On Wednesday, the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee voted 11-9 to advance Steve Pearce, President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Bureau of Land Management, to the full Senate. The Pearce nomination vote was the first real test of the Senate Stewardship Caucus, formed last fall with an ostensible focus on national public land access and management policy. Of the members of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee who are also members of the Stewardship Caucus, only Senator Steve Daines of Montana voted to advance the Pearce nomination. Hours after the vote, Daines announced he will not be seeking reelection in November.
“For years, Western voters have expressed their overwhelming and unwavering support for protected public lands, wildlife habitats, and recreation access, only to have their clear preferences ignored time and again by lawmakers who prioritize loyalty to the Trump administration over service to their constituents,” Center for Western Priorities Policy Director Rachael Hamby said in a statement. “A vote for Steve Pearce is a vote to sell off and privatize our national public lands—the complete opposite of stewardship.”
Utah lawmakers introduce resolution to repeal Grand Staircase-Escalante management plan
On Wednesday, Utah’s congressional delegation introduced a resolution to use the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to overturn the management plan for Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. This move is an attempt to significantly expand the use of the CRA, and could set a dangerous precedent that would lead to chaos in public land management across the country.
“Our national monuments belong to the American people and should not be managed in ways that are clouded by uncertainty,” said Thomas Delehanty, senior attorney at Earthjustice. “This is yet another attempt by Utah politicians to hand over our public lands to industry. Every member of Congress should reject this and any other misguided CRA attack on our public lands.”
Quick hits
Trump’s high-profile oil and gas lease sale in Alaska has no takers
The National Park Service saw major job losses in the last year. More changes loom
How a new ‘conservation pool’ could provide a way forward for Colorado River users
Wyoming nuclear power plant receives federal approval for reactor construction
Meet the ten worst public lands villains of 2026
The big beautiful drill act
Opinion: Montana knows the true cost of mining mistakes
Opinion: Don’t desecrate Big Bend National Park with a useless border wall
Quote of the day
Why use the Congressional Review Act to avoid the hard questions? Good projects shouldn’t need political shortcuts.”
—Randy Newberg, Missoula Current
Picture This
Some of the youngest lava flows on Mount Rainier are actually under the Emmons Glacier. About 5,600 years ago the summit and the northeast slope of the mountain collapsed during an eruption, forming the Osceola Mudflow that flowed as far as Puget Sound. After the mudflow, lava eruptions about 2,200 years ago partially rebuilt the mountain’s northeast slope with the summit craters created by lava flows from 1,000 years ago. These lava flows have been covered by glaciers including the current Emmons Glacier. You can see a part of these relatively “young” lava flows breaking though the Emmons Glacier as ridges of rock in the middle of the glacier on the upper mountain. Have you noticed these lava ridges while in the Sunrise area?
NPS Photo of the Emmons Glacier with lava ridges breaking through the upper part of the middle of the glacier, 2024.
Featured image: Upper Missouri River Breaks in Montana, BLM Montana and Dakotas