The Mountain Pact Septembr 2025 Conservation Update and Action Items

[The Mountain Pact]

View this email in your browser September 2025 Conservation Update Greetings from The Mountain Pact! We hope you are enjoying the beginning of autumn. The Mountain Pact had a busy month of September fighting back against several threats to the public lands we all cherish. From standing up for the BLM Public Lands Rule, to defending the Roadless Rule, to opposing unnecessary barriers to the Land and Water Conservation Fund, we’ve been working tirelessly alongside folks like you to protect our public lands from reckless attacks at the hands of anti-public lands politicians.  Read more to learn about how we are organizing local elected leaders and how you can get involved in the fight to keep our most treasured outdoor spaces open, healthy, and accessible for this generation and for generations to come. BREAKING NEWS The federal government is on the verge of a shutdown as negotiations continue to fail. A government shutdown would cause grave harm for both our public lands and the communities that depend on them. We urge the administration and congress to find a bipartisan solution that protects our families, our communities, and our outdoor way of life. If a shutdown starts tonight, please let us know what direct impacts you are seeing in your communities so we can help share those real life examples with the media, congressional offices, and the administration. The Mountain Pact PUBLIC LANDS SELL-OFF In light of serious attacks on America’s public lands at the hands of anti-public lands politicians, including an attempt led by Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) to force the sale of up to 1.2 million acres of public lands to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy, over the past few months, more than 60 communities across the West have passed resolutions, sent letters to their federal delegation, or issued proclamations affirming their commitment to defending our nation’s most treasured natural spaces.  Read more here or via our press release from last week with quotes from 40 western county commissioners/supervisors, mayors, council members/trustees on why they passed resolutions.  These resolutions come after more than 315 current and former Western local elected officials from both sides of the aisle urgently called for a more balanced approach to the management of our public lands this spring.  The full list of communities who have stood up to support public lands through recent resolutions, proclamations and letters to their federal delegation, include:  Arizona: Yavapai, Pima, and Coconino counties and cities of Tucson, Sedona, Flagstaff, Marana, and Clarkdale; California: Towns of Mammoth Lakes and Truckee, and the City of Bishop; Colorado: Larimer, Boulder, Summit, Clear Creek, Pitkin, Eagle, Gilpin, Routt, Garfield, Hinsdale, Jefferson, Saguache, La Plata, San Miguel, Pueblo, Gunnison, and Chaffee counties; and cities/towns of Boulder, Basalt, Winter Park, Snowmass Village, Durango, Frisco, Aspen, Eagle, Steamboat Springs, Mancos, Nederland, Dolores, Lyons, Superior, Keystone, Ridgway, Buena Vista;  Idaho: Blaine County as well as the Boise Mayor’s emergency resolution at the U.S. Conference of Mayors; Montana: Missoula County, the City of Missoula;  New Mexico: Taos and Santa Fe counties, the City of Las Cruces, and the towns of Taos and Mesilla; Oregon: City of Bend; Utah: Summit County, and Town of Alta; Washington: Jefferson County; Towns of Covington, Leavenworth; Wyoming: Park, Sublette, and Teton counties; Along with other Western communities reviewing resolutions this month!   Check out coverage of the resolutions in Outside Magazine, National Parks Traveler, Sierra Sun, and the Telluride Daily Planet. READ MORE If you haven't done a resolution in support of public lands yet, please consider joining the many communities who have already spoken out in support of public lands. Reach out to Anna for more information.  Roadless Rule Rescission The Mountain Pact also wrote a letter to U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz, urging his agency not to rescind the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, but instead to keep it in place to protect the wildest parts of our public forests. Opinion: Rescinding the Roadless Rule will do irreparable damage to the Wasatch Range. Public lands management plans at risk in Congress and Congress just voted to break public lands. From Colorado to Utah to Oregon, forest advocates call for action to protect Roadless Rule. Utah advocates fear a ‘slow creep’ of development without the Roadless Rule. More than 99% of commenters disapprove of Roadless Rule rollback. Trump agencies push ahead to repeal roadless rule, halt public lands conservation. Land and Water Conservation Fund We sharply condemned Interior Secretary Doug Burgum’s Secretarial Executive Order that jeopardizes the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) and the bipartisan Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA). Erecting unnecessary barriers for LWCF projects will stall progress on critical conservation efforts and is a direct threat to mountain communities and our outdoor way of life.  Conservation advocates tell Congress to fund park maintenance, protect Land & Water Conservation Fund and Interior changes priorities, requirements for Land and Water Conservation Fund. Outdoor groups blast Burgum order undermining conservation fund. Public Lands Rule Rescission Finally, we blasted the Trump administration's proposal to roll back the Public Lands Rule ("Conservation and Landscape Health Rule") - a critical rule the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) finalized last year that increased protections for public lands by putting conservation on equal footing with other uses of BLM land like energy development, livestock grazing, and recreation. See further coverage in National Parks Traveler, Aspen Times/Summit Daily,/Sky Hi News/Vail Daily/Pilot&Today/Post Independent, Moab Sun News, and The Denver Post/Daily Camera/Trail Gazette/Eagle-Tribune/Daily Record.  