Concern about data centers on public lands is building in the West as the Trump administration weighs at least 12 proposals covering more than 17,600 acres across six states. Earlier this week, members of Arizona’s congressional delegation demanded answers from the Bureau of Land Management about four data center proposals covering roughly 3,000 acres of public land in the state. In a letter to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, congressional members asked for details on each project and for the plans for public input and environmental review.
“There’s been, unfortunately, a lack of transparency by the Trump administration. We found out about the proposed four data centers on BLM land in Arizona from a media source in Washington, D.C.,” said Representative Greg Stanton of Arizona.
In Idaho, there is a proposal for a four-million-square-foot data center and natural gas power plant on up to 3,700 acres of BLM land southeast of Boise, near the Blacks Creek Reservoir bird reserve. “I honestly don’t know how we would be able to keep up with that in terms of energy demand, water demand, in the region, which is already so tight,” said Lisa Young, director of the Sierra Club’s Idaho Chapter.
Meanwhile, in Nevada, BLM has asked the Interior Board of Land Appeals to set aside its approval of a right-of-way amendment that would put a data center near Boulder City on land permitted for a solar plant. Boulder City opposes returning the decision to BLM without commitments to environmental review and public involvement. A recent Pew Research Center survey showed that nationally, 60 percent of Americans say they would be uncomfortable with a new data center in their area, including 54 percent of Republicans and 68 percent of Democrats.
Pitkin County approves Maroon Bells permit
Pitkin County commissioners voted on Wednesday to approve a special use permit to take over daily operations of the Maroon Bells Scenic Area from the U.S. Forest Service starting in 2027. The permit still needs final approval from the Forest Service and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the agency has not said how many acres the county would manage or released a map of the permit area. The Forest Service’s 15-day comment period has not yet been published in the Federal Register. “Pitkin County is stepping in because the federal government failed to fund one of the most iconic landscapes in the country,” said Aaron Weiss, CWP’s executive director. “Congress sets the Forest Service’s budget, and it’s Congress’s job to fund our public lands so the federal government can manage them for everyone.”
Quick hits
DOGE memoir skips the part where children died and taxpayers got ripped off
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Interior department blocks $428k for cultural resource projects in Yellowstone
National Trust, after battling with Trump, to announce legal defense fund
Washington Post | Washington Sun | Associated Press
Nearly 6M gallons of oil, gas, and waste product spilled in these western states
Opinion: A nature-friendly clean energy future
As bears ‘spin out’ in southern Montana, wildlife managers are at wit’s end
Quote of the day
Our national inheritance hangs in balance today. It is not an exaggeration to say that this moment is existential. For our field, for the communities we serve, and for generations to come.”
—Brent Leggs, President and CEO of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Associated Press
Picture This
@usinteriorChub in the tub,
Chunk in the trunk,
Salmon gets spotted,
Salmon gets dunked.
Big on the belly,
Thick through the thighs,
Winter is coming,
Supersize.
Tune is to the live-cameras for all the fat bear fun. See who can pack on the pounds to be the winner of this year’s Fat Bear Week contest: https://explore.org/
Photo of bear 747 by L. Law
Featured photo: Lake Mead and Boulder City, Nevada. Source: Doc Searls/Wikimedia
