From 2021 until 2024, while I was Secretary of the Interior, we worked to forge stability, create jobs in a clean energy economy, conserve more lands and waters for future generations, and secure clean air and water for communities in every corner of the country.

We treated everyone with dignity and respect鈥攙alues that New Mexicans live by. Today, the work we accomplished, alongside conservationists, farmers, ranchers, Tribes, rural communities, and cities is under attack.

In a time of questions and uncertainty in Washington, governors around the country will be on the front lines of defense against this president鈥檚 reckless firing of federal workers, massive cuts to services that people rely on, and general chaos. The Trump administration is vigorously defending its actions in court, and if they鈥檙e allowed to stand, the harm will only grow.

When wildfires strike, there will now be fewer federal firefighters to put out the flames. Jobs and livelihoods in the outdoor recreation sector are at risk. Families who plan to visit Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico, Yellowstone in Wyoming, and other national parks will encounter longer wait times and possibly limited hours.

When folks are looking to gather firewood on national forest lands, they could have a harder time contacting support staff. Veterans who seek solace on our public lands might not have the access they once did. Hunters may notice that their organizations are losing funding, and their hunting grounds slowly disappearing and being sold off to the highest bidder.

I鈥檓 running for Governor of New Mexico because leadership matters.

Governors will need to meet this moment with bold and steady leadership, and I will be a Governor who stands up for New Mexicans and the public lands that we love. While I was Secretary of the Interior, we made tremendous strides to address climate change, expand access to public lands, address drought, and manage resources responsibly. This was all done with clear direction and respect for the workforce tasked with implementing our goals. We tried new things and shot for the moon, and we did it all hand-in-hand with the people most impacted.

We created meaningful change because we were a serious agency led by, frankly, serious people. The Interior was one of the largest agencies in the federal government with nearly 70,000 dedicated employees鈥攑ark rangers, firefighters, climate scientists, biologists, and more. These are the jobs in New Mexico that kids deserve to have when they鈥檙e grown.

As I travel around my home state listening to communities, I鈥檓 hearing time and again that people are afraid. I鈥檝e met federal workers who were worried about their jobs, seniors anxious about Medicare, veterans concerned about VA services, and families worried about their kids鈥� schools. Trump and Elon Musk are striking fear into our communities while failing to deliver the things they promised.

Governors have the obligation to protect our communities. I know I will carry the weight of standing up in the face of these attacks, but it鈥檚 a weight I will happily carry because I believe in a future where we all share in New Mexico鈥檚 bounty and success. It鈥檚 a vision that has sometimes been out of reach, but I believe that with my experience, we can change the system to work for the people.

Similar to the way I changed the system at the Department of the Interior by bringing Tribal Nations and local communities in as active participants in stewarding our lands, I will make that a reality for traditional communities and Tribes in New Mexico. I will also collaborate with other governors who recognize the threats posed by this administration and with the state attorney general to pursue legal routes to fight for the protection of our lands. I hope and expect that governors鈥攁s chief executives of states鈥攚ill work together to share and learn from their successes and find opportunities to pursue new solutions. We must recognize the urgency of this moment and lock arms against these very real threats.

As governor, I will make sure New Mexico鈥檚 state parks are maintained and accessible, and I鈥檒l work to break down barriers to access these treasures. If the national parks and other federal lands in New Mexico suffer further staffing and resource cuts, I will explore ways for the state to step up and provide support to keep federal lands safe and available. I will continue efforts to recruit and hire federal workers who have lost their jobs so that they can continue to share their valuable skills and training.

I鈥檓 running for governor because the experience I gained leading a federal department and working in Congress will help working people. And I will stand alongside all of the governors who will be on the frontlines to protect our beautiful landscapes, outdoor traditions, and natural resources for future generations.

Deb Haaland served as the 54th Secretary of the United States Department of the Interior.

The post Op-Ed: Public Lands Are Under Attack. State Leaders Should Protect them. appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

The Trump Administration is eliminating a 2024 rule that places environmental protection on par with mining, ranching, and timber cutting on lands overseen by the Bureau of Land Management.

On April 14 the White House about its intent to rescind the , also called the Public Lands Rule.

The rule, which was formally published on June 12, 2024, requires the BLM to “support ecosystem health and resilience” and “protect landscapes, restore degraded habitat, and make informed management decisions based on science and data.” The rule allows the BLM to lease land to non-profit organizations for the sole purpose of restoration and conservation.

国产吃瓜黑料 reached out to the U.S. Interior Department for comment, and a media representative confirmed that the Bureau of Land Management will rescind the Public Lands Rule.

The move has generated praise from some state officials and harsh criticism from non-profit groups that work in land management and environmental protection.

The Bureau of Land Management oversees 245 million acres of land in the American West, or roughly one tenth of the country’s entire landmass. According to the , which creates the framework for modern public lands management, the BLM should administer public lands “on the basis of multiple use and sustained yield” of resources.

When it was published in 2024, the Public Lands Rule drew immediate criticism from some lawmakers. In June, 2024, lawmakers in to repeal the rule, arguing that it “represents a sea change in how the BLM will carry out its mission moving forward.”

“The Public Lands Rule is a classic example of a solution looking for a problem,” Utah governor Spencer Cox said at the time.

In February of 2025, senators in both Utah and Wyoming introduced the Western Economic Security Today Act鈥攁 law that would repeal the Public Lands Rule. Republican senator a “radical rule that threatens our Wyoming way of life.”

On Thursday, April 17, the Utah Attorney General that the Utah is “thrilled” about the Trump Administration’s move to rescind the rule.

“This rule could keep Utahns off public lands and would employ a museum-type management approach,” he said. “You can look, but you can’t touch.”

But several non-profit groups that focus on ecology and environmental protection hit back at the decision. In a public statement, Alison Flint, senior legal director for the nonprofit group The Wilderness Society called the move “a blatant giveaway to industry.”

