December 2023 Conservation Update

In the final conservation update for 2023, The Mountain Pact highlights our support for the expansion of Berryessa National Monument to include the Molok Luyuk area in California. We also joined other organizations to advocate for conservation priorities in the FY24 appropriations budget. Along with these initiatives, this month’s update highlights many happenings from across our region. These include the latest on the Colorado River crisis; the reintroduction of wolves to the state of Colorado; new initiatives and funding coming out of the Biden administration’s Tribal Summit; and much more!

2023 International Mountain Day!

Mountain ecosystem services are vital to life- As natural water towers, mountains supply freshwater to an estimated half of humanity. Mountains’ role in capturing, storing and releasing water sustains ecosystems, supports agriculture, and provides clean energy and medicines.

Healthy mountains matter for biodiversity- Mountains cover about 27 percent of the earth’s land surface, hosting 25 of the world’s 34 biodiversity hotspots as well as rare plants and animals such as snow leopards and mountain gorillas.

Resilient mountain ecosystems are key for adaptation to climate change- Healthy mountain ecosystems help mitigate the impacts of climate change and the related risks. Of the global mountain area, forests cover 39 percent. Mountain forests and grasslands cool local temperatures, increase water retention, provide a vital carbon store, and reduce the risk of erosion and landslides.

November 2023 Conservation Update

This November, local and federal elected officials, local communities, businesses, conservation groups, and others continued pushing for the protection of the West’s public lands. Dolores River Canyon County in Colorado, Chaco Canyon in New Mexico, and the Chuckwalla landscape in California are among the places that westerners want to see preserved. The Biden administration held a public meeting earlier this month on the proposed expansion of San Gabriel Mountains National Monument. Colorado elected officials urged the BLM to adopt public lands protections and a more balanced approach to management. Details on each of these initiatives are included in this month’s update along with news on outdoor recreation contributing over $1 trillion to the US economy, a large public land acquisition in Oregon, the reappearance of species in California, and much more!

October 2023 Conservation Update

In this month’s Conservation Update, we share news about the continued support for new and expanded national monuments and the celebration of one year since Camp Hale-Continental Divide National Monument was designated. This update also includes information around a government shutdown being averted (for now); insight into attempts to increase housing in the West’s mountain towns; updates on the current state of Colorado River negotiations; the sad news that 21 new species have officially gone extinct; the happy news about a new wildlife sanctuary to protect an endangered toad; more calls to increase conservation on BLM lands; and much more!

September 2023 Conservation Update

This month the news across the West shows continued support and prioritization for the protection of public lands and this month’s Conservation Update summarizes that news. New national monument efforts were launched for a Chuckwalla National Monument in California and Owyhee Canyonlands in Oregon. Secretary Haaland and Bureau of Land Management Director Tracy Stone-Manning also visited Berryessa National Monument where there is an effort underway to expand the monument to include Molok Luyuk -  public lands on the eastern edge of the existing monument. Also included below are updates around the death of California Senator Dianne Feinstein; many federal government funding opportunities; a new recreation management plan from the Bureau of Land Management; how a government shutdown may impact National Parks and western communities; litigation in California aimed at holding the oil and gas industry accountable; and much more!

August 2023 Conservation Update

August was another big month for public lands conservation in the West, as President Biden began the month by designating Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni - Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument in Arizona. We at the Mountain Pact are very excited to see this culturally important landscape permanently protected, and expressed this support through a statement released just after its designation. This month’s Conservation Update also includes news on the Center for Western Priorities' Winning the West poll; the ways climate change is affecting western communities; flooding in California from Hurricane Hilary; the reintroduction of apex predators in Colorado; and much more!

The Mountain Pact Celebrates the Designations of Two New National Monuments!

In the past two and a half weeks, President Biden has used his authority under the Antiquities Act to designate two new national monuments. These additions are Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley, his fourth, and Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni – Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon, his fifth national monument designations. 

On Tuesday, July  25, on what would have been Emmett Till's 82nd birthday, President Biden designated Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument. In 1955, 14-year-old Emmett Till’s kidnapping & murder, along with the courageous response of his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, to hold an open casket funeral for her son, catalyzed the American Civil Rights Movement. The monument in their honor spans three sites in Illinois and Mississippi, marking locations that are a crucial and powerful part of America’s civil rights history. 

