Ninety-nine percent of public comments on the Trump administration’s plan to rewrite the Forest Service’s Travel Management Rule oppose the change, according to a new analysis from the Center for Western Priorities. Of the 134,312 comments submitted before the comment period closed on Wednesday, just 0.4 percent supported the revision, and nearly a third of those were focused only on the proposal’s e-bike reclassification.
The proposed rule revision would presume existing roads, trails, airfields, and other access routes are open to motorized vehicles by default unless a closure is required by law or justified by documented resource, safety, use-conflict, or maintenance concerns. “There are places where motorized vehicles belong and places they don’t,” said Lilly Bock-Brownstein, CWP’s creative content and policy manager. “The American public clearly gets it. But the Trump administration either doesn’t understand, or doesn’t care.”
The proposal is moving alongside the Forest Service’s push to repeal the 2001 Roadless Rule. During a 21-day scoping period last fall, more than 99 percent of commenters opposed the rescission. The formal proposed rule and draft environmental impact statement are currently accepting comments through October 6. For tips on writing a public comment, and why it matters, listen to the latest episode of The Landscape.
Trump hands Burgum a new way to bypass public lands protections
Earlier this month, President Trump signed an executive order letting the Interior secretary use delegated Defense Production Act (DPA) authorities independent of the Energy secretary, according to a new Westwise post from CWP Policy Director Rachael Hamby. This gives Doug Burgum “a new way to ignore land protections and avoid following environmental laws under the guise of national security, with few guardrails or opportunities for the public to weigh in,” writes Hamby.
Quick hits
Massive data center proposed for public lands in Idaho
Field & Stream | Idaho Press | CBS2
Trump officials sideline local historians in arch review
Politico | ABC News | Washington Post
Nevada parks to lose millions after federal funding block
Pitkin County votes to manage operations at Maroon Bells Scenic Area
Aspen Daily News | Colorado Public Radio | Aspen Times | Denver 7
Opinion: Yosemite land giveaway shows no place is safe from Trump’s assault on public lands
How the Interior secretary has let down public lands and the nation
High Country News/The Landline
Everything you need to know about SpaceX’s wildlife refuge land swap
A mine near Katmai has conservationists sounding the alarm over its beloved Fat Bears
Quote of the day
After all, if it can happen to Yosemite National Park, one of the crown jewels of our National Park system, no place is safe.”
—Mark Butler, former superintendent of Joshua Tree National Park, CalMatters
Picture This
@glaciernps“What kind of poop is that on the trail?”💩
We get this question a lot, and the answers vary. But most often, it’s from horses and mules!
Most visitors to Glacier don’t know that we have a thriving stock program, where skilled packers use horses and mules to carry gear into the backcountry for various crews.
The park has trail crews, scientists, fire lookouts, maintenance staff, and more who spend a week or more at a time in the backcountry. And they need to get their tools, gear, instruments, and food into the backcountry as well.
Mule packing is also a longstanding tradition, both across the West and around the world. Glacier’s stock program preserves this cultural heritage and shares it with future generations of park staff and visitors.
PSA: If you’re hiking on a trail and encounter a pack string, please step far off the trail and listen to the packer for directions. Feel free to take photos, but do not approach or try to pet any of the animals — while some are friendly, they have widely varying temperaments and moods!
NPS Photos
Featured photo: Trail marker in Ashley National Forest in Utah. Source: U.S. Forest Service