“Public lands belong to all of us, and they should not be cast off to the highest bidder,” Flint said. “With last week鈥檚 directive, the president is putting himself above the law and planning to slash the safeguards that protect wildlife, clean air and water and the communities that depend on them.”

A statement from the Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, a nonprofit representing communities that hunt and fish, pointed out that the Public Lands Rule was published after the general public was allowed to submit comments both for and against it. The White House’s did not allow the public to comment prior to its decision to repeal it.

鈥淭he notion that the administration may intend to move forward unilaterally without following any public engagement process is deeply troubling,鈥� said Kaden McArthur, director of policy and government relations for Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, in a statement. 鈥淭he Public Lands Rule reflects years of work, including extensive input from stakeholders, to ensure the long-term health of the landscapes we rely on for healthy fish and wildlife habitat.

Steve Bloch, legal director of the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, a nonprofit that advocates for environmental protection, levied harsh criticism at Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, who has spoken publicly about wanting to open public lands up for agriculture, industry, and energy exploration.

“Doug Burgum often invokes President Theodore Roosevelt鈥檚 conservation legacy as a model for his own tenure as Secretary of the Interior,” Bloch said. “Teddy Roosevelt is rolling over in his grave at both the comparison and Burgum鈥檚 ever-darkening legacy over the nation鈥檚 public lands.”

The post This Rule Boosted Public Land Protection. The Feds Are Removing It. appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

America’s 63 national parks and 433 NPS-managed sites should remain fully “open and accessible” to visitors, despite the recent staffing cuts, according to Interior Secretary Douglas Burgum’s .

Burgum’s mandate included another order: before reducing operating hours or closing visitor services like trails and campgrounds, national parklands must first consult with the NPS director and the assistant secretary for U.S. Fish and Wildlife and Parks.

The statement has sparked a debate within the NPS and the advocacy groups in its orbit. Proponents say that the order provides a roadmap for the Department of the Interior to ramp up staffing at the NPS sites so that the general public can enjoy them.

But critics say that the move forces understaffed parklands to proceed with services and open infrastructure despite a lack of manpower.

鈥淭he way that it’s written is hugely problematic,鈥� Kristen Brengel, senior vice president of the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) told 国产吃瓜黑料. 鈥淵ou can’t wait for a political appointee in Washington D.C. to get back to you on a closure you need to make right now.鈥�

Brengel referenced Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, where the Kilauea volcano has been erupting on and off since December 2024. It鈥檚 currently on again and spewing lava. 鈥淧ark superintendents need to be nimble in order to keep visitors safe,鈥� Brengel said.

NPCA is one of several non-profit organizations that have sounded the alarm about the feasibility of implementing the order. 鈥淚t sets up a situation that could be highly dangerous for park visitors,鈥� Brengel said.

But Rachel Pawlitz, public affairs chief for the National Park Service, told 国产吃瓜黑料 that the order is a win for the parks. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not unusual for the staffing needs to fluctuate,鈥� she said. 鈥淭his order spells out a process that will allow us to coordinate closely with leadership in the Interior Department to meet the evolving needs of our visitors, adapting as needed, to ensure visitor satisfaction.鈥�

In Section 4 of the memo, Burgum orders the Interior Department to “take action to ensure that NPS is properly staffed to support the operating hours and needs of each park unit.”

Another group praising Burgum’s order is The American Bus Association, a trade group representing coach and tour bus companies.聽鈥淥verall, this action by the Department of the Interior underscores a commitment to keeping national parks open, accessible, and welcoming,” the group wrote in a statement. “For tour operators who rely on predictable access to NPS-managed sites, the order offers much-needed clarity and assurance, ensuring their ability to deliver high-quality travel experiences in partnership with the nation鈥檚 public lands.鈥�

The order comes on the heels of a challenging two months for the NPS. Starting in February, the Trump Administration began enacting mass layoffs, firings, and hiring freezes across the agency. More than 1,000 NPS employees were cut, and another 700 took buyouts. Since then, the NPS has been quietly hiring back some workers and also bringing on thousands of seasonal employees for the busy spring and summer months.

Several NPS sites, including California鈥檚 Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks and Yosemite National Park, have had to cancel programs and scale back on opening hours. Arches National Park in Utah hiking area on March 23 due to staffing shortages. A park spokesperson 迟辞濒诲听国产吃瓜黑料 that the move to close Fiery Furnace was due to safety.

“The Fiery Furnace is a labyrinth, and one sprained ankle can trigger a rescue,” Karen Henker, a spokesperson for Arches National Park, said. “And that鈥檚 five hours and ten staff people to carry someone out.”

On Thursday, April 10, Arches National Park announced on its website that to hikers on April 15. Ranger-guided tours will resume on May 4.

A National Park Service ranger speaking anonymously to 国产吃瓜黑料 expressed concern that reopening some closed areas could damage the parks. 鈥淪ure we can keep everything open,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut who wants to recreate in a park with broken down facilities and no maintenance and no search and rescue?鈥�

Bill Wade, the executive director of the Association of National Park Rangers, a non-profit group that advocates for NPS employees, said that the order puts park superintendents in a difficult situation. Under the Organic Act of 1916, NPS employees are to protect the nation鈥檚 parks and monuments while also providing for public enjoyment now and for future generations.

Wade, who was superintendent at Shenandoah National Park for ten years, said the order places the needs of the public ahead of conserving park resources.

“The law gives priority to protecting the resources, so if you are a superintendent, you must be able to do this, even if you have limited resources, before you put them toward keeping the trails open, keeping the visitor centers open, keeping the public restrooms clean, those sorts of things,” Wade said.

He added, 鈥淚 hate to say it, but I’m glad I’m not a superintendent right now.鈥�

The post The Feds Have Ordered National Parks to Remain 鈥淥pen and Accessible.鈥� Is That a Good Thing? appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

Alex Wild, 35, has been a park ranger for 15 years, working seasonal National Park Service positions for five of the last six years. Then, in 2024, Wild landed his dream job as an interpretive ranger at California鈥檚 Devil鈥檚 Postpile National Monument. He was still within the 12-month probationary period that all NPS workers undergo when they start a new position when the Trump Administration began slashing NPS jobs on February 14. Like thousands of other federal workers, Wild was told that afternoon that he鈥檇 been let go.

