The Landscape

Recorded live at Scoundrel and Scamp Theatre in Tucson as part of CWP’s Keep Parks Public campaign, Aaron interviews four experts about the current state of Arizona’s public lands: Matthew Nelson with the Arizona Trail Association, Russ McSpadden with the Center for Biological Diversity, Emily Burns with Sky Island Alliance, and Amy Juan from the Tohono O’odham Nation. We discuss the impacts of border wall construction on wildlife corridors and Indigenous sites, along with staffing and funding cuts at land management agencies and rollbacks of environmental protections, from Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument and Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge to Quitobaquito Springs. News Death Toll Rises in Grand Canyon Flood as Search Efforts Continue – New York Times Resources Keep Parks Public Tour Arizona Trail Association Center for Biological Diversity Sky Island Alliance Watch this episode on YouTube Produced by Aaron Weiss, Lauren Bogard, Kate Groetzinger, and Lilly Bock-Brownstein Feedback: [email protected] Music: Purple Planet Featured image: CWP photo The post LIVE from Tucson: Arizona’s Public Lands and the Border Wall appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

Kate and Aaron run through the weekly news, including the Trump administration’s plans to repeal the Roadless Rule and upend the Forest Service’s travel management planning process. Then, we play the first episode of On Common Ground: An American Inheritance, a new podcast from Eleven Dollar Bill studios, for you. In this first episode, host Bill Hedden traces how the fight we were allowed to win concealed the one we lost. Bill has spent half a century defending the public lands in southeastern Utah. He is joined by co-host John Leshy, former Solicitor of the Department of the Interior and our foremost scholar of public-lands law and history, along with voices from across the political spectrum. Together, “The Theft” lays out what was taken, how it happened, and why you weren’t supposed to notice until it was too late. News The Forest Service’s own review finds repealing the Roadless Rule could increase wildfire risk and harm communities – Westwise Roadless Rule repeal could cause more wildfires – KHOL ‘One-Two Punch’: After Attacking Roadless Rule, Trump Targets Off-Road Vehicle Limits – Common Dreams Resources Comment on the Roadless Rule repeal – regulations.gov Comment on the Travel Management Rule – regulations.gov Comment generator for Roadless – FUSEE Keep Parks Public Tour — RSVP to Tucson! On Common Ground: An American Inheritance Watch this episode on YouTube Produced by Aaron Weiss, Lauren Bogard, Kate Groetzinger, and Lilly Bock-Brownstein Feedback: [email protected] Music: Purple Planet Featured image:  Book Cliffs, Utah; Photo by Bob Wick The post Introducing: On Common Ground, a new podcast about the fight to maintain our public lands appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

Kate and Aaron are joined by Professor John Leshy, one of the nation’s top scholars of public lands law, to discuss a new essay of his that argues America’s public lands are entering a new Gilded Age, complete with robber barons, corruption, and deregulation. We also talk about a new exposé revealing Doug Burgum to be a really bad boss who’s breaking the law, and about Border Patrol breaking ground inside Big Bend National Park. News Inside Doug Burgum’s rocky tenure at Interior – POLITICO “Warfare on the People.” Big Bend Residents Fear the Border Wall Will Cut Off Public Lands. – Outside Mapping it out: onX tool connects Montanans to public land comment opportunities – Bozeman Daily Chronicle Resources On Shaky Ground: America’s Public Lands Face an Uncertain Future  Keep Parks Public Tour — RSVP to Tucson! On Common Ground: An American Inheritance Watch this episode on YouTube Produced by Aaron Weiss, Lauren Bogard, Kate Groetzinger, and Lilly Bock-Brownstein Feedback: [email protected] Music: Purple Planet Featured image: Basin and Range National Monument; Source: BLM Photo Bob Wick The post Are America’s public lands entering a new Gilded Age? appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

Recorded live at Nuckolls Brewing in Santa Fe as part of CWP’s Keep Parks Public campaign, Kate interviews four experts about the current stakes for New Mexico’s public lands. Charlotte Overby (Conservation Lands Foundation), Keegan King (Native Land Institute), Andrew Black (National Wildlife Federation/Earthkeepers 360), and Elaine Leslie (Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks) discuss the importance of defending New Mexico’s land, water, and wildlife from the current threats coming out of the Trump administration. Thank you to Nuckolls Brewing, REI Santa Fe, and New Mexico Wild for joining us at this event! Come see us at our next live show in Tucson! News Tribes decry two-week comment period tied to BLM proposal to strip Chaco protections — Santa Fe New Mexican Before-And-After Maps Show How Trump Is Slashing Utah National Monuments — Newsweek Interior Department Planning More Changes To National Park Service Staffing — Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks Lujan Grisham, Stansbury support 10,000-acre Sandia land transfer as Heinrich, NMWF oppose — Rio Rancho Observer Resources Keep Parks Public Tour — RSVP to Tucson! REI Cooperative Action Fund New Mexico Wild Conservation Lands Foundation Native Land Institute National Wildlife Federation Earth Keepers 360 Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks Center for Western Priorities Road to 30 Postcard: Caja Del Rio Watch this episode on YouTube Produced by Aaron Weiss, Lauren Bogard, Kate Groetzinger, and Lilly Bock-Brownstein Feedback: [email protected] Music: Purple Planet Featured image: CWP photo The post LIVE from Santa Fe: Defending New Mexico’s public lands appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

Kate and Aaron talk to Heather Hansman about her new book, Fierce Country: The Untold Story of Three Women Who Ignited America’s Love for the Wild. Plus, mining companies are staking an unprecedented number of claims in New Mexico. And we’re going on tour! Come see us in Santa Fe and Tucson. News By the #s: More mining claims filed in New Mexico in last 4 years than previous century – Source NM Resources Keep Parks Public Tour — RSVP to Santa Fe and Tucson! Buy Fierce Country Watch this episode on YouTube Produced by Aaron Weiss, Lauren Bogard, Kate Groetzinger, and Lilly Bock-Brownstein Feedback: [email protected] Music: Purple Planet Featured image: CWP photo The post Wild women with author Heather Hansman appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.