The Landscape

In this episode, Kate and Aaron talk to Robert Lull, author of the book Our Natural Lab: Remarkable Stories of Science from America’s National Parks, about the amazing discoveries that have come out of science that took place in our national parks. Kate and Aaron also talk about the negative impacts the Senate permitting bill, also known as the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act, could have on public lands. News The Senate permitting bill would lock in data centers and nuclear waste on public lands. It only gets worse from there – Westwise Senate permitting bill would cut the public out of public lands and lock in Trump-era data center, nuclear, and fossil fuel approvals – CWP Over 100 Groups Oppose Sweeping Attacks on Public Lands in Permitting Bill – Center for Biological Diversity Resources BLM Data Center Tracker 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: Grand Prismatic Spring, Yellowstone National Park; Source: Dietmar Rabich/Wikimedia Commons The post From lead paint to DNA tests: surprising discoveries from America’s national parks appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

Aaron and Kate talk to Lexi Tuddenham, executive director of HEAL Utah, about Utah’s push to promote nuclear development and how it intersects with public lands. We also cover the Roadless Rule comment period results and a sketchy-sounding proposal to build over 450 nuclear reactors in Utah to power data centers on public lands. News What Americans say about repealing the Roadless Rule – Deseret News A startup wants to build a massive nuclear-powered data center on public land in Utah – NPR Resources CWP Roadless Rule repeal live comment analysis Mapping Utah’s Nuclear Industry – HEAL Utah 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: West Lake Landfill Superfund Site in Bridgeton, Missouri; Source: @EPAregion7/X.com The post Inside Utah’s bid to become the country’s next nuclear hub appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

Kate and Aaron talk to Nick Holshouser, a data analyst with Wandering Nature, LLC, who is analyzing the public comments coming in on the Trump administration’s proposal to repeal the 2001 roadless rule in real-time at roadless.org, and Blaine Miller-McFeeley, a senior legislative representative at Earthjustice, about public comment periods under the Trump administration. We cover why you should still submit public comments (even though the Trump administration probably isn’t interested in your opinion) and how to write a comment that requires an agency response and helps build the legal record against bad agency actions. News Trump is considering more data centers on public lands than previously known – The Washington Sun Forest Service adds comment period for PitCo’s Maroon Bells operations takeover – Aspen Journalism Resources Roadless Rule repeal live comment analysis Submit a comment on the proposed Roadless Rule repeal 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: Stand of Ponderosa Pines in Grassy Valley by Deer Creek on the Malheur National Forest in North Eastern Oregon; Source: USFS/Flickr The post Why submitting a public comment still matters—and how to write a good one appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

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.