鈥淚 was the one who interacted with the park鈥檚 visitors, who handed out the badges for the Junior Ranger program, who coordinated visits from churches and other community groups,鈥� Wild told 国产吃瓜黑料. He was also the park鈥檚 only EMT, and the first responder for emergencies, assisting in multiple incidents every week.

Like many cut NPS staffers, Wild to express his sadness. 鈥淢y heart is broken for all of the other people who lost their jobs and their housing,鈥� he wrote on Instagram. 鈥淢y heart is broken for the parks and landscapes that will be damaged. And my heart is broken for my country.鈥�

Wild is one of an estimated 5,000 employees working for public lands who have lost their jobs since February 14. About 1,000 of these were with the National Park Service鈥攁nother reportedly took buyouts and went into early retirement. The rest were with the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management.

 

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In the days since the massive layoffs, media outlets and the public have sought to understand how these cuts will impact specific National Parks. After all, the busy spring and summer travel seasons are on the horizon, and in just a few weeks millions of Americans will descend on America鈥檚 parklands and campgrounds for their vacations.

Most NPS site have yet to publish details on which jobs have been lost amid the culling, and the NPS’s national office has not distributed a list of fired employees.聽国产吃瓜黑料 reached out to the NPS national office to inquire about specific jobs that were terminated, but the agency didn’t respond. 聽鈥淭he National Park Service is hiring seasonal workers to continue enhancing the visitor experience as we embrace new opportunities for optimization and innovation in workforce management. We are focused on ensuring that every visitor has the chance to explore and connect with the incredible, iconic spaces of our national parks,鈥� read a statement released by the NPS on February 27.

Instead, the public has pieced together information via , , and crowdsourced information. This lack of details has caused headaches with the non-profit groups that work with the NPS and other agencies to assist with trail projects and fundraising.

鈥淭here hasn鈥檛 been any transparency from the administration about the layoffs or deferred resignations. The public is in the dark,鈥� said Kristen Brengel, senior vice president of governmental affairs for the National Park Conservation Association. 鈥淭hankfully, many park rangers and staff who were laid off are speaking out and we are learning more about the positions lost. It should concern the public that maintenance technicians, wildlife biologists, interpreters, archeologists, ecologists who test water safety, fishery biologists, and EMTs were fired.鈥�

Amid the lack of information, social media posts like the one Wild published have helped media outlets and the general public get a sense of just how sweeping and damaging the cuts have been to the agency. This month, a non-profit group called the (ANPR) has shared crowdsourced information about how many layoffs have occurred at each park. The information was compiled by a seasonal ranger who has asked to remain anonymous. The ranger has maintained a detailed spreadsheet with the number of jobs lost at all 433 NPS sites, including the 63 national parks.

Bill Wade, the executive director of the ANPR, called the list “unofficial,” but said that the information has come from reliable sources.

“These numbers come from existing employees at national parks, or from friends groups that know what is going on at the park,” he told 翱耻迟蝉颈诲别.听Wade said that social media posts like the one Wild published have also helped his group tally the layoffs.

As of Friday, February 28, the group had charted 759 firings. 国产吃瓜黑料 was able to view the spreadsheet, and see how the layoffs impacted each national park. According to the ANPR鈥檚 data, these are the number of employees lost at each park:

• Acadia National Park: 8
• Arches National Park: 3
• Badlands National Park: 1
• Big Bend National Park: 5
• Biscayne National Park: 3
• Blue Ridge Parkway: 1
• Bryce Canyon National Park: 2
• Capitol Reef National Park: 1
• Carlsbad Caverns National Park: 14
• Channel Islands National Park: 6
• Congaree National Park: 1
• Crater Lake National Park: 1
• Cuyahoga Valley National Park: 4
• Death Valley National Park: 6
• Denali National Park and Reserve: 4
• Dry Tortugas National Park: 1
• Everglades National Park: 15
• Glacier National Park: 2
• Grand Canyon National Park: 10
• Grand Teton National Park: 4
• Great Basin National Park: 5
• Great Sand Dunes: 2
• Great Smoky Mountains National Park: 12
• Haleakala National Park: 7
• Hawaii Volcanoes National Park: 7
• Isle Royale National Park: 1
• Joshua Tree National Park: 6
• Kenai Fjords National Park: 1
• Lassen Volcanic National Park: 1
• Mammoth Cave National Park: 15
• Mesa Verde National Park: 2
• Mount Rainier National Park: 10
• National Capital Parks-East: 6
• American Samoa: 5
• North Cascades National Park: 6
• Olympic National Park: 5
• Petrified Forest National Park: 5
• Pinnacles National Park: 2
• Redwood National Park: 6
• Rocky Mountain National Park: 12
• Saguaro National Park: 2
• Sequoia/Kings Canyon National Park: 10
• Shenandoah National Park: 15
• Theodore Roosevelt National Park: 2
• Virgin Islands National Park: 2
• Wrangell-St Elias: 1
• Yellowstone National Park: 7
• Yosemite National Park: 9
• Zion National Park: 11

 

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Other areas managed by the NPS have suffered major cuts as well, according to the ANPR data. Lake Mead National Recreation area in Arizona lost 13 staffers, including an aquatic ecologist who tests water safety. Gateway National Recreation Area in New York and New Jersey lost 11 staffers. Glen Canyon National Recreation Area lost 12, and Golden Gate National Recreation Area lost 10. The NPS鈥檚 Historic Preservation Training Center, a group that helps restore and maintain historic structures, let 34 people go.

The cuts have impacted a wide swath of jobs, from custodians and trail maintenance crews, to visitor center workers and聽 fee collectors, as well as scientists and teachers. “We’ve been told that interpretive rangers and people who do education for kids and school groups were hit the hardest,” Wade said. “And people who are involved in collecting fees.”

