2023 November – December

January 11th, 2024

In Bears Ears National Monument, Utah                                                                                              (Mike Painter)

 
December 6, 2023

Dear CalUWild Friends & Supporters—

Thanksgiving is past, but I hope everyone had a restful holiday and maybe had a chance to “Get Outside” on Black Friday, instead of heading off shopping. It’s a good opportunity to enjoy our public lands and give thanks for them.

We didn’t send out an Update last month, because we were hoping that the Administration would announce a public meeting on the expansion, after Interior Secretary Deb Haaland’s visit to Molok Luyuk in September. Our hopes have been realized. See ITEM 2 for full details.

We were also hoping that the Administration would release its draft Bears Ears National Monument Plan, but it is still not out. However, it’s expected soon, and reportedly there will be a 90-day comment period. There are, however, other plans open for comment, including a major one for northwest California. See ITEM 3.

In other news, Sen. Alex Padilla (D) was appointed to the Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee. He has introduced several public lands bills for California, and is a strong supporter of conservation.

Last month, CalUWild celebrated its 26th Anniversary, and we are thankful for all your support for wilderness and other public lands in the West. And while we do not participate in the Giving Tuesday frenzy, it does happen around the same time that we generally send out our Annual Membership Appeal—by US Mail or electronically. So if you have found the information in CalUWild’s Update interesting and useful and you are financially able, please consider donating. We appreciate every gift, regardless of the amount. Information is also at the bottom of this Update.

 
Best wishes,
Mike Painter, Coordinator

 
IN UTAH
1.    Red Rocks Bill Cosponsor Update
          (ACTION ITEM)

IN UTAH
1.    Red Rock Bill Cosponsor Update
          (ACTION ITEM)

Rep. Mike Levin (D-49) has signed on as cosponsor to America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act. If you live in his district, please call his office to say “Thank you.” His DC office phone is 202-225-3906.

That brings the number of California cosponsors to 17, and a total of 80 nationally. Please check CalUWild’s website, which contains a listing of California Senate and House cosponsorships and Washington, DC office phone numbers. If your representative is not listed as a cosponsor, please call their office and ask them to join the growing number of Californian in Congress who are.

A full list of cosponsors nationwide may be found on the website of our friends at the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance here.

 
IN CALIFORNIA
2.   BLM Announces Public Meeting
          On Berryessa Snow Mountain NM
          Molok Luyuk Expansion
          Wednesday, December 13
          Woodland, CA
          (ACTION ITEM)

CalUWild has been a member of the coalition of conservation groups and Tribes supporting the Molok Luyuk expansion of Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument on the eastern edge of the Inner Coast Range along the Sacramento Valley. The expansion has been the subject of legislation introduced by Reps. John Garamendi (D-8) and Mike Thompson (D-4), as well as an effort to have the Biden Administration expand the monument using the Antiquities Act of 1906.

The Department of the Interior and Forest Service have announced a public meeting to get public input on the proposed expansion, so we want to fill the room with supporters and are encouraging people who are able, to attend.

Please fill out this form from the coalition to let us know that you’re interested in attending and if you need assistance with transportation to the meeting. We are asking supporters to arrive at 12:45 p.m., an hour before the doors open, so we can get coordinated and answer any questions people might have.

We hope to see you there!

 
The Santa Rosa Press Democrat published an editorial recently: Add Molok Luyuk to national monument

 
3.   BLM Releases Draft Resource Management Plan
          For Northwestern California Field Offices
          COMMENTS NEEDED
          DEADLINE: December 28
          (ACTION ITEM)

The Arcata and Redding Field Offices of the Bureau of Land Management have released a draft Northwest California Integrated Resource Management Plan (NCIP) to guide the offices’ policies and activities for the next 15 years or so. The draft plan is quite good, reflecting a lot of time and effort over many years, though interrupted by having to deal with the aftermath of severe wildfires in much of the area.

Significantly, from a national policy standpoint, the draft plan proposes new administrative Wilderness Study Areas, under a policy that BLM has refused to implement since the days of Interior Secretary Gale Norton in the G.W. Bush Administration. The plan also proposes to establish several new Areas of Environmental Concern, another designation being given new priority by the BLM.

The draft plan is open for comment until December 28, and it is important for public lands advocates to submit comments, if for no other reason than to support the BLM’s renewed use of these two policy tools after so many years of disuse. If you want to get more specific, the areas proposed for each category are listed in the suggested talking points below, provided by our friends at Calwild (formerly California Wilderness Coalition). If you’ve been to any of these places, please make sure to mention that in your comments.

BLM has put together a fantastic story map to help understand what’s in the plan. You can view or download the draft management plan here and comment by clicking on the green “Participate Now” button. There’s also a direct link to the comment form below.

You can also attend a virtual public meeting, hosted by the BLM about the NCIP, on Wednesday, Dec. 13, from 1-3pm PST: Register via Zoom. (Please note: That’s at the same time as the BLM Molok Luyuk meeting discussed in ITEM 2. Please attend the Molok Luyuk meeting if you have to make a choice.)

 
Talking Points

In your written comments please:

Also, please ask the BLM to:

 
Comments may be submitted via:

 
4.    Two New National Monument Proposals
          (For California Unveiled
          (ACTION ITEMS)

This fall has seen two new proposals for national monuments in California, at opposite ends of the state.

Rep. Raul Ruiz (D-25) has introduced legislation to establish the Chuckwalla National Monument in the Coachella Valley and expand Joshua Tree National Park. The area stretches from the Salton Sea to the Colorado River, covering about 600,000 acres, and is an area rich in biodiversity, is a Tribal culturally significant landscape, and contains more recent historically significant sites. For more information, visit the coalition’s website, where there is a link on the homepage to a petition for signatures.

Mark Butler, former superintendent of Joshua Tree National Park, wrote an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times: California’s majestic desert must be preserved. This proposal can help (may be behind a paywall). It was also published here on the website of the Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks.

In the northeast corner of the state lies Sáttítla, known in English as the Medicine Lake Highlands. It’s an area of great cultural significance to the Pit River Tribe, who is spearheading a new campaign for protection, but it is also important to other Tribes as well, including the Karuk, Modoc, Shasta, and the Wintu.

The Highlands are in the Shasta-Trinity, Klamath, and Modoc National Forests and have long been the subject of proposals for geothermal development. Establishment of a monument would protect it from these threats as well as allowing the various Tribes to continue their traditional cultural practices.

For more information and, again, to sign a petition to Pres. Biden, visit the Protect Sáttítla website.

 
IN GENERAL
5.   Park Service Announces Free Days for 2024

The National Park Service announced that entrance fees would be waived on the following six dates in 2024 (at those sites that charge them):

Mark your calendars!