Trump moves to slash public lands rule in favor of energy development. The wild areas facing the most threats under Public Lands Rule repeal. Trump rollback of rule for public lands—including 13,000 square miles in Colorado—would reduce conservation role. Sign onto this BLM Public Lands Rule rollback comment letter by Nov. 1 Mountain Community News Climate Dozens of scientists find errors in a new Energy Department climate report. Youth, scientists argue for court to halt Trump executive orders unleashing fossil fuel industry. ‘Mine, Baby, Mine’: Trump officials offer $625 million to "rescue" coal and  Trump administration to expand coal leasing, fund coal plant upgrades.   Wildfire Opinion: To solve the wildfire crisis, we have to let the myth of ‘the wild’ die. Border Patrol arrested firefighters as they were battling a wildfire. 'Roomba for the forest' sets precise burns, could be California's next wildfire weapon. Wildland firefighter diagnosed with cancer after six seasons of inhaling toxic smoke, denied worker's comp. Wildfire pros warn Trump admin is weaponizing wildfire resiliency. Grove of giant sequoia trees burn in Sierra National Forest. Feds combine several wildland firefighting operations into new Wildland Fire Service. In the West, utilities are shifting the cost of wildfire damages to customers. Drought and Flooding Humanity is rapidly depleting water and much of the world is getting drier. How Big Ag is threatening New Mexico’s water supply. The dwindling Colorado River can’t wait for states to cut water use, experts say. Tourism, Outdoor Recreation, and National Parks Trump shrank staffing of national parks. See how many are struggling. ‘Scared’ and angry: Here’s why workers unionized at Yosemite, Sequoia national parks. This man's Grand Teton National Park conservation legacy rivals his grandfather’s. ‘Incredible’ win for outdoor recreation in Montana land deal. Park Police chief leaves as Burgum plays top TV cop. Rescinding the Roadless Rule threatens these 13 climbing areas. Will national parks be open if the government shuts down? Zion National Park will soon dump its portable toilets. Former national park superintendents urge Trump administration to close parks in case of shutdown. Public Lands, Water, & Wildlife Conservation Public Lands Congress moves to override protections for millions of acres of public land. Opinion: Selling off Nevada's public lands threatens millions in jobs and growth. Opinion: Public lands plans at risk in Congress. Lawmakers’ use of little-known law to strike down public land plans could be Pandora’s box moment and Decades of public-lands planning, overturned in a day. Ahead of Public Lands Day, communities affirm commitment to outdoor spaces. Amid Forest Service cuts, one Colorado community pushes back with public messaging campaign. Pueblo Governors, New Mexico leaders rally in D.C. to protect Chaco Canyon. Trump's former Interior secretary rakes in corporate cash at new lobbying firm. The Trump administration's dismantling of the U.S. Forest Service. National Monuments Colorado National Monument launches first of its kind mental health program. LWCF opens access to canyon trail in Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument. Gosar introduces legislation to nullify two Arizona national monuments. What's changed since National Parks were ordered to remove 'negative' content Bureau of Land Management   BLM counts on pent-up demand, offers more than 130,000 acres of public land in Colorado for oil and gas drilling. Bureau of Land Management moves to limit sage grouse protections to ease fossil fuel development. BLM review finds no big problem with lithium mine expansion. BLM employee's resignation request rejected three times while he cared for his dying wife and three kids. Is there no place for conservation on public land? BLM signals it may reopen Utah off-highway vehicle trails.       Wildlife Bison eradication stripped western grasslands of nutrients, Yellowstone research shows. Colorado opens spectacular new wildlife area on former ranch property. Mule deer could lose half their northeast Wyoming habitat to cheatgrass without help. Wyoming wildlife commission seeks to protect full 'Path of the Pronghorn'. The fight to protect southern Arizona wildlife amid border wall construction. Federal judge stops grazing in grizzly habitat near Yellowstone. Development, Fossil Fuels, Extraction on Public Lands   White House orders agencies to escalate fight against offshore wind. Energy secretary attacks wind power, dismisses climate change efforts as 'silly' on his way to promote carbon in Europe. Tribe sues Forest Service for approving Idaho mine. Trump says America's oil industry is cleaner than other countries', but new data shows massive emissions from Texas wells. Republicans move to lift drilling and mining restrictions in Western states. Trump wants mining, but mine safety is on the chopping block. Colorado groups sue Polis administration over lack of oil and gas pollution enforcement. Feds fast-track coal mining expansion in southwest Wyoming. Big oil, gas, and coal get a whopping $34.8 billion in handouts from the U.S. federal government every year. Thank you for your interest in, and participation with, the Mountain Pact! Founded in 2014, The Mountain Pact mobilizes local elected officials in over 100 Western mountain communities with outdoor recreation based economies to speak with a collective voice on federal climate, public lands, and outdoor recreation policy. Read this and past versions of other Mountain Pact updates here. www.themountainpact.org | in...@themountainpact.org Check us out on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/themountainpact.bsky.social SUPPORT Copyright ©2025 The Mountain Pact, All rights reserved. The Mountain Pact is fiscally sponsored by the Sierra Business Council Our mailing address is: PO Box 2428 Truckee, CA 96160 Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.