Aubry Andreas, 29, was working as a visual information specialist at Rocky Mountain National Park when she became one of the park鈥檚 12 probationary employees fired on February 14.

Andres oversaw all of the park鈥檚 printed materials, which in 2023 was the fifth-most visited NPS site with 4 million visitors. Among her tasks were creating the annual visitor’s guide, maintaining the official park map and the area maps that get handed out to visitors, and helping with park signage.

At the time of her termination, Aubry was leading an initiative to develop a new accessibility guide to Rocky Mountain,聽both for people with physical limitations as well as cognitive considerations. She was also redesigning the park鈥檚 junior ranger book using money from a grant.

鈥淭he crazy thing is, I鈥檓 the only Visual Information Specialist there,鈥� Andreas told 国产吃瓜黑料. 鈥淣ow that I’m gone, all that work will either have to get dropped鈥攚hich obviously is going to impact visitors鈥攐r it’s going to get placed onto other people who already have their own full breadth of duties and responsibilities to carry out.鈥�

A group of former and current NPS workers plan to hold protests at more than 100 sites managed by the agency. The group is calling itself 鈥�.鈥�

Other Agencies Feel the Cuts

Thousands of employees with other agencies overseeing public land have also lost their jobs throughout February. estimates that the National Forest Service lost 3,400 positions. Throughout February, laid-off employees from these agencies have also posted about their plights online.

The day before she lost her job with the U.S. Forest Service, Arianna Knight, the Wilderness Trails Supervisor for the Yellowstone Ranger District in Montana, was working late. She traversed the backcountry adjacent to Yellowstone National Park by snowmobile, doing routine maintenance on one of her district鈥檚 ten public rental cabins. When Knight, 29, returned to the office, she received an ominous text from her boss. 鈥淭here were whisperings of the terminations starting,鈥� Knight told 国产吃瓜黑料.

At home that evening, Knight checked the /fednews page on Reddit and learned that probationary employees聽were going to be fired. Since stepping into a management role earlier in the year, she had been given that designation.

鈥淚 went into the office the next day knowing it was a lost cause,鈥� Knight said.

Losing Knight will have a dramatic impact on the Yellowstone Ranger District. In 2024 her maintenance team鈥攕he managed between two and eight workers鈥攃leared 4,062 trees that had fallen across trails near Yellowstone. Knight believes her ranger district won’t have the manpower in 2025 to do the same job. 鈥淭here鈥檚 not enough support available from nonprofits and volunteers, and they’re not specialized enough to do the type of work that we do,” she said.

Nate Stickler, 25, who was a trails crew leader in Colorado鈥檚 San Juan National Forest, told 国产吃瓜黑料 that he was two months away from finishing his probationary period when the cuts came down. The San Juan trails crew is comprised of seasonal workers, mostly novices, and volunteers. At the start of the season, it was Stickler鈥檚 job to train the crew, on everything from how to use a radio for communications in the backcountry to how to use a chainsaw.

鈥淭his is absolutely going to affect people鈥檚 experience of our public lands,鈥� Stickler said. 鈥淚鈥檓 hoping that people will speak up and contact their congress person before the situation gets completely out of control.鈥�

Wild contends that by opting to fire people on probationary status, the federal government will lose some of its best public land managers. 鈥淭hese are the people who鈥檇 just gotten promotions,鈥� he said. 鈥淥r who鈥檇 performed so well in seasonal roles that they were offered permanent positions.鈥�

Sam Oseroff, 34, is one. In 2024 he was hired by the Middle Fork Ranger District in Willamette National Forest as a seasonal employee. After several months, the NFS offered him a permanent job as a forestry technician, starting in January, 2025.

鈥淚t was bad timing,鈥� Osteroff said. Doubly so because he鈥檇 just purchased a house鈥攁 decision he鈥檇 made after getting the offer for permanent work.

When Osteroff was let go, he was in the midst of replacing rotted beams on the roof of a shelter in one of the district鈥檚 campgrounds. He鈥檚 not sure who will take over the project, or how the rest of the maintenance that happens during winter is going to get finished. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a hot springs, a couple dozen trailheads, and about 15 campgrounds,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd only two people left to take care of them.鈥�

He’s also worried about the portion of the national forest closest to Eugene, Oregon, where unhoused people sometimes set up temporary camps, leaving behind garbage and human waste. 鈥淚n the fall, we filled a pickup truck and 26-foot trailer full of gross stuff from a campsite we found along Salomon Creek,” he said.

Knight said what鈥檚 happening is a devastating loss. 鈥淣ot only was my career taken from me in a way that can’t be replaced, but an entire industry is being dismantled,鈥� she said.

The post Here鈥檚 How Many Employees Each National Park Is Losing appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

On Monday, January 20, the presidency of Joe Biden came to an end. During his four years in office, Biden, 82, focused on issues that impact outdoor recreation, such as the preservation of public lands and conservation.

The centerpiece of Biden鈥檚 conservation policy was the , a commitment to conserve and restore at least 30 percent of federal public lands and waters in the U.S. by 2030. There are still five years left to go, but during his tenure Biden did protect more lands and waters than any president before him. Biden鈥檚 track record on public lands was far from unblemished, though. He also opened public lands for the extraction of natural resources, approved a massive oil extraction project, and oversaw a boom in domestic oil production.

We examined some of Biden鈥檚 actions that impacted public lands and the environment to try and determine how he compares to previous presidents. Here鈥檚 what we found.

Establishing and Expanding National Monuments and Other Protected Designations

Biden used his power granted by the Antiquities Act to create or expand , which is actually fewer than some of his democratic predecessors. Barack Obama 34 monuments; Bill Clinton did 22. Republican presidents historically have not established as many鈥擠onald Trump and George W. Bush created one and six, respectively. During his first term, Trump became the first president since Dwight Eisenhower to shrink a national monument, drastically reducing the size of Bears Ears. Biden restored the monument to its original size in 2021.

