Our public lands are at the forefront of the climate crisis
Increasing and undeniable impacts of climate change are being felt in communities across the country. On public lands in the West, climate change is driving longer and more intense wildfire seasons with more high-severity catastrophic wildfires; decreased snowpack and water retention; drought and its impacts on livelihoods and ecosystems; and the fragmentation and loss of wildlife habitat and migratory corridors. All of these impacts are magnified on our national public lands such as national parks, national monuments, national forests, and national wildlife refuges.
Unfortunately, historical mismanagement of public lands for extensive resource extraction—including drilling, mining, and clear-cut logging—has contributed to climate change, and sprawling development patterns have further disturbed landscapes and ecosystems upon which both humans and wildlife depend. The current administration consistently downplays and outright ignores the threat that climate change poses to public land, even though scientists have warned that ignoring the climate crisis will worsen the effects of climate change. Research from the U.S. Geological Survey found that from 2005 to 2022, fossil fuels extracted from public lands and waters were responsible for nearly a quarter of the United States’ greenhouse gas emissions. Coal burning and methane emissions from oil and gas drilling were especially strong drivers of climate change.
Public lands matter more than ever as the current administration has unleashed a siege on science. The administration dismissed all 400 scientists working on the National Climate Assessment, a congressionally-required report on how climate change is affecting the country. It also announced significant cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency and took away billions of dollars in climate research funding for universities. It also plans on slashing scientific research at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and eliminating all research at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which is responsible for a host of climate, weather, and conservation science. As the Trump administration continues to undo decades of climate progress, it will become even more essential for lawmakers to make public lands a solution to, not a victim of, the climate crisis.