 
IN THE PRESS & ELSEWHERE
6.   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. Gift links are temporary links from some websites, allowing non-subscribers to view articles for free for a limited time. As always, inclusion of an item in this section does not imply agreement with the viewpoint expressed.

In California

In Arizona

In Montana

In Wyoming

In General

Support CalUWild!

Membership is free, but your support is both needed and appreciated.

Suggested levels:

Dues are not tax-deductible as they may be used for lobbying activities and are payable in several ways:

If you would like to make a tax-deductible contribution, checks should be payable to:

If paying by check, please include your address if it is not on the check, or print out and enclose a membership form. All checks should be mailed to:

As always, if you ever have questions, suggestions, critiques, or wish to change your e-mail address or unsubscribe, all you have to do is send an email. For membership information, click here.

Please “Like” and “Follow” CalUWild on Facebook.

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2023 August – September

September 19th, 2023

Sevier Lakebed, from Notch Peak, Utah                                                                                                              (Mike Painter)

 
September 15, 2023

Dear CalUWild Friends & Supporters —

July was a pretty quiet month around here, so the Update took a break. But things quickly sped up again in mid-August, so there is a lot to report—so much, in fact, that we will wait with some items until the next Update. The list would be overwhelming otherwise. (It’s long enough as it is!)

ITEMS 2 and 6 below shouldn’t take much time at all, so please do those, plus try to submit even brief comments on at least one of the other ITEMS, 3 or 4.

President Joe Biden for the third year in a row designated September as National Wilderness Month. The tradition was begun by Pres. Obama in 2013 to kick of the year-long celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Wilderness Act (though the tradition was not continued by his successor). You may read Pres. Biden’s proclamation here.

This just in: California Coastal Cleanup Day is Saturday, September 23. A map of sites and full details may be found here.

Now that summer crowds are reduced, it’s a great time to get out and explore and enjoy some of the wonderful public lands we are blessed with here in the West. Saturday, September 23 is also National Public Lands Day. Entry fees will be waived at national parks and other federal lands. So even if only for a day, it is worth getting out for a visit. Thanks for supporting their protection!

 
Best wishes,
Mike Painter, Coordinator

 
IN UTAH
1.   Red Rocks Bill Cosponsor Update
          (ACTION ITEM)

 
IN UTAH
1.   Red Rock Bill Cosponsor Update
          (ACTION ITEM)

We’ve added three more cosponsors of America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act (H.R.3031) from California:

If you live in one of their districts, please call their office to say thank you.

There are currently 13 cosponsors from California. CalUWild’s website contains a full listing of California Senate and House cosponsorships and Washington, DC office phone numbers.

If your representative has not cosponsored, please call and ask them to sign on. Please also call Sen. Alex Padilla’s (D) office at 202-224-3553 and encourage him to sign on to the bill in the Senate, S.3031.

There is now a total of 70 cosponsors in the House and 22 in the Senate. For a full list of cosponsors nationwide, click here.

 
IN CALIFORNIA
2.   Berryessa Snow Mountains NM Expansion
          Molok Luyuk Petition
          Signatures Needed
          (ACTION ITEM)

The effort to expand Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument is continuing, and every new monument that Pres. Biden designates moves the proposal closer to becoming a reality. The proposal began as House and Senate bills to add only the portion of Molok Luyuk / Condor Ridge (currently called Walker Ridge) in Lake County, but with the failure of the legislation to move in Congress, the Molok Luyuk Coalition, of which CalUWild is a member, is asking Pres. Biden to include the entire area, which is in both Lake and Colusa counties as an addition to the monument.

Normally we don’t recommend simply signing petitions, but this is a coalition effort plus we are asking you in ITEM 6 to contact the White House directly and include a request for the expansion. If you haven’t already, please sign the online petition asking Pres. Biden to move ahead with a proclamation.

For more information about the proposal, please take a look at the Coalition’s website.

 
3.   BLM Preparing an EIS for Proposed Gold Exploration
          At Conglomerate Mesa, Inyo County
          Comments Needed
          DEADLINE: October 16
          (ACTION ITEM)

Efforts to protect Conglomerate Mesa, between Owens Lake and Death Valley National Park in Inyo County, have been going on for many years. The major threat to the area has been repeated proposals for exploratory gold mining. Two years ago, the BLM accepted scoping comments for an Environmental Assessment (EA) for expanded exploration by Mojave Precious Metals, a subsidiary of the Canadian company, K2 Gold. In response, the BLM announced that it would require a full-blown Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), which requires a more thorough and rigorous analysis. The purpose of the current comment period is to “identify issues, suggest alternatives, or provide information for potential consideration in the environmental impact statement.” Commenting is now open and runs until October 16.

A comprehensive list of Conglomerate Mesa’s important features and values may be found in our July-August 2021 Update. It might be helpful to review before commenting. If you submitted scoping comments back in 2021, they should be incorporated into your present comments—BLM will not be considering comments previously submitted. As always, please mention if you’ve been to the area, and use your own words.

Our partners at Friends of the Inyo suggest these talking points in particular:

Comments may be submitted in several ways:

 
4.   Point Reyes National Seashore Tule Elk
          Management Plan Scoping Document Released
          Comments Needed
          DEADLINE: September 25
          (ACTION ITEM)

We’ve written several times in the past about the management conflicts at Point Reyes National Seashore, between Tule elk and the Seashore’s remaining cattle ranches. Last month, the Park Service released a scoping document based on input it received last year from the public and others. It is now seeking further input as it moves ahead to prepare an Environmental Assessment for the management of Tomales Point at the northern end of the Seashore.

Up until now, the Park Service has favored the ranches, but we are happy to report that the Proposed Action (Alternative B) includes the removal of the existing elk fence, which confines them at Tomales Point. Fence removal would allow them to roam freely in the Seashore, and if necessary, any new fencing would be built to exclude cattle from the elk’s range.

But Alt. B covers more than just the Elk herd; it’s a management proposal for the entire Tomales Point, including habitat restoration, Tribal cultural resources, and recreation. You can read the 8-page, illustrated public report here.

Our friends at Resource Renewal Institute, who along with our other friends at the Center for Biological Diversity and the Western Watersheds Project have led the campaign to properly manage the elk herds at Pt. Reyes, suggest the following talking points for commenting:

*   This is an important point to mention, because not all the descendants of Miwoks who lived (and who built dwellings that are still standing there) are members of the Graton Tribe. The Park Service needs to include all interested Indigenous parties in its planning and management activities.

The comment period runs until Monday, September 25, 2023, 10:59 p.m. PT.