Designating national monuments isn鈥檛 the only method for presidents to protect public land. Biden also created six new national wildlife refuges, three national marine sanctuaries, and one national estuarine research reserve. He closed roughly 625 million acres of ocean to offshore drilling off of the Atlantic coast, part of the Gulf of Mexico, the Pacific coast off of California, Washington, and Oregon, parts of Alaska鈥檚 Bering Sea, and the Arctic. Biden also prevented roads from being built through the Tongass National Forest, a huge swath of undeveloped land in Alaska.

In total, Biden protected 674 million acres of lands and waters, the most of any president in U.S. history. But the drawing and redrawing of the boundaries of Bears Ears National Monument from one presidential administration to the next illustrates the sometimes tenuous nature of land conserved by executive action. Namely, that it is vulnerable to being overturned by subsequent administrations.

Opened Public Land to Drilling and Approving Oil Projects

During his 2020 campaign, Biden swore not to open any new public lands for drilling. And at first, he was true to his word, issuing an executive order that paused all new oil and gas leases. But in 2021,聽a federal judge struck down his ban on drilling, and public outcry ratcheted up amid rising gas prices. In 2022, Biden on his campaign promise and opened Bureau of Land Management land in Colorado, Nevada, North Dakota, New Mexico, Wyoming, Montana, and Utah to drilling.

Afterward, Biden鈥檚 administration approved additional oil and gas permits at a rate comparable to Trump during his first term. Biden also approved the massive, long-disputed Willow Project in Alaska鈥檚 National Petroleum Reserve, which will involve drilling up to 199 new oil and gas wells over 30 years.

Many of the leases approved by Biden were sold by former presidents鈥擟onocoPhillips bought the Willow project lease . Industry experts Biden with investing in alternative energy sources that will lower demand for oil and gas in the long run, and the Inflation Reduction Act raised the cost of drilling on public lands going forward. But there鈥檚 no getting around the fact that U.S. domestic crude oil production grew to , ever, during his time in office.

鈥淓very day that you are allowing [the industry] to remain in the room, that you are indulging their fantasies about continued production, that you are allowing them to kind of peddle their false solutions and prolong their existence, you鈥檙e shooting yourself in the foot,鈥� Collin Rees, U.S. program manager for Oil Change International, in 2024.

Partnering with Indigenous Communities

Biden made history in 2021, when he appointed Deb Haaland聽Secretary of the Interior. Haaland, a member of the Pueblo of Laguna, is the first Indigenous person ever to lead the department that houses the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The Biden administration included Indigenous communities in planning and decision making around public lands, reaching 400 co-management and co-stewardship agreements with tribal nations.

Biden broke new ground as a president when he became the first to apologize to Indigenous Americans for the federal Indian Boarding Schools, a program designed to eradicate Indigenous cultures through the forced assimilation of their children. One of the new monuments established by the former president was the Carlisle Indian Boarding school, which commemorates that period of history.

The EXPLORE Act

President Biden signed the EXPLORE Act into law in January 2025, after it passed Congress with bipartisan support. The legislation contains more than a dozen outdoor recreation-related initiatives rolled up into one piece of legislation, including protecting the use of fixed climbing bolts in wilderness areas聽and streamlining the permitting process for guiding companies working on public land.

The Act doesn鈥檛 appropriate new funding, but it does provide directives to the various land management agencies to take on certain projects, like improving campsite infrastructure, building more restrooms on public land, and installing broadband in the national parks. Many of the EXPLORE Act鈥檚 provisions focus on increasing access to federal public land, extending an Obama-era initiative offering free national park passes for all fourth graders, making more infrastructure for people with disabilities, and expanding programs to get veterans outside.

Enshrining these priorities into law increases the odds that they鈥檙e enacted under following administrations, but agencies like the National Park Service, Forest Service, and Bureau of Land Management have struggled for years to meet existing mandates with insufficient budgets. The National Parks Service, for example, in 2023 that they have an estimated $23.3 billion backlog in necessary upkeep of existing infrastructure.

Policies to Fight Climate Change

Biden was lauded by environmental advocates for securing the in climate adaptation and resiliency projects with the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022 and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law in 2021.

He also rejoined the Paris Climate Agreement, an international commitment to reduce emissions that Obama signed in 2016 and Trump withdrew from when he took office in 2017. Trump withdrew from the Paris Agreement again on January 20, 2025, the first day of his second term.

The Biden administration formed a program called Climate Corps in 2023. The corps was highly publicized by the outgoing administration as rebooting a popular New Deal-era jobs program, the Civilian Conservation Corps. But critics argued that the program was little more than a new label placed on existing federally-supported climate and conservation service jobs. The Climate Corps,聽which the administration initially said would create 300,000 new jobs, didn鈥檛 secure any funding from Congress. When it finally , it amounted to little more than a website listing states鈥� existing climate and conservation positions that were already paid for through programs like Americorps.

Congressional Republicans vehemently opposed the Corps (Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell 鈥減ure socialist wish-fullment鈥� and 鈥渕ake-work programs for young liberal activists.鈥�) With Biden out of office, the 鈥淐limate Corps鈥� heading has and the is inactive. But many of the actual jobs that had preexisted the Corps, and were briefly pulled under its umbrella, will remain.

There were some service-oriented jobs programs that created new opportunities for young people to work and gain skills in conservation and environmental stewardship during the Biden administration, mostly operating at the state level. The Maryland Climate Corps, for example, launched in 2023, and a dozen other states established or expanded corps of their own.

What Will Biden鈥檚 Public Lands Legacy Be?聽

The full extent of Biden鈥檚 impact on the outdoors may take years to fully understand. Some of his policies are likely to be undone by the Trump administration, which has to shrink national monuments and environmental regulations. His failure to follow through on campaign promises, like the Climate Corps and a ban on new drilling leases, may feel like missed opportunities.

However, the Biden administration did set a new standard for empowering tribal nations to be partners in managing the federal lands that are their ancestral homelands. And the priorities for land management agencies passed in the EXPLORE Act, which address pressing issues for outdoor recreation, are codified into law and more likely to endure from one administration to the next.

