Corn Cob Impressions in Mortar, Cedar Mesa, Former Bears Ears NM, Utah                                                  (Mike Painter)

 
March 1, 2021

Dear CalUWild friends—

Despite the events at the Capitol on January 6, which we wrote about in our January Update, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris peacefully took office on January 20. The changes in approach to governance and policy were immediately apparent. The Administration lost no time in rejoining the Paris Climate Change Accord and ordering a review and possible reversal of many of the previous administration’s anti-environmental decisions, including the rollbacks of the boundaries of the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments and some protections for the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument. Pres. Biden also cancelled the Keystone XL Pipeline.

The fallout continues from the insurrection, however, with arrests of participants continuing across the country. Congress has vowed to set up a commission to investigate the event fully, and we urge you to support those efforts, so that something like this will not be repeated. Without a functional democracy, there is little hope for effective environmental protection or other issues that are important to us as Americans.

With Sen. Kamala Harris becoming Vice President, Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed Alex Padilla (D), California’s Secretary of State, to take her place in the Senate. As senator, Vice President Harris was a strong supporter of public lands and was the Senate lead sponsor of companion bills for those originating in the House. We hope Sen. Padilla will follow in her footsteps. It would be good to mention that to him when you contact his office for anything.

There is only one Action Item this month. As always, however, when a new Administration and Congress come in, there are too many topics of interest to cover in detail. So we’ll simply cover most with links to press articles. The headlines should give you the most important information, and you can read more if you like, rather than be overwhelmed in the Update. (Some are behind paywalls, however.) A few other topics will be covered in our March Update.

 
Our online California Congressional Information Sheet has contact information for all California representatives and Senators as well as listings of important legislation and cosponsorships (though that section is pretty empty at present, since the 117th Congress has just started). We will add to it going forward.

As always, thanks for your interest and support!

 
Best wishes,
Mike

 
IN UTAH
1.   Red Rock Bill to Be Reintroduced in the House and Senate
          (ACTION ITEM)
2.   Other Utah Topics

THE ADMINISTRATION
3.   Pres. Biden Commits to 30×30
4.   Appointments at the Department of the Interior

IN CALIFORNIA, ARIZONA, COLORADO & WASHINGTON
5.   House Passes Combined Public Lands Bill

ONLINE
6.   7th Annual Visions of the Wild Festival Continues
          Wednesday, March 17, 6:00 p.m. (PDT)
7.   Friends of Nevada Wilderness: Wild Speaker Series
          Thursday, March 4, 6: 45 p.m. (PST)

IN THE PRESS & ELSEWHERE
8.   Links to Articles and Other Items of Interest

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

IN UTAH
1.   Red Rock Bill to Be Reintroduced in the House and Senate
          (ACTION ITEM)

CalUWild’s main legislative focus since our founding in 1997 has been America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act (ARRWA). This long-standing bill would designate land managed by the Bureau of Land Management as Wilderness, which is the highest level of land protection under the law. Over the years the included acreage has generally grown as more areas were inventoried for wilderness character. There have also been areas removed as they were designated Wilderness through stand-alone legislation or because of overlap with tribal lands. The bill currently stands at about 9 million acres.

While protecting the spectacular landscapes is one main purpose of ARRWA, and probably the most visible, a Wilderness designation has other important benefits as well. Utah is part of the important corridor of land running from the Grand Canyon clear up to Glacier National Park, providing migration routes for animals and potential habitat as climate change necessitates shifts. The acres also make up a significant portion of those needed to complete the goal of protecting 30% of our land by the year 2030 (commonly known as 30×30. More on this below.)

In addition, it stops oil & gas exploration, leaving the carbon-based resources in the ground. Yet another benefit is that restricting off-road vehicle use cuts down on an important source of the dust increasingly coating snow in the Rocky Mountains to the east. This causes it to melt faster, changing the hydrology of the Colorado River basin.

Finally, the bill establishes a “gold standard,” against which other legislation and proposals on the ground can be measured.

Our friends at the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance have published 2 reports looking at some of these broader effects of ARRWA.

The original bill was introduced in the House by Congressman Wayne Owens (D) of Utah, but after he left Congress, the mantle was taken up by representatives from other states, the current sponsor being California’s Alan Lowenthal (D-47) of Long Beach. He expects to introduce it before the end of March (though that could change, of course). In the Senate, the long-time champion of the bill has been Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL).

Besides actually voting for a bill in committee or when it comes to the floor, cosponsorship is the most important thing representatives or senators can do to signal their strong support for a bill.

Please contact your House Member and Sen. Padilla requesting that they become original cosponsors (meaning at the time of reintroduction) of ARRWA. Contact information is here.

If you would be interested in leading some virtual meetings with congressional offices in the months ahead, please contact Travis Hammill at the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (travis@suwa.org), and he would be happy to discuss the possibility with you.

 
2.   Other Utah Topics

As mentioned in the introduction, Pres. Biden ordered an Interior Department review of the monument rollbacks by the previous administration. It was to be completed in 60 days, so we’re half way through. Rep. Deb Haaland, whom Pres. Biden has nominated to be Interior Secretary, was a chief sponsor, along with Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) of the BEARS Act in the last Congress, which would have restored and expanded the boundaries of the Bears Ears National Monument to the proposal originally made by the Indian tribes. With her confirmation expected shortly, we are hopeful for a workable solution.