On Tuesday, August 8, President Biden designated the Tribally-led Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni - Ancestral Footprints of Grand Canyon National Monument in Arizona. This action will protect lands around the Grand Canyon region and watershed, which has cultural connections to at least 12 Tribes and Nations.

July 2023 Conservation Update

In this Conservation Update learn about President Biden designating an Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument last week and our support for protecting mature forests, the new BLM conservation rule, and a public listening session for the proposed Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni Grand Canyon National Monument. This Conservation Update includes news from across the West, including the record-breaking heat much of the region has been experiencing; controversy over access to 14ers in Colorado; new oil and gas leasing rules proposed by the Biden Administration; results from a new study on the impact of human noise on animal behavior; and much more!

June 2023 Conservation Update

This has been an action-packed month at The Mountain Pact and across the West. It’s all summed up in this month's Conservation Update, including the latest news on the Colorado River; some things to think about before heading to your favorite park during the busy season; the push for a new national monument in the Grand Canyon and expanding the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument; a look at the unprecedented youth-led climate trial in Montana; good and bad news from the world of wildlife conservation; and much more!

May 2023 Conservation Update

The Mountain Pact, and the Western local elected officials we work with, have been busy this month releasing letters, statements, and op-eds that demonstrate our commitment to the protection of public lands. Included in this month's work is support for the reintroduction of the CORE Act, gratitude from local communities for newly named national monuments, and praise for the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) recent draft conservation centric “public lands rule.” More information on theses items can be found below along with information on the latest on the Colorado River water negotiations; which National Parks you need to make reservations at to visit this summer; trouble in the Sonoran Desert with weeds; a new law to limit oil and gas permitting on public lands; and much more.

Take Action - Comment on BLM’s Public Lands Rule

Please participate in the Bureau of Land Management's draft Public Lands Rule comment period by June 20th and May and June meetings.

April 2023 Conservation Update

This month our Conservation Update includes an overview and call to comment on new proposed rulemaking from the BLM that will help support the protection and restoration of public lands; provides the latest on the epic amounts of snow across our region, which are giving a small respite from the drought, a boon to animals, and a boost to outdoor recreation, but also instigating devastating floods; an overview of federal intervention on how the Colorado River is managed; a look at the wildfire season, which has already begun in some states; lists of relevant new conservation funding opportunities from the federal government; and much more.

March 2023 Conservation Update

In this month’s Conservation Update we cover the big news of the new designations of Avi Kwa Ame and Castner Range national monuments by President Biden. Located in southern Nevada and western Texas, respectively, these two monuments now protect over 500,000 new acres. We also cover the Biden-Harris Administration’s new efforts to conserve and restore America’s land and waters; a protest by skiers in Crested Butte against expansion of mining in the area; record breaking storms in California; the reintroduction of a bill to protect the Dolores River in congress; oil and gas reforms in New Mexico; a new rule-making process started by the Department of Interior; and much more!

The Mountain Pact Celebrates the Designations of Avi Kwa Ame and Castner Range National Monuments!

On Tuesday, March 21, at the Conservation in Action Summit in Washington, D.C., President Biden designated Avi Kwa Ame in southern Nevada and Castner Range in west Texas as national monuments! Together these two new monuments protect 513,486 acres and mark a significant step towards the Biden Administration meeting their America the Beautiful Initiative. The President also plans to initiate the process for expanding protections for the Pacific Remote Islands. You can watch the event here. 

February 2023 Conservation Update

In this month's Conservation Update, we cover the leasing of public lands for oil and gas, especially the need for this industry to take responsibility for the pollution that it creates impacting surrounding communities; the recently released Conservation in the West Poll showing that the vast majority of westerners support clean energy and protecting public lands despite their political affiliation; and that water issues dominated western conservation news again this month so we have created a new subsection looking solely at issues on the Colorado River and Lake Powell.  The Mountain Pact has continued to show that there is strong community support for the protection of public lands and we had an op-ed published this month in The Hill urging President Biden to designate more national monuments. This and much more is included in this month's Conservation Update below.

January 2023 Conservation Update

In this first Conservation Update of 2023, we highlight support of wildlife on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands and for the confirmation of Laura Daniel-Davis. We also give an overview of the most important conservation news from the last month, which includes a historic partnership between Joshua Tree National Park and the Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians; dire predictions for the future of the Great Salt Lake; an overview of the Biden administration's record on public lands thus far; recent catastrophic floods in California; and much more.