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On Saturday, January 4,聽President Joe Biden signed the Expanding Public Lands Outdoor Recreation Experiences (EXPLORE) Act into law. The new legislation rolls a dozen or so existing outdoor recreation-relation initiatives into one policy, which includes approval of building long-distance bike trails, the protection of rock climbing anchors in wilderness areas, and a more efficient permit process for guiding companies.

The EXPLORE Act is focused on federal public land like national parks, national forests, and areas overseen by the Bureau of Land Management. It directs the various management agencies to improve and develop new parking lots, broadband networks, accessible infrastructure, firing ranges, and restrooms at recreation sites. It also calls for improved coordination between different federal and state agencies to contain the spread of aquatic invasive species like zebra mussels.

鈥淚t will help create more fun all across the country,鈥� Republican Congressman Bruce Westerman from Arkansas, the bill鈥檚 sponsor, Colorado Public Radio when it passed the senate.

The legislation also puts to rest a simmering problem within the rock climbing community by officially sanctioning the use of bolts as fixed anchors in wilderness areas. This became an issue earlier in 2024 when some public areas proposed bans on permanent safety anchors聽in national parks and national forests. 鈥淧assing this bill in a single legislative session is a testament to the growing power of the climbing advocacy movement,鈥� Heather Thorne, executive director of the nonprofit Access Fund, . 鈥淚n the years to come, I hope our federal leaders continue to work together to protect public lands, the agencies that manage those lands, and sustainable climbing access, which enjoys broad, bipartisan support from legislators and climbers across the nation.鈥�

Also cause for celebration among some segments of the outdoors community: a simpler, more streamlined process for guiding companies to get permits.

The EXPLORE Act includes measures to help address the housing crisis in gateway communities, such as investing in more public-private partnerships. It also reauthorizes the Forest Service to use administrative buildings as housing.

Several sections of the new law are devoted to increasing access to the outdoors, for veterans, young people, disabled people, and members of underserved communities. It renews the Every Kid Outdoors Act, a program started under President Obama that grants every fourth grader in the U.S. and their family free entry to all national parks and federal public lands for a year.

In addition to installing broadband at federal recreation sites, the act directs public land managers to modernize administrative processes, calling on the national parks to develop a digital America the Beautiful pass. It also introduces a pilot program to improve the accuracy of visitation data, particularly for historically hard-to-document activities such as dispersed camping.

鈥淭oday鈥檚 passage of the EXPLORE Act will supercharge the outdoor recreation industry and is a victory for our economy, our communities, our quality of life, and our shared connection to the outdoors,鈥� Jessica Wahl Turner, president of the Outdoor Recreation Roundtable, said in when the senate approved the bill on December 19. 鈥淏y advancing this transformative legislation, Congress has shown its commitment to ensuring every American has access to world-class outdoor experiences, from our backyard to the backcountry, while supporting the businesses, workers, and communities who make those experiences possible.鈥�

The new legislation had bipartisan support in both chambers of Congress. Outdoor policy has become a common ground for lawmakers and advocates from both parties, like the bipartisan grassroots opposition that sprung up against a plan to build golf courses and hotels in several Florida state parks this summer.

For the Biden administration, the EXPLORE Act boosts and helps solidify an already robust environmental record. The outgoing president designated seven new national monuments and expanded others during his term. In 2022, he reestablished the Federal Interagency Council on Outdoor Recreation (FICOR), a group dedicated to making the outdoors more accessible to a greater number of people. The America the Beautiful initiative boosted conservation efforts across government agencies, and his administration frequently engaged with tribal partners in decisionmaking about their ancestral lands.

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Dear Sundog: We recently went to a wedding in a mountain resort town. We rented a condo online because the wedding hotel was fully booked. I had qualms because I know that people like us are driving up the cost of living for locals, but didn鈥檛 have a better option so I swallowed the qualms. After a flight delay we arrived a day late. We saw a beat-up car parked in the driveway. As we approached, two young guys who looked like climbing bums tossed some gear into the car, took a look at us, jumped in and drove off. My husband thought it was suspicious and asked me to jot down their license plate number, which I did. Inside the condo it was clear that these kids had spent the night. We called the host, who came over immediately, did a quick clean and changed the entry codes. He told us he was not the owner but a professional host who managed a dozen rentals in town. The actual owner lived out of state. It sat vacant during the off-season.

Later, the host messaged us to say that the owner had filed a police report and wanted our help to identify the squatters. My husband thinks we should hand over the license plate number. I disagree. I don鈥檛 have much sympathy for the absentee landlord. The kids hadn鈥檛 actually damaged the condo, and frankly it鈥檚 not my job to get them in trouble. Who鈥檚 right? 鈥擵ery Resistant to Bending Over for Real Estate Barons Exploiting Locals

Dear VRBO REBEL: First let me commend you and your husband鈥檚 coolheadedness: you did not gun down these trespassers in cold blood, which seems an increasingly common response in our country of stand-your-grounders. It appears you have an ounce or more compassion for these loafers even if they made you uncomfortable.

First, let鈥檚 agree that this owner is fully within his rights to press charges against these guys鈥攊f he can find them. They committed a crime against his property. Your ethical quandary, VRBO REBEL, is a more interesting one: must you be complicit in this version of criminal justice, especially when you see ethical qualms in the behavior of the victim. Indeed, the American justice system has long skewed to value property more highly than humanity. Here鈥檚 an example: in the days of the frontier, out-of-state cattle barons owned herds of cattle numbering in the thousands that they hired cowboys to tend. It鈥檚 worth mentioning that the steers and cows could only stay alive by munching off grasses on lands that did not belong to their owners. The herds were too big to manage, and invariably some cattle wandered off. Along comes some hungry cowpoke or Indigenous person who seizes a beef and slices it up for steaks. Now he鈥檚 a guilty of a hanging offense.

