking and making camp trailers be the key to North Carolina’s economic sustainability, the health and wellness of its residents and national unification? One might get that notion after listening to Gov. Roy Cooper and Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper speak Tuesday night on a panel discussion on the multibillion-dollar outdoor recreation industry. Cooper and Hickenlooper spoke as part of helping to create an “historic” accord among 11 like-minded state economies during the three-day ‘Outdoor Recreation Industry Confluence’ at the AC Hotel in downtown.” [Asheville-Citizen-Times, 7/11/18 (+)]
Montana GOP officials support Hammonds’ pardon. “Rep. Greg Gianforte and Sen. Steve Daines released statements Wednesday supporting President Donald Trump’s pardon of a father and son convicted of intentionally setting fires on public land in Oregon, calling it a win for property rights. The statements by the Montana Republicans put them at odds with Western Values Project, a Montana-based group that advocates for public land, which called the pardon a ‘direct threat to America’s public lands.’ On Tuesday the president pardoned cattle ranchers Dwight and Steven Hammond, whose case became a rallying cry in the debate over federal control of public lands. They were convicted in 2012 of committing arson on federal land in Oregon. The conviction led to the armed occupation of a national wildlife refuge in Oregon for more than a month in 2016.” [Great Falls Tribune, 7/11/18 (=)]
Conflict over sage grouse fiercest in Colorado’s neighboring states. “Across the West, the Trump administration is pushing for sweeping changes to greater sage-grouse protection plans and bringing oil and gas development closer to the bird’s key habitats. While only modest changes were proposed in Colorado, the amendments to plans in Wyoming, Idaho, Utah, Nevada and Oregon are more substantial. All the plans were put in place in 2015 to prevent the bird from being listed as an endangered species.” [Colorado Springs Gazette, 7/10/18 (=)]
Undeterred by lawsuits, BLM offers another 118 oil and gas leases in Montana. “In spite of lawsuits challenging past sales, the federal government has announced another auction of more than 100 oil and gas leases in Montana. Late last week, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management published maps and details of 118 parcels in Montana to be sold at a December auction to interested oil and gas companies. The BLM will take public comment on the leases, but only until July 20. The announcement has raised some eyebrows, because three previous lease sales have seen legal challenges.” [Missoula Current, 7/10/18 (=)]
Op-Ed: This bill will protect rural Utahns from abuses of the Antiquities Act. “Twice in the past 20 years, Washington politicians serving wealthy out-of-state special interests attacked Utah’s rural communities. President Donald Trump provided these communities some temporary relief in October, but if we want to permanently protect Utah’s rural economy from outside intervention, we need to act now. The looming danger for Utah’s rural communities comes from the Antiquities Act of 1906, which was originally intended to protect objects of historic and cultural interest, such as artifacts and religious sites.” [Deseret News, 7/11/18 (-)]