The preferred method for commenting is online using this form on the NPS Planning website.

Hard copy comments may also be submitted by mail or hand delivered to:

 
5.   Tuleyome Job Announcement

Our friends at Tuleyome are looking for a Policy Director. In addition to being leaders in the campaign to originally establish, protect, and now enlarge the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument, Tuleyome is involved in other efforts to preserve the ecosystem of the Inner Coast Range in the southern Sacramento Valley.

For a full job description and more information, click here. Tuleyome will review résumés as they are received, and the position will remain open until filled.

 
IN GENERAL
6.   New and Proposed National Monuments
          (ACTION ITEM)

July and August brought two new national monuments, Pres. Biden’s fourth and fifth. We’re including them both in one item here because it just takes one quick comment on the White House website or a call to thank the Administration for all of them, and make a couple of additional requests.

 
Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument
In late July, Pres. Biden designated the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument, consisting of three separate sites connected to the 1955 murder of the 14-year-old Black boy, visiting Mississippi from his home in Chicago. They are the two sites in Mississippi: on the Tallahatchie River where Till’s body was found, and the courthouse in Sumner where his murderers were tried and acquitted, and the third: Roberts Temple Church of God in Christ in Chicago, where Till’s funeral took place.

You may read the White House fact sheet here.

There are proposals for two other national monuments commemorating dark chapters in our history. One is the Historic Greenwood/ Black Wall Street National Monument in Oklahoma. Greenwood was a very successful Black district of Tulsa that was destroyed in a race riot in 1921. Another race riot took place in Springfield, Illinois in 1908. The NAACP was founded as a result of it. The conservation community stands firmly behind both of these proposals.

 
Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni – Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument
This new monument in Arizona is approximately 917,600 acres, divided among three separate areas on the north and south sides of Grand Canyon National Park. The land is and will be managed by the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service. The monument’s name comes from the Havasupai Tribe, who call the land baaj nwaavjo, or “where Indigenous peoples roam” and the Hopi Tribe, who call it i’tah kukveni or “our ancestral footprints.”

You may see a map of the monument here and read the White House fact sheet here.

 
Please contact the White House and THANK the Administration for designating the

At the same time, please REQUEST that the Administration move ahead with enlarging the

and with designating

You can find the White House comment form (their preferred method of communication) here. Just COPY and PASTE all the names into the body of the form and add your own words for the various sections.

If you prefer to make a phone call, the White House Comment Line number is

 
IN THE PRESS & ELSEWHERE
7.   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. Gift links are temporary links from some websites, allowing non-subscribers to view articles for free. As always, inclusion of an item in this section does not imply agreement with the viewpoint expressed.

In Utah

In California

In General

Support CalUWild!

Membership is free, but your support is both needed and appreciated.

Suggested levels:

Dues are not tax-deductible as they may be used for lobbying activities and are payable in several ways:

If you would like to make a tax-deductible contribution, checks should be payable to:

If paying by check, please include your address if it is not on the check, or print out and enclose a membership form. All checks should be mailed to:

As always, if you ever have questions, suggestions, critiques, or wish to change your e-mail address or unsubscribe, all you have to do is send an email. For membership information, click here.

Please “Like” and “Follow” CalUWild on Facebook.

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2023 June

July 12th, 2023

Ancient Fortification, Bears Ears National Monument, Utah                                                                         (Mike Painter)

 
June 29, 2023

Dear CalUWild friends & Supporters —

There are more Action Items than usual this month, but one (ITEM 3a) is a carryover from last month because of a deadline extension. and three are quick phone calls (ITEMS 1, 2, and 3b). Only the remaining one (ITEM 4) involves writing a comment, with the talking points provided.

So I’ll keep the introduction brief to wish you a Happy Fourth of July, remembering that the fight for democracy is an ongoing one, as is the fight to protect our public lands end the environment in general.

Thanks for playing an important part in both.

 
Best wishes,
Mike Painter, Coordinator

 
IN UTAH
1.   Red Rocks Bill Cosponsor Update
         (ACTION ITEM)

IN UTAH
1.   Red Rock Bill Cosponsor Update
         (ACTION ITEM)

We added three more cosponsors of America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act (H.R.3031) from California this month:

If you live in one of their districts, please call their office to say thank you.

If your representative has not cosponsored, please call and ask that they become one.

CalUWild’s website has a full listing of California Senate and House cosponsorships and Washington, DC office phone numbers.

There are currently 55 cosponsors in the House and 22 in the Senate. For a full list of cosponsors nationwide, click here.

 
IN CALIFORNIA
2.   San Gabriel Mountains Expansion Proposal
         Goes to the White House
         (ACTION ITEM)

In early June, California Sen. Alex Padilla (D) and Rep. Judy Chu (D-28) sent a letter to Pres. Biden and other administration officials asking for an expansion of the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument (designated by Pres. Obama in 2014) by presidential proclamation. Both Sen. Padilla and Rep. Chu have introduced legislation in the current and previous Congresses to expand the monument. This week, Sen. Padilla and Rep. Chu held a joint event at which they announced their request. Rep. Chu’s press release is here.

A map of the proposed expansion is here.

Please call Sen. Padilla’s and Rep. Chu’s offices, thanking them for their leadership on this proposal and also contact the White House, asking the President to act on their request.

The Los Angeles Times published an article on the expansion request: California Congress members call for expansion of San Gabriel Mountains National Monument (may be behind a paywall).

 
IN GENERAL
3a.   Bureau of Land Management
         Public Lands Conservation Rule
         COMMENT DEADLINE EXTENDED
         Wednesday, July 5
         (ACTION ITEM)

Last month we discussed the new Conservation Rule proposed by BLM, asking our members to submit comments. Right before that deadline of June 20, BLM extended the comment period by 15 days, so if you didn’t get a chance to submit your thoughts, you now have until July 5 to do so—even if it is simply to say you support the new rule in general.

Please refer to Item 2 in last month’s Update for more detailed talking points if you’d like to include them in your comments.

Click here to submit comments online.

 
3b.   Legislation Introduced To Negate the
         New Public Lands Rule
         (ACTION ITEM)

In another development regarding the BLM rulemaking, Utah Rep. John Curtis (R) and Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso (R) have introduced bills (H.R.3397 and S.1435, respectively) that “require the Director of the Bureau of Land Management to withdraw a rule of the Bureau of Land Management relating to conservation and landscape health.” Furthermore, and worse, the bills would prohibit the BLM from finalizing any “substantially similar” rule in the future.

The House bill has 19 cosponsors, one from California; John Duarte (R-13), and all Republicans. The Senate bill has 12 cosponsors, also all Republicans.