The national monument shrinkages were one of the most controversial actions of the previous administration, and their possible reversal continues to attract press attention:

Other Utah articles:

 
THE ADMINISTRATION
3.   Pres. Biden Commits to 30×30

The need to protect 30% of our land by the year 2030 (30×30) is rapidly becoming an important umbrella concept for conservation efforts, a goal that is easily grasped, though likely more difficult to achieve. It is a stepping-stone to the proposal by eminent biologist E.O. Wilson to set aside 50% of the planet as natural areas, the proportion he feels is necessary to preserve biodiversity.

A week after his inauguration, Pres. Biden issued an Executive Order on Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad. Sec. 216 directs the Secretary of the Interior to consult with Cabinet and other officials and prepare a report recommending steps the government should take to achieve the 30×30 goal. They are to get input from state, local, and tribal governments, as well as other interested stakeholders, in identifying strategies and proposing guidelines for how lands and waters would qualify.

Here are two press items:

As an aside: California passed a 30x3o resolution last year. To receive information about state efforts, send an email to outreach [at] resources [dot] ca [dot] gov with 30×30 in the subject.

 
4.   Appointments at the Department of the Interior

As we reported in our December Update<https://www.caluwild.org/archives/5477>, Pres. Biden nominated Rep. Deb Haaland (D-NM) as Secretary of the Interior. The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources held two days of hearings last week. Republicans on the committee were hostile to her nomination, questioning her pointedly on her views on fossil fuels and energy extraction, particularly in light of Pres. Biden’s announced moratorium on federal leases. She replied consistently that she would follow Pres. Biden’s policies regardless of her personal opinions, and that she recognized the difference between being a congressional representative her district and a Cabinet secretary, where she had to take all American’s viewpoints into account. Committee Chairman Joe Manchin (D-WV) indicated he would vote to confirm her despite his initial misgivings, since West Virginia is a coal-producing state. The full Senate is likely to follow suit.

CalUWild joined more than 500 organizations in signing a letter to the Senate urging her confirmation.

Rep. Haaland’s nomination has attracted quite a bit of attention in the public and in the press, as she is the first Native American to be nominated to a Cabinet position and the Interior Department oversees the Bureau of Indian Affairs. A sampling:

 
In other very good news for public lands, Pres. Biden appointed Nada Culver to be the Bureau of Land Management’s Deputy Director for Policy and Programs. (This is the position that was held until the end of the previous administration by William Perry Pendley, whom we reported on many times.) Ms. Culver was most recently Vice President for Public Lands and Senior Policy Counsel at the National Audubon Society. Prior to that she directed the Wilderness Society’s BLM Action Center in Denver. We look forward to having someone at BLM who understands the need for public lands and their role in conservation, rather than just for energy production and grazing.

Ms. Culver has her work cut out for her. The previous administration had moved the BLM headquarters to Grand Junction, Colorado, which resulted in the departure of many of its career employees. BLM also manages the government’s oil & gas leasing program. Other issues needing to be addressed are inventories for Wilderness Study Areas, renewable energy siting, and R.S. 2477, the phantom roads that crisscross the West.

We wish her the best!

Related press:

 
IN CALIFORNIA, ARIZONA, COLORADO & WASHINGTON
5.   House Passes Combined Public Lands Bill

Last week the House passed H.R. 803, the Protecting America’s Wilderness and Public Lands Act. These bills had passed the House in the previous Congress, but the Senate refused to act on them, so they were able to bypass the regular committee process (to the dismay of some GOP representatives). But in the end several Republican representatives, including Mike Garcia (CA-25), voted in favor of the package, with a final vote of 227 – 200.

The package contained a total of eight bills:

The House Natural Resources Committee released this detailed fact sheet about each of the overall bill’s components.

The bill now moves to the Senate, where there is no companion bill yet.

 
ONLINE
6.   7th Annual Visions of the Wild Festival Continues
          Wednesday, March 17, 6:00 p.m. (PDT)

Our exploration of the 38th Parallel continues with a discussion: Nature, Sculpture, Community, with:

The event is free, but you need to register in advance here. More information about the presentation and links to several projects may be found on the registration page.

Earlier presentations were Travelling the 38th Parallel, a Global Plastic Art Challenge, the Silk Road, daguerreotypist Solomon Carvalho, Tajikistan, Land Art, and the film The Sacramento, at Current Speed and a discussion following are archived on the Visions of the Wild homepage.

An upcoming event, Landscape Music: Earth Year, is scheduled for April 21. Registration for it is open here.

 
7.   Friends of Nevada Wilderness: Wild Speaker Series
          Thursday, March 4, 6: 45 p.m. (PST)

Join Friends for their March Wild Speaker Series, “Beautiful Gold Butte: A Hidden Gem In The Mojave Desert” online in a Zoom presentation. Brenda Slocumb, Operations Manager for the Friends of Gold Butte, will be the guest speaker. Gold Butte National Monument covers nearly 300,000 acres of remote and rugged desert landscape in southeastern Nevada, where dramatically chiseled red sandstone, twisting canyons, and tree-clad mountains punctuate desolate stretches of the Mojave Desert. The area is sacred to the Moapa Band of Paiute Indians and the Las Vegas Paiute Tribe and includes thousands of petroglyphs, and traces of human habitation, such as agave roasting pits and shelters, dating back over 12,000 years.

More information and registration here.

 
IN THE PRESS & ELSEWHERE
8.   Links to Articles and Other Items of Interest

If a link is broken or otherwise inaccessible, please send me an email, and I’ll fix it or send you a PDF copy. As always, inclusion of an item in this section does not imply agreement with the viewpoint expressed.

The Administration

Land & Water Conservation Fund

In California

In Montana

In Oregon

 
 
 

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