March 2025 Conservation Update

Greetings from The Mountain Pact! Across the West the weather is getting warmer, flowers are blooming, and spring is in the air. This season of renewal is an important part of our natural world’s lifecycle, and provides those of us who love the outdoors more opportunities to enjoy the mountains, rivers, plains, and prairies we call home. It is also a reminder that the ecosystems we cherish are fragile, and must be protected. The Mountain Pact is continuing to monitor ongoing threats to our natural landscapes, and we’re working to provide outlets and resources for those who want to protect our public lands. Congress will be in recess April 12-27, which means you’ll likely have an opportunity to make your voice heard over the next few weeks. Let us know if you'd like more information. 

Read more below to learn how job and funding cuts are impacting public land agencies, what Western states are doing to prevent further drought, and how The Mountain Pact is organizing Western elected officials to stand up to protect our public lands.

More Than 300 Western Leaders Call on the Trump Administration and Congress to Protect and Fully Fund Our Public Lands

On March 26, more than 300 current and former Western local elected officials, including mayors, county commissioners/supervisors, and city/town council members/trustees sent a letter to the Trump Administration and Congressional offices urgently calling for a more balanced approach to the management of our public lands; calling on them to oppose the sale of public lands in the Budget Reconciliation Package; and asking them to reject any attempts to change the Antiquities Act or reduce the size of our national monuments. 

February 2025 Conservation Update

Greetings from the Mountain Pact. The past few weeks have been hard for those of us who treasure our public lands. The Trump Administration has included public lands - and the federal agencies and employees and support and protect them - squarely in the crosshairs. Between Interior Secretary Doug Burgum’s secretarial orders targeting America’s national monuments, mass firings at the National Park Service and other public land agencies, and an all-out assault on renewable energy in favor of more drilling and resource extraction, the threat to our nation’s most cherished spaces is significant, and the time for action is now. 

The Mountain Pact is sounding the alarm and pushing back against these reckless and irresponsible policies while supporting local leaders who are working to ensure that America’s greatest treasures stay healthy, open, and accessible to the public for generations to come.

January 2025 Conservation Update

January was a big month for our country and for the conservation movement as a whole. Anna Peterson, Executive Director of The Mountain Pact, went to the White House to celebrate the culmination of several long standing conservation goals as former President Biden, in the waning days of his presidency, designated two new national monuments - Chuckwalla and Sáttítla Highlands, both in California. That excitement was tempered by the first days of the new Trump Administration as President Trump took several early steps to begin unwinding Biden’s public lands legacy, including pausing renewable energy approvals on public lands, and nominating fracking and oil executives to key Administration posts. The Mountain Pact is committed to working with western local elected officials to speak with a collective voice on federal climate, public lands, and outdoor recreation policy to protect our environment for generations to come.