Although it is unlikely that the Senate bill would pass, please call your representatives and senators and express support for the proposed BLM Conservation Rule and opposition to the House and Senate bills.

DC office phone numbers may be found on our online California Congressional Information Sheet.

Here is Jonathan Thompson’s Land Letter at High Country News, with his latest: Public Lands Rule rhetoric gets wacky.

 
4.   U.S. Forest Service
         Public Lands Rule
         COMMENTS NEEDED
         DEADLINE: July 20
         (ACTION ITEM)

President Biden issued Executive Order 14072 on Earth Day last year, ordering the protection of old growth and mature forests on federal lands. This year the Forest Service is proposing to develop a new rule, similar to the BLM’s rule (Item 3a, above). It is asking for public input on the basic question:
Given that climate change and related stressors are resulting in increasing impacts with rapid and variable rates of change on national forests and grasslands, how should the Forest Service adapt current policies to protect, conserve, and manage the national forests and grasslands for climate resilience, so that the Agency can provide for ecological integrity and support social and economic sustainability over time?
The public comment period runs until July 20.

Detailed background information on the proposed rulemaking may be found here.

Our friends at Forest Forever have put together the following set of talking points (slightly edited). As always with talking points, please use your own words.

•   Thank the Forest Service for requesting public input on how it should foster ecosystem resilience and climate resilience on its forestlands. To meet President Biden’s goals for tackling the climate crisis and the biodiversity crisis it is imperative that the agency prioritize the protection of mature and old-growth forests and trees.

•   More-mature forests and trees are crucial for addressing the climate crisis. These trees and stands typically store the vast majority of the above-ground carbon in a forest.

•   Older forests and trees are far more adaptable to the impacts of climate change than younger, smaller trees— especially compared to industrial tree plantations.

•   Nationally, carbon losses from clearcuts and other logging are up to five times higher than emissions from fire and other natural forest disturbances combined.

•   Older forests are also critical for addressing the biodiversity crisis. These complex ecosystems provide vital and unique habitats for birds in the canopy, plants and animals on the forest floor, and everything in between.

•   Intact forested watersheds, containing older stands, produce the highest quality water, vital for aquatic life in the forest and for people who depend upon it downstream.

•   Please include in any future administrative rules an end to ecologically harmful logging of mature and old-growth forests and trees on federal lands under your agency’s jurisdiction. While there are certainly other threats to older forests, including wildfire and drought, the threat of logging is fully under your control and can be acted upon quickly.

•   Please proceed swiftly to protect mature forests and trees, both for their current important values and so they can continue their work in helping to mitigate the climate crisis, contribute to healthy watersheds and provide ecosystem resilience.

An additional point is to support the president’s intention that serious Tribal consultation and co-management / co-stewardship be mandated in any forthcoming rule.

Comments must be submitted by July 20th. The preferred method is through the Regulations portal here.

Comments may also be submitted via U.S. Mail to:

 
IN THE PRESS & ELSEWHERE
5. 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. Gift links are temporary links from some websites, allowing non-subscribers to view articles for free. As always, inclusion of an item in this section does not imply agreement with the viewpoint expressed.

In California

In Alaska

In New Mexico

In General

Support CalUWild!

Membership is free, but your support is both needed and appreciated.

Suggested levels:

Dues are not tax-deductible as they may be used for lobbying activities and are payable in several ways:

If you would like to make a tax-deductible contribution, checks should be payable to:

If paying by check, please include your address if it is not on the check, or print out and enclose a membership form. All checks should be mailed to:

As always, if you ever have questions, suggestions, critiques, or wish to change your e-mail address or unsubscribe, all you have to do is send an email. For membership information, click here.

Please “Like” and “Follow” CalUWild on Facebook.

Posted in Newsletters | No Comments »

2023 May

June 1st, 2023

Petroglyphs, Utah                                                                                                                                               (Mike Painter)

 
June 1, 2023

Dear CalUWild Friends & Supporters—

Memorial Day is the traditional start of summer, when many people make plans to get away. Visitation to our public lands has increased dramatically in the last few years, making it more difficult to find the “opportunities for solitude” mentioned in the Wilderness Act. Be sure to check in advance if the areas you may want to visit require a wilderness permit or entrance reservation, as an increasing number of the more popular destinations are doing.

But even if you’re not able to take a trip, it’s important to appreciate what we have and continue our efforts to protect it.

As mentioned last month, America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act was reintroduced, and details are in ITEM 1. Also mentioned: The Bureau of Land Management has issued a new rule for public lands that elevates conservation as a priority for the agency. It is important that BLM receive comments in support of the rule. See ITEM 2 for details.

Other news about California—including a couple of nice articles about the proposed Molok Luyuk expansion of Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument—and the West is included in ITEM 4.

 
Best wishes,
Mike Painter, Coordinator

 
IN UTAH
1.   Red Rocks Bill Cosponsor Update
          (ACTION ITEM)

IN UTAH
1.   Red Rock Bill Cosponsor Update
          (ACTION ITEM)

America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act was reintroduced in both the House and Senate at the end of April. The House bill, H.R.3031, has a new lead sponsor, Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-AZ). The lead Senate sponsor continues to be Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), and that bill number is S.1310.

The House bill now has 46 cosponsors—including 42 original cosponsors, with the following seven originals from California:

No Californians have signed since the bill’s reintroduction.

The Senate bill has 22 cosponsors (20 original), though none from California.

Please call your representatives and senators, thanking them for being a cosponsor or asking them to sign on. Full contact information may be found on our online California Congressional Information Sheet.

A full list of cosponsors nationwide may be found here.

A map of the lands in the bill is here.

 
IN GENERAL
2.   Bureau of Land Management
          Issues New Public Lands Rule
          COMMENTS NEEDED
          DEADLINE: Tuesday, June 20

In April, the Bureau of Land Management issued a proposed new rule that would bring much-needed balance to its policies by explicitly mandating conservation and restoration as equal purposes of its stewardship of public land. While conservation was understood to be one among many “multiple uses” for which the agency was supposed to manage, it never rose to the same level as oil & gas leasing, mineral extraction or livestock grazing. This new rule requires BLM to look at conservation in every aspect of its future decision-making processes.

BLM manages the largest acreage of public lands in the U.S., so our hope is that the impact from the proposed changes will be very large. It’s not often that the public has a chance to weigh in something so substantial, and the agency is actively seeking people’s opinions, suggestions, and other input. So please let them know what you think.
Among its positive aspects, the new rule:

The BLM has published an online fact sheet with FAQs (frequently asked questions).

