San Rafael Swell, Utah                                                                                                                          (Mike Painter)

 
November 24, 2025

Dear CalUWild Friends & Supporters—

As we celebrate Thanksgiving this week, let’s not forget that, while we have a lot to be thankful for, protecting it all is an ongoing task. Fortunately we have most of the public on our side. So we thank you for supporting CalUWild and our public lands.

The Update is relatively short this month with only two easy ACTION ITEMs and a list of articles you can read at your leisure, should you wish.

The government is up and running again, but the funding cuts and employee layoffs continue. It’s unclear where it will all end, but one thing is certain: It will take quite a long time to restore what’s been lost, when the time is right.

A big Thank You to everyone who has already sent in an annual contribution. Your early support is much appreciated. Please look for membership information by U.S. Mail or email in the coming weeks. Or you may find it at the bottom of this Update.

 
Best wishes,
Mike Painter, Coordinator

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

IN GENERAL
2.   Opposition Mounts To
          Steven Pearce’s Nomination To Be
          Director of the Bureau of Land Management
          (ACTION ITEM)

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

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

California added another cosponsor to the list supporting America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act, H.R.2497, this month, when Rep Jimmy Panetta (D-19) signed on. That brings the total number from the state to 13. If Rep. Panetta is your Congressman, please call his office to thank him. The number in Washington, DC is:

A full listing of California Senate and House DC office phone numbers is on our website, as well as the members’ cosponsorship status for the Red Rocks Bill and the Roadless Area Conservation Act, H.R.3930. If your representative is not listed as a cosponsor of one or the other bill, please call their office and ask them to sign on. And thank them if they are listed.

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

Thank you!

 
IN GENERAL
2.   Opposition Mounts To
          Steve Pearce’s Nomination To Be
          Director of the Bureau of Land Management
          (ACTION ITEM)

Back in January, the White House nominated Kathleen Sgamma to be Director of the Bureau of Land Management. She had been the president of the Western Energy Alliance, an oil & gas industry group. Some months later, Ms. Sgamma withdrew her nomination after tweets were uncovered in which she had criticized the January 6, 2021 takeover of the Capitol. At the time, we thought she was the worst nominee possible. We were wrong.

Earlier this month, the White House nominated Steve Pearce to be the next director. Mr. Pearce served two stints, 2003–2009 and 2011–2019, as a GOP congressman from New Mexico. While in Congress he served on the House Natural Resources Committee, where he was a fierce opponent of conservation. He was an ally of then Chairman Rob Bishop (R-UT) in proposing the sale of public lands to help pay down the deficit, and they wrote in a letter:

“Divesting the federal government of its vast land holdings could pay down the deficit and reduce spending. The federal government owns roughly 650 million acres of land, or 1/3 of the entire landmass of our country. Over 90% of this land is located in the western states and most of it we do not even need. Strategically transferring ownership of these lands where it makes sense would reduce duplicative land management costs, boost revenues through the resultant economic activity of more productive and local land management, and is consistent with the principles of federalism our founding fathers envisioned.”
Mr. Pearce supported several other bills to dispose of lands while he was in Congress.

Earlier this year, people across the country raised the alarm over Sen. Mike Lee’s (R-UT) several proposals to sell off public lands via the budget reconciliation process. The resulting outcry defeated those proposals. But the administration doesn’t seem to have understood the depth of the opposition to the idea—hence Mr. Pearce’s nomination. So it is up to us, once again, to speak out forcefully.

Mr. Pearce has also sought to gut the Antiquities Act by depriving the president of the power to designate national monuments, additionally, he has sought to weaken the Wilderness Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, and the Endangered Species Act.

A confirmation hearing had not been scheduled yet, but please call our senators asking them to oppose the nomination, stressing the serious nature of it.

Encourage your family and friends in California and in other states to call their senators, too, and please consider submitting a letter to the editor of your local paper, as well.

SFGate.com published an excellent article analyzing the nomination: Trump’s pick to manage 245M acres notoriously hellbent on selling public lands

 
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 for a limited time. As always, inclusion of an item in this section does not imply agreement with the viewpoint expressed.

Utah

California

New Mexico

Oregon

In General

 
 
 

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