In today鈥檚 West, now that beef and lumber and mining are past their prime, the most precious commodity is real estate, specifically rentable residences near some National Park or other natural wonder. When the pandemic brought historically low interest rates, speculators could snap up these properties for far more than locals could afford, and still rent them short-term for enough to cover their historically low monthly mortgage payment. Fill the place with some blonde-wood Scandinavian furniture and patterned shower curtains from Target and voil脿: an investment that not only yields monthly dividends but will also presumably gain value over the years. The speculator wins, the visitors like yourself wins, while the actual town residents are squeezed.

Getting back to the cattle analogy, if an AirbnBaron owns so many rental properties that he can鈥檛 keep them properly protected from the scourge of townies, then so be it. I guess I don鈥檛 see using police work and courts to punish the interlopers as a particularly ethical use of taxpayer money. Just as the cattle baron should have hired more cowboys to guard his cows, so should the rental baron hire a rent-a-cop to patrol his vacant structure.

As for your own question about ratting out these dirtbags, VRBO REBEL, I say hell no. Collaborating with police was not in the agreement you signed. By paying your nightly fee, you have fulfilled your obligations, both legal and financial, to the condo owner. You are not ethically bound to join his posse and help him rope the rustlers. Burn that license plate number with a clean conscience.

Got a question of your own? Send it to聽sundogsalmanac@hotmail.com

(Photo: Mark Sundeen)

Mark Sundeen, aka Sundog, has done his fair share of squatting in vacant buildings, such as this cabin near Death Valley, circa 1998. He鈥檚 also had his share of strangers squatting in his un-winterized desert trailer. So it all sort of evens out?

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It was a couple years ago, probably eightish miles up the Stuart Peak trail near my home in Missoula, Montana, when I first started thinking about it. A small tree had fallen perpendicular across the trail, no more than four inches in diameter. I had to slow my already-not-that-fast uphill trot to almost a complete stop to step over the tree.

I thought for a half-second, like I always do, that my day would be a tiny bit more pleasant if that tree had not fallen there鈥攐r if someone had removed it before I started my trail run that day.

But I carried on, to the top of the peak, stepping over a couple other pieces of deadfall, a minor nuisance on the way up the trail, but a brief low hurdle on my way back down.

I remembered some mountain bikers I鈥檇 run into on this same trail a while back, in the early season. They鈥檇 carried a chainsaw to cut the trees that had fallen over the winter, but of course they stopped at the wilderness boundary, where bicycles weren鈥檛 permitted (let alone chainsaws).

I finished my run, and repeated it several times, always encountering some deadfall. Same with some of the other trails around Missoula鈥攅very year brings a few more trees down.

Every time I stepped over one, I made a mental note:

And then I鈥檇 go home and never do it. Once or twice I googled electric chainsaws, but never clicked 鈥渂uy.鈥�

A ripped through our town in late July with winds in excess of 100 mph, and I spent two consecutive days cutting fallen branches, and hauling 15 pickup loads to the city brush pile (it鈥檚 a small pickup).

The first day, when everyone鈥檚 power was out, I had the longest conversation I鈥檇 ever had with my neighbor Nathan, standing on the sidewalk in front of his house. I mentioned how I wished I had actually bought a chainsaw instead of just thinking about it, because I鈥檇 have it for this, but I鈥檇 also be able to cut deadfall on trails.

“What you need,” Nathan said authoritatively, “is a Silky Katanaboy folding saw. They鈥檙e amazing. My buddy talked me into getting one and I love it.”

I googled the Silky Katanaboy. It was $245, and huge. Ideal Version of Me could wait some more, I guess.

Then my friend Kevin and I did an adventurous run/hike up Pyramid Buttes this September, and there was so much goddamn deadfall. I cursed myself, but, shrug, what are you gonna do, cut through 30 trees in the middle of your 17-mile day?

A couple weeks later, on the way up Sky Pilot, same thing. Lots of gymnastics to get up and around all the deadfall. If I were a pompous asshole, I would have huffed and said, 鈥渟omebody should do something about this!鈥� But come on, I have some idea of how the world works, and you don鈥檛 just call the Forest Service and report a downed tree on a lesser-used trail, like you鈥檙e calling down to the front desk to request more towels.

I googled the Silky Katanaboy again. It was too big (20 inches long, 2 pounds), and too expensive. If I bought it, I鈥檇 have to mentally record where the downed trees were, then go back, hike in with an actual backpack, and cut the trees. How about something smaller?

The Silky Gomboy Curve 240. $65. Folds down to 9.5 inches. I measured my running vest. A 9.5-inch saw would just fit. Sure, it鈥檚 bulky and heavy compared to, you know, not carrying a fucking saw when you go running, but I鈥檓 already carrying bear spray in there, and I鈥檓 also a 45-year-old middle-of-the-pack dadthlete who loves to eat baked goods. Other people aren鈥檛 exactly taking a microscope to my Strava times, but they might appreciate a tree not blocking the trail.

I looked online for reviews, finally finding , by Casey, a mountain biker from Montana. The review was good, but what really sold me was when he said this:

鈥淲ith work and kids and stuff, I don’t get to go to a lot of trail work days, so this is one of the ways I try to give back and do my part because I use these trails a lot, so I gotta support them somehow.鈥�

All told, he said, getting off his bike, pulling out the saw, cutting the tree, and moving it off the trail took 10 or 15 minutes.

I bought that saw, the Silky Gomboy Curve 240.

It fits in my running vest. I cut a piece of deadfall off a trail this week. It鈥檚 not much, but it鈥檚 something.

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Shaun White has been the face of snowboarding for two decades. So what is he doing in retirement? A lot. He鈥檚 launching his own snowboard brand. He鈥檚 raising money to protect public lands. He鈥檚 even starting his own half-pipe competition. In this live interview from The 国产吃瓜黑料 Festival in Denver, former NFL linebacker Dhani Jones talks with White about life after pro sports and how the keys to his past success play a role in his future.