As with every rulemaking process, the public has the opportunity to comment on the proposed rule in order the strengthen or modify it, before it is formalized. We know that the extractive and grazing interests are opposed to this rule, so now is our chance to support the BLM in the process. Using your own words, please use the talking points below to submit comments by the deadline of June 20.

Suggested talking points

The Santa Rosa Press Democrat published an op-ed by Keith Hammond, one of CalUWild’s co-founders: Close to Home: A new priority for public land

The Nevada Current published a supportive op-ed by Athan Manuel, the Sierra Club’s Public Lands Protection Program director, addressing the rule’s potential impact on climate change issues: BLM rulemaking is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reshape conservation policy

BLM will be hosting a webinar on Monday June 5, 8:30 a.m., PDT, explaining the rule and answering questions. Registration is required, here.

You may read the description of the rule (it’s lengthy) and submit a comment via the link on the Federal Register website here.

Comments may also be submitted via the webform at Regulations.gov

or by U.S. Mail:

 
3.    Job Listings:
          Great Old Broads for Wilderness

Our friends at Great Old Broads have three positions open in their Grassroots Leadership Programs. They are accepting applications for the following:

The first round of application review begins on June 5th, however all positions will remain open until filled, but please get your applications in soon.

To learn more about Great Old Broads for Wilderness please check out the website at www.greatoldbroads.org and to learn specifics about the openings please look at https://www.greatoldbroads.org/careers/.

 
IN THE PRESS & ELSEWHERE
4.   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. Gift links are temporary links from some websites, allowing non-subscribers to view articles for free. As always, inclusion of an item in this section does not imply agreement with the viewpoint expressed.

In Utah

In California

In Colorado

In Nevada

In Texas

In General

Support CalUWild!

Membership is free, but your support is both needed and appreciated.

Suggested levels:

Dues are not tax-deductible as they may be used for lobbying activities and are payable in several ways:

If you would like to make a tax-deductible contribution, checks should be payable to:

If paying by check, please include your address if it is not on the check, or print out and enclose a membership form. All checks should be mailed to:

As always, if you ever have questions, suggestions, critiques, or wish to change your e-mail address or unsubscribe, all you have to do is send an email. For membership information, click here.

Please “Like” and “Follow” CalUWild on Facebook.

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2023 April

May 9th, 2023

On Cedar Mesa, Bears Ears National Monument, Utah                                                                                       (Mike Painter)

 
April 22, 2023

Dear CalUWild friends & Supporters—

Today is Earth Day, and yesterday was John Muir’s birthday. But the timing of this Update is just coincidental—we try to make every day Earth Day, working with our partners and trying to keep up on information and developments that affect wilderness and our shared public lands.

In addition to the two ACTION ITEMS below, there are other positive developments to report. Earlier this month the Bureau of Land Management announced that it would be developing new regulations to enshrine conservation as an official mandate for the agency, in managing the lands under its jurisdiction. A public comment period extends into June, so we hope to have further details next month. In Congress, legislation is being reintroduced to protect areas in California and around the West. Finally, the list of possible national monuments awaiting designation by Pres. Biden continues to grow. We will keep you informed as things develop, especially if there is opportunity for public input.

As always, thank you for your interest and support for wilderness and public lands, and for CalUWild, too.

 
Best wishes,
Mike Painter, Coordinator

 
IN UTAH
1.   Red Rock Wilderness Act
          To Be Reintroduced—
          Original Cosponsors Needed
          (ACTION ITEM)

IN UTAH
1.   Red Rock Wilderness Act
          To Be Reintroduced—
          Original Cosponsors Needed
          (ACTION ITEM)

Every two years, after the start of each new Congress, America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act is reintroduced. The bill has long been CalUWild’s major legislative priority. It would designate more than 8 million acres of Bureau of Land Management lands in Utah as wilderness, the highest level of protection under U.S. law.

Originally sponsored by Utah’s Rep. Wayne Owens (D), the bill has had several champions in the years since his retirement. The most recent was California Rep. Alan Lowenthal (D), who retired at the end of the last Congress. Second-term Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D) of New Mexico, is now the lead sponsor. Rep. Stansbury was elected to fill the seat vacated by Deb Haaland after her appointment as Interior Secretary. In the Senate, the original and long-time champion has been Dick Durbin (D) of Illinois.

Some of the areas included in the legislation are the Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears national monuments, the Book Cliffs, the West Desert, the San Rafael Desert, and currently unprotected parts of Desolation and Labyrinth canyons on the Green River.

The bill would be a big step toward protecting 30% of America’s lands and waters by 2030, known as the 30×30 initiative, which the Biden Administration has endorsed.

Because the landscape of Utah is of national—and, indeed, international—significance, it is important that support for its protection come from a wide spectrum of people and organizations, especially given the lack of support from Utah’s own congressional delegation. The largest group of supporters is the Utah Wilderness Coalition, of which CalUWild is a longtime member, made up of over 150 organizations. Last year, in a historic move, the Navajo Nation endorsed the bill, the first Tribe to support it. And we’ve just learned that the Hopi Nation has passed a resolution in support of the bill, due to its ancestral and continuing ties to the Bears Ears region. As evidence of its significance, the resolution was the first ever written in Hopi since their contemporary government was set up in 1936.

This leads us to our ACTION ITEM. In Congress, the most important way for members to show support for bills is by becoming cosponsors of them. That means their names are formally attached to a bill in addition to the main sponsor’s. In the case of the Red Rocks Bill, cosponsorship also indicates that they are likely to stand up for wilderness values when other legislation or administrative actions come along that might threaten Utah’s public lands.

When the Red Rocks bill was introduced in the last Congress, it had 57 original cosponsors in the House and 14 in the Senate—meaning they were cosponsors on the date it was introduced. These are impressive numbers.

The date for reintroduction in the 118th Congress was just recently announced: April 27. So that gives us only a few days to makes calls next week. The Utah Wilderness Coalition hosted a week of congressional meetings in March with citizens from around the country flying in, so most offices are aware of the bill and have already been asked. Now is an important opportunity to give that effort extra support.

So please call your representative and Sen. Alex Padilla, asking that they become original cosponsors of America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act. While representatives who have cosponsored in the past are more likely to become original cosponsors now, all offices should be asked, nevertheless. A full list of the California delegation, with DC telephone numbers, may be found here, along with an X if they are a previous cosponsor—in which case, thank them for their previous cosponsorship first. (It’s always good to have something to thank them for, too, when making a request.)

 
Thank you!

 
IN NEVADA & TEXAS
2.   Pres. Biden Designates
          Two New National Monuments:
          Avi Kwa Ame & Castner Range
          (ACTION ITEM)

In late March, Pres. Biden fulfilled a promise he made last October by designating Avi Kwa Ame National Monument in southern Nevada. At the same time, he designated the Castner Range National Monument near El Paso, Texas. Both had long been the subjects of proposals by local Indigenous tribes and citizens groups.

