The U.S. Forest Service announced on Friday that it will conduct a 15-day comment period before signing off on a special use permit for Pitkin County, Colorado to manage operations at the Maroon Bells Scenic Area. The opportunity for public comment was added following pressure from public lands advocates, including the Center for Western Priorities. The comment period will begin after county commissioners vote on the special use permit this Wednesday.
The agency still intends to approve the permit using a categorical exclusion, which lets it skip the environmental review and public comment process required under the National Environmental Policy Act. The Forest Service has not yet released a map or an acreage number for what the permit would cover. “The public can’t meaningfully participate if USFS is withholding key information about the scope of what it’s proposing,” said CWP executive director Aaron Weiss.
Pitkin County has partnered with the Forest Service on operations at Maroon Bells for decades, but the partnership is not a solution for a lack of federal funding. “We feel like this is the best path forward, and if we can all work together and get federal lands funded at a higher level, that one day, the county could give this back,” said Gary Tennenbaum, director of Pitkin County Open Space and Trails. “Ultimately, we would like the federal government to fund their public lands.”
Scott Fitzwilliams, retired White River National Forest supervisor, worries the arrangement could set a dangerous standard. “Partnerships should add to the agency’s capability,” he said. “They should not become a mechanism to normalize the decline and dismantling of our federal agencies.”
How Trump has disrupted America’s national parks
The Trump administration diverted at least $67 million in national park entrance fees this spring to projects in Washington, D.C., including a no-bid contract to cover four statues near the National Mall in gold leaf, according to documents reviewed by the New York Times. Workforce cuts have left at least 20 percent of parks significantly understaffed. Roughly 1,500 repairs and upgrades at more than 200 National Park Service sites were labeled “low priority,” and most will go unfunded when the fiscal year closes September 30.
Quick hits
Trump signs orders loosening hunting restrictions
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Border wall construction begins in Big Bend region
Trump asked Americans to help him whitewash national parks. They revolted instead
2025 saw a $1.3 billion dip for public land agency contractors
Report: The current state of public lands
Prospectors filed 16 mining claims the same day the lands Trump cut from Bears Ears were opened to mining claims
Federal employee unions sue to block reorganization of Forest Service
Trump says planned 250-foot arch will be ‘military complex’ for drones, snipers
Washington Post | USA Today | The Hill | Time | ABC | Associated Press
Quote of the day
Our parks tell the history of this country. You may not like the history, but it is the history, and so you should tell the story that did take place, not come in and edit.”
—Fran Mainella, former National Park Service director under George W. Bush, New York Times
Picture This
Fat Bear Week starts Tuesday, September 22, 2026. This year, 16 bears go head to head in a bracket-style competition to see which bear of Brooks River is the fattest. A fat bear is a successful bear, and Fat Bear Week celebrates the success of these wild, brown bears.
America’s natural and cultural landscapes that support these fat bears, embody an evolving national story. Katmai National Park and Preserve offers a powerful lens through which visitors can experience an important part of this story. This year, when America celebrates its 250th year of independence, the park honors the places that sustain its communities, whether human or wildlife.
Learn more at the fat bear link in our bio!
Graphics designed by hand by Sara Wolman, courtesy of explore.org #fatbearweek
Featured photo: Maroon Bells Scenic Area. Source: David Blackley, CC BY-ND 2.0