Avi Kwa Ame, also known as Spirit Mountain, is an area sacred to numerous tribes in the Mojave Desert region at the southern tip of Nevada. Castner Range is a closed army base that was used for testing and training before 1966. It contains many archaeological sites and contains important wildlife habitat. It also contains a lot of unexploded ordnance. Therefore, it will be managed by the Department of Defense at least until it is cleaned up and the public can access it safely.

The New York Times ran an article about the dual designations: Biden Creates Two National Monuments in the Southwest (gift link for non-subscribers).

You may read the Presidential Proclamation for Avi Kwa Ame here. The Nevada Independent published this article: ‘It’s a place of reverence:’ Biden designates Avi Kwa Ame as a national monument. The Las Vegas Review Journal, published a photo-spread on the monument just before its designation: Where the Spirit Dwells.

You may read the Presidential Proclamation for Castner Range here. El Paso Matters published this article: Biden declares Castner Range a national monument.

Please thank Pres. Biden for designating Avi Kwa Ame and Castner Range national monuments and at the same time urge him to continue designating monuments during his administration, particularly the Molok Luyuk expansion at Berryessa Snow Mountain here in California.

You can comment via the White House webform here.

The number for the White House comment line is:

 
IN THE PRESS & ELSEWHERE
3.   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. Gift links are temporary links from some websites, allowing non-subscribers to view articles for free. As always, inclusion of an item in this section does not imply agreement with the viewpoint expressed.

In Utah

In California

In Alaska

In Arizona

In Nevada

In General

Support CalUWild!

Membership is free, but your support is both needed and appreciated.

Suggested levels:

Dues are not tax-deductible as they may be used for lobbying activities and are payable in several ways:

If you would like to make a tax-deductible contribution, checks should be payable to:

If paying by check, please include your address if it is not on the check, or print out and enclose a membership form. All checks should be mailed to:

As always, if you ever have questions, suggestions, critiques, or wish to change your e-mail address or unsubscribe, all you have to do is send an email. For membership information, click here.

Please “Like” and “Follow” CalUWild on Facebook.

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2023 February – March

March 6th, 2023

In Bear Ears National Monument, Utah                                                                                                            (Mike Painter)

 
March 6, 2023

Dear CalUWild friends & supporters—

It’s a pretty short Update this month as the new Congress, the 118th, begins to get underway. The main news is that we expect our priority bill, America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act, to be reintroduced at the end of March or beginning of April. See ITEM 1 for details.

As we mentioned last month, the Molok Luyuk Coalition, of which CalUWild is a member, is asking its partners’ members to sign a petition in support of the expansion of Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument. If you haven’t already done so, please add your name. The Coalition also has a website with information about the expansion proposal.

Also mentioned last month: The congressional district boundaries changed after the last census, so we would like to update our records here to reflect our members’ districts, in (the rare) case that we need to send out information targeted to a specific district. Please click here to send a quick email to us with just your name and congressional representative. Our online California Congressional Information Sheet contains a full listing of representatives’ names and district numbers (as well as party affiliation and DC office phone number). Thank you for your assistance.

 
As always, many thanks for your support of CalUWild and our shared wilderness and public lands.

Mike Painter
Coordinator

 
IN UTAH
1.   Red Rock Bill Reintroduction
          (ACTION ITEM)

IN UTAH
1.   Red Rock Bill Reintroduction
          (ACTION ITEM)

First a bit of background: CalUWild was founded in 1997 after the designation of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument the previous year. Involving citizens in efforts to protect Utah’s wild places has been the top priority of the organization. And with your help, working with the Utah Wilderness Coalition (UWC—and of which CalUWild is a member), we have managed to permanently protect some areas and prevented harmful development in others. As a result, there remain many wild areas in the state, protecting important wildlife corridors, providing opportunities for quiet recreation, and preserving landscapes.

A critical part of the effort has been America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act. First introduced in 1989 by Utah’s then-Rep. Wayne Owens (D), the bill has been reintroduced in every Congress since, with other representatives taking the lead in the House after he left. Rep. Alan Lowenthal (D-47) of California, the latest, retired at the end of the last Congress and Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-NM) has agreed to be the lead sponsor going forward. (She was elected to replace Deb Haaland, who had become Secretary of the Interior.) In the Senate, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) has been the lead sponsor since 1997.

Although the bill has not passed Congress in its entirety, parts of it have been enacted, and just as importantly, it sets a “gold standard” against which other legislation and administrative actions, both good and bad, can be evaluated. One component of the process is cosponsorship, where other representatives and senators add their names to the bill, indicating their strong support for it. Even stronger is original cosponsorship, meaning that they signed on when the bill is first introduced.

We are now kicking off the cosponsorship drive in this Congress. Our friends at the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, one of the lead organizations in the UWC, just sent out this action alert (slightly edited):

If your representative is a past cosponsor, please thank them first and then ask them to renew their cosponsorship before the bill is reintroduced by Rep. Stansbury and Sen. Durbin. Contact information may be found on our online California Congressional Information Sheet.

Contact information for offices outside of California may be found at https://www.house.gov/representatives and https://www.senate.gov/senators/index.htm.

 
IN CALIFORNIA
2.   Great Old Broads at Joshua Tree
          March 16-19

The Southern California Broadband of Great Old Broads for Wilderness is organizing a campout at Joshua Tree National Park: The Joy of Joshua Tree. The focus of the weekend, March 16-19, will be learning about the proposed Chuckwalla National Monument, which lies just south of the park.

Broads and Bros are welcome!

Details and registration may be found here.

Contact Margaret Meyncke with any questions:

 
IN THE PRESS & ELSEWHERE
3.   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. Gift links are temporary links from some websites, allowing non-subscribers to view articles for free. As always, inclusion of an item in this section does not imply agreement with the viewpoint expressed.

In Utah

In Nevada

In General

Support CalUWild!

Membership is free, but your support is both needed and appreciated.

Suggested levels:

Dues are not tax-deductible as they may be used for lobbying activities and are payable in several ways:

If you would like to make a tax-deductible contribution, checks should be payable to:

If paying by check, please include your address if it is not on the check, or print out and enclose a membership form. All checks should be mailed to:

As always, if you ever have questions, suggestions, critiques, or wish to change your e-mail address or unsubscribe, all you have to do is send an email. For membership information, click here.

Please “Like” and “Follow” CalUWild on Facebook.

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2023 January

February 1st, 2023

Sandstone, San Rafael Reef, Utah                                                                                                                   (Mike Painter)

 
February 1, 2023

Dear CalUWild friends & Supporters—

A new year has started as well as a new Congress—the 118th. And while it’s not clear what 2023 itself will bring, it seems clear already that the House of Representatives, at least, will be pretty dysfunctional. Since it takes both houses of Congress to pass bills, the chances of achieving meaningful legislation protecting wilderness and other public lands seem pretty slim at present. So much of the legislative focus will probably be on stopping bad bills, for which we will rely on the Senate.

Of particular concern will be bills to weaken the Antiquities Act of 1906, which allows the president to designate national monuments on his own. (Already, a bill has been introduced to exempt Arizona from future monument designations.) In other disturbing news, former Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke from Montana (R) was elected to the House and has been assigned to the Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment and Related Agencies. (See IN THE PRESS, below.)

However, some good public lands bills might still be introduced in order to show congressional support for proposals such as national monuments. If such legislation does not move in Congress, the president can designate a monument on his own, saying he did it after giving Congress a chance to act.

Since last fall the Administration has shown a willingness to move somewhat. It designated Camp Hale–Continental Divide National Monument in Colorado and has promised to protect Avi Kwa Ame in Nevada. Within the past week, it announced that the National Forest Roadless Rule will apply to the Tongass National Forest in Alaska, which had been previous exempted from it. It also will enact a mineral withdrawal in and around the Boundary Waters Canoe Area in Minnesota. Finally, the Environmental Protection Agency stated just yesterday that it was banning any waste disposal from the proposed Pebble Mine in the Bristol Bay watershed of Alaska, effectively killing the project. (See IN THE PRESS, below.)

There are a few quick ACTION ITEMS this month, the first being administrative, and then two quick petition signatures on other issues we’ve written about in the past.

 
A big thank you to all who have contributed to CalUWild’s Annual Membership Appeal. Your support helps make the organization’s work possible and is much appreciated. (And if you haven’t sent in a contribution, it’s never too late. Full information is at the bottom of this Update.)

 
Best wishes,
Mike Painter, Coordinator

ADMINISTRATIVE
1.   Update Your Congressional District
          (ACTION ITEM)
IN UTAH
2.   Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance
          2023 Stewardship Project Calendar

ADMINISTRATIVE
1.   Update Your Congressional District
          (ACTION ITEM)

As you know, every ten years, congressional districts are redrawn and renumbered. This new Congress is the first with districts reflecting the 2020 Census. California now has 52 districts, having lost a seat in this last round.

It is helpful for CalUWild to know the districts in which our members live, as sometimes we need to send out targeted information regarding events, meetings with congressional offices, and the like.

We don’t have an easy way to compare addresses with district numbers, so we’re asking you to click here to send a quick email to us with your name and congressional representative’s name. Our updated online California Congressional Information Sheet contains a full listing of representatives’ names and district numbers (as well as party affiliation and DC office phone number).

Thank you for your assistance.

 
California’s new delegation is made up of 11 Republicans and 41 Democrats. None of the Republicans is an enthusiastic public lands supporter, although Rep. Darrell Issa (R-50) has introduced wilderness legislation previously. California is well-represented (at least in numbers) on the House Natural Resources Committee:

If you live in one of their districts, it would be good to be in somewhat regular contact with their offices, getting to know the staffers and attending townhall meetings and other events. (Of course the same goes for anyone in any district who wants to be effective.)

 
IN UTAH
2.   Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance
          2023 Stewardship Project Calendar

Just as this Update was ready to be sent out, our friends at SUWA announced their calendar of stewardship projects for the year ahead. These programs are a great way to get outdoors, meet other people, and restore areas that need some help. The calendar may be found here and general information about the program here. Please check it out!

 
IN CALIFORNIA
3.   Molok Luyuk (Berryessa Snow Mountain
          National Monument) Expansion
          (ACTION ITEM)

We had hoped that Rep. John Garamendi’s (now D-8) bill authorizing the expansion of Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument to include Molok Luyuk (presently: Walker Ridge) would pass in the last Congress, but it didn’t. While we await its probable reintroduction in this Congress, there is still something you can do to help the process along: if you haven’t already, please sign an online petition asking Pres. Biden to move ahead with a proclamation.

The Molok Luyuk Coalition, of which CalUWild is a member, is asking its partners’ members to sign the petition. The Coalition has a website with information about the expansion proposal.

The Santa Rosa Press Democrat published this op-ed: Expand Berryessa National Monument to include sacred tribal lands.

 
IN ALASKA
4.   Izembek Wilderness Still under Threat
          (ACTION ITEM)

We’ve written many times over the years about the proposal to build a road through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska, which is a designated wilderness. This alert just came in from our friends at Wilderness Watch yesterday. The short of it that the Biden Administration is defending the previous administration’s appeal of rulings against the exchange, currently in the Ninth Circuit, when they could have withdrawn the appeal.

Please read the information at this page and send both Pres. Biden and Interior Secretary Haaland emails via the links there. (Note that you can opt out of receiving action alerts from Wilderness Watch if you wish.)

For more background, see our June 2022 Update, which contains information, also from Wilderness Watch.

 
IN GENERAL
5.   Public Lands Fee-Free Days in 2023

The National Park Service will have four more entrance fee-free days ?in 2023, providing free admittance to all national parks for everyone.

Its ?free entrance?dates for 2023? are:

The fee waivers apply only to Park Service entrance fees and do not cover amenity or user fees for camping, boat launches, transportation, special tours, or other activities.

The Bureau of Land Management and US Forest Service have these free days:

The? annual $80? America the Beautiful National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass ?allows unlimited access to more than 2,000 federal recreation areas, including all national parks, for the passholder and companions accompanying them. There are also free or discounted passes available for currently serving members of the U.S. military and their dependents, military veterans, Gold Star Families, fourth grade students, disabled citizens, and senior citizens.

 
IN THE PRESS & ELSEWHERE
6.   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. Gift links are temporary links from some websites, allowing non-subscribers to view articles for free. As always, inclusion of an item in this section does not imply agreement with the viewpoint expressed.

In California

In Alaska

In General

Support CalUWild!

Membership is free, but your support is both needed and appreciated. Dues are not tax-deductible, as they may be used for lobbying activities. There are several ways to contribute:

If you’d like to make a tax-deductible contribution, please send a check payable to Resource Renewal Institute, CalUWild’s fiscal sponsor. If your address is not on the check please print out and enclose a membership form.

All checks should be mailed to:

 
As always, if you ever have questions, suggestions, critiques, or wish to change your e-mail address or unsubscribe, all you have to do is send an email. For membership information, click here.

Please “Like” and “Follow” CalUWild on Facebook.

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2022 November – December

January 17th, 2023

Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, Utah                                                                                (Mike Painter)

 
December 7, 2022

Dear CalUWild Friends & Supporters—

The midterm elections are past, and while the results were not as bad as they could have been for the environment, it’s going to be much more difficult to get land protection bills through Congress (not that very many got through in the last two years, either). Fortunately, Sen. Raphael Warnock was re-elected in Georgia, so that gives the Democrats a majority on all the Senate committees and somewhat dilutes the anti-environmental power that Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) had. Our focus will likely be much more on defense in Congress as needed and the White House and the Interior Department regarding national monument designations and resource management planning.

These elections were held with newly redrawn Congressional districts, where the number shrank by one—to 52. We will update our online California Congressional Information Sheet after the 118th Congress begins in January. Although we rarely send out information targeted by district, it’s useful to know where our members are located when events are scheduled or if there’s a meeting where it might be useful to have a constituent attend (via Zoom now, or in person). So we will be asking you sometime in the future to let us know what district you live in (either by representative’s name or district number). If you’d like to volunteer to set up an easy-to-use survey form, please send me an email.

CalUWild celebrated its 25th Anniversary last month. We couldn’t have gotten this far without the support of our members. As always, your advocacy is most important, and dues are voluntary, but we do have expenses that need to be met every month. With that in mind, we will be sending out our annual membership appeal soon, by US Mail or electronically, so please be on the lookout and respond as generously as you can. Contribution information may also be found at the end of this Update.
We’re looking forward to continuing our work into the future, with your support!

 
Best wishes for the holiday season,
Mike Painter, Coordinator

 
IN UTAH
1.   Looking Ahead to 2023

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

 
IN UTAH
1.   Looking Ahead to 2023

The 117th Congress is just about finished, and America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act saw no action in either House or Senate. That’s not totally surprising, given everything else that went on in Washington these last two years. The bill will be introduced again in the next Congress, and we will again be asking you to contact your representatives and senators to become cosponsors. Present lead sponsor, California Rep. Alan Lowenthal (D-47), is retiring at the end of this Congress. He’s been a champion for Utah’s and other public lands his entire time in DC. If you’d like to give his office a quick call, I’m sure he’d appreciate it.

Thank you to everyone who took the time to submit initial scoping comments on the management plans for Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears national monuments. There will be opportunities for public comment when the draft plans with their various alternatives are released next year, and we will provide information on commenting as it becomes available.

There has been no final resolution to the lawsuits regarding the shrinking of the national monuments in Utah by the previous administration. And in fact, the State of Utah recently sued the Biden Administration for restoring the monuments. Several members of the Inter-Tribal Coalition have petitioned to intervene in the lawsuit on the side of the Administration, as have a number of conservation groups. See this article in the Salt Lake Tribune: Tribes move to intervene in Utah’s monument lawsuit.

The Bureau of Land Management will also be preparing travel management plans for many of its field offices in Utah. We will continue to work with the our friends at the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance and other Utah Wilderness Coalition partners to bring you timely information about commenting as things develop.

 
IN CALIFORNIA
2.    Molok Luyuk (Berryessa Snow Mountain
          National Monument) Expansion
          (ACTION ITEM)

The campaign continues to expand Berryessa-Snow Mountain National Monument in Lake County by adding presently-named Walker Ridge to it. As we’ve discussed in the past, Reps. John Garamendi (D-3) and Sen Alex Padilla (D) have introduced bills in the House and Senate to accomplish that and to rename it Condor Ridge (Molok Luyuk). At the same time, we are hoping that Pres. Biden will use his authority under the Antiquities Act of 1906 to enlarge the monument.

The Molok Luyuk Coalition, of which CalUWild is a member, has a website with information about the expansion proposal. It also includes an online petition, asking Pres. Biden to move ahead with a proclamation.

All coalition partners are asking their members to sign the petition.

Rep. Garamendi is still looking for cosponsors for his bill, despite the fact that this Congress is almost over, to demonstrate to the Administration that there is broad support for the expansion. We’ve added four since the last Update:

If you live in one of their districts, please thank them. DC phone numbers are on our California Congressional Information Sheet. If you’re in another district, you can also look up whether your representative is a cosponsor or not. If not, please give them a call and ask them to sign on, explaining the timing of your request. Thank you!

 
3.   Job Opening at Friends of the Inyo

Friends of the Inyo, protecting the Eastern Sierra, Owens Valley, and the White Mountains region, is hiring a Policy Director. Full information may be found here.

 
IN NEVADA
4.    Pres. Biden Commits to Protecting Avi Kwa Ame
          (ACTION ITEM)

The White House held a second Tribal Nations Summit last week, the purpose of which was to “[build] on the 2021 Summit and the progress made to strengthen our Nation-to-Nation relationships and invest record levels of resources in Tribal communities …” At the meeting, Pres. Biden mentioned how he had used the Antiquities Act to restore the three national monuments last year, and in that context, he announced that he is committed to protecting Avi Kwa Ame (Spirit Mountain) in southern Nevada.

Please contact the White House to thank Mr. Biden for his announcement and to ask him to act quickly to permanently protect the full area proposed by the Tribes and others, keeping it safe from incompatible industrial development. And while you’re at it, request that he continue to move forward on designating additional national monuments that have been proposed, including Berryessa Snow Mountain.

You can call the White House at:

or use the online White House Contact Form.

For a detailed look at the Avi Kwa Ame proposal, this story map from the Conservation Lands Foundation is a good start, linked to in our September-October 2021 Update.

The Washington Post published a lengthy article about the proposal: Biden commits to honoring tribes by protecting public lands in Nevada. There was also a related op-ed in the Las Vegas Sun by Meghan Wolf of Patagonia: National monument will help drive outdoor recreation industry growth.

 
IN THE PRESS & ELSEWHERE
5.    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. Gift links are temporary links from some websites, allowing non-subscribers to view articles for free. As always, inclusion of an item in this section does not imply agreement with the viewpoint expressed.

In Utah

In California

In Alaska

In Colorado

In Nevada

In Texas

In General

Support CalUWild!

Membership is free, but your support is both needed and appreciated. Dues are not tax-deductible, as they may be used for lobbying activities. There are several ways to contribute:

If you’d like to make a tax-deductible contribution, please send a check payable to Resource Renewal Institute, CalUWild’s fiscal sponsor. If your address is not on the check please print out and enclose a membership form.

All checks should be mailed to:

 
As always, if you ever have questions, suggestions, critiques, or wish to change your e-mail address or unsubscribe, all you have to do is send an email. For membership information, click here.

Please “Like” and “Follow” CalUWild on Facebook.

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