Tickets to the 2025 国产吃瓜黑料 Festival and Summit are on sale now at early bird prices at

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Last month, opened Boyce Bouldering Park鈥攁 6,000-square-foot expanse of artificial boulders. Carved into the edge of Pittsburgh鈥檚 urban sprawl鈥攋ust fifteen minutes from downtown鈥攖his free outdoor bouldering gym was designed with an ambitious vision: to bring outdoor adventure to all.

The park boasts more than 100 problems, ranging in difficulty from VB to V10+, which will be reset twice a year by professional setters. It is part of a $4.7 million project inspired by a 2020 Pennsylvania Environmental Council (PEC) study, which highlighted a significant lack of accessible outdoor recreation in and around Pittsburgh. To address this need, planners chose to create a bouldering park and nearby pump track, paired with upgraded restrooms and other park facilities, aiming to foster a sense of community and adventure close to home.

From start to finish, the park revitalization project was designed with climbers in mind鈥攂ut Dean Privett, a local gym owner, consultant, and longtime setter, did more to shape the park鈥檚 climbing functionality than anyone else.

Privett has been in the climbing industry for more than 13 years, designing climbing facilities worldwide, including one of his own in Pittsburgh. When he heard that Allegheny County had plans to build a free climbing-oriented outdoor park, he picked up the phone and got into the right room.

It was a good thing he did.

Lacking climbing expertise, the county was planning to install a 30-foot climbing tower with autobelays. But, in an 11th hour meeting, Privett convinced them that bouldering was a safer, more accessible, more affordable, and more climber-friendly alternative.

We aren鈥檛 motivated by profit; we鈥檙e motivated by getting folks outside.

鈥淚 knew I wanted to make sure whatever got built was as functional as possible,鈥� he told Climbing. 鈥淎rchitect-led artificial climbing wall constructions tend to be more in the miss column than the hit column with true avid indoor and outdoor rock climbers.鈥� His company, Boulder Solutions, ultimately consulted on the project鈥� with ambitious, progress-oriented setting at the forefront of the design. By prioritizing wall shapes that support varied movement and difficulty, the wall design itself ensured that a dedicated team of setters could regularly rotate problems.

Privett and Allegheny County plan to update the routes at Boyce twice a year, aiming to keep the space fresh and challenging for climbers of all skill levels.

For Privett, this approach was crucial.

鈥淚 wanted to create a range of routes that catered to the existing climbing community and also welcomed the 鈥榮tumble-up鈥� climber,鈥� he said. 鈥淲ith the outdoor design, we could control that experience through the wall shapes and by balancing slabs with overhangs.鈥�

The park currently boasts over 100 new climbs, ranging from the smaller, kid-oriented 鈥淛une Boulder鈥濃�攏amed after Privett鈥檚 daughter鈥攖o a V10+ set by IFSC World Cup route setter . Setters from , , , , and the former director of setting for the Cliffs, also contributed to the park鈥檚 initial setting.

鈥淢y goal was to provide Pittsburgh with a diverse palette of climbs from incredibly experienced setters,鈥� Privett said. 鈥淪o we set in a traditional commercial climbing gym methodology, maybe with a slight emphasis on fun over difficulty; we wanted to have things up there that would challenge people so they would come back.鈥�

鈥淢y philosophy here was really to introduce people to it as physical problem-solving and not as a physical challenge,鈥� he added, 鈥渢o hopefully create that hook-line-and-sinker feel of having an enjoyment for solving a puzzle.鈥�

His plan is working. On a recent visit to BBP, he heard a young girl, wearing sneakers, ask her parents to put climbing shoes on her Christmas list.

鈥淭here鈥檚 a bit of a mentorship barrier that鈥檚 been true of traditional rock climbing,鈥� Privett said. 鈥淏ut here, there鈥檚 a nice crossover [between communities]. When climbing is in the public sphere, and in public spaces鈥攊t鈥檚 easier for people to give it a try.鈥�

Since Boyce is within the jurisdiction of Allegheny County Parks, the challenges that traditional gyms face with liability insurance were minimal鈥攊t鈥檚 generally accepted that public areas operate with a 鈥渦se at your own risk鈥� legal structure.

鈥淲ithin commercial climbing gyms, there鈥檚 a lot of liability that we鈥檙e obviously exposed to, but parks operate in a different realm,鈥� Privett said. 鈥淭here are federal laws that protect them. They have tolerances for those types of activities鈥攁nd that allowed the upkeep and route setting to be a part of the overall budget.鈥�

All of that allows the park to serve its primary goal: making outdoor recreation in Pittsburgh accessible to underserved communities.

鈥淭he climbing work is emblematic of that,鈥� said Brett Hollern, Vice President for the PEC Western Pennsylvania Central Region. 鈥淪o how does somebody without transportation, without equipment, having never done this before, how do they even approach recreating outdoors or climbing? We bring that experience to them.鈥�

Privett echoed the sentiment: 鈥淚n places like Pittsburgh, it鈥檚 just much less common to think about climbing as an activity that you would or could want to do. But our industry could benefit from more awareness around what climbing is. It鈥檚 all of our job to educate and introduce people to it.鈥�

Hollern hopes that the Boyce Bouldering Park model can inspire other municipalities to consider climbing in their park budgets. 鈥淲e operate on the premise that people who recreate on public lands will, in turn, become stewards of those lands. Outdoor spaces like this can activate communities, whether through economic development or quality of life, and Allegheny County really took that idea and ran with it.鈥�

Joe Perkovich, the Allegheny County Landscape Architect who supported the project, said the proposal鈥檚 non-existent barrier to entry was a key reason for the county parks service involvement. 鈥淎ll of our parks are publicly funded assets and are there for people to use and enjoy,鈥� he continued. 鈥淲e aren鈥檛 motivated by profit; we鈥檙e motivated by getting folks outside.鈥�

For most, the bouldering park is just another addition to Pittsburgh鈥檚 growing outdoor scene鈥攂ut it鈥檚 a game-changer for advocates and climbers like Privett. It鈥檚 a space where the barriers to entry are lowered, and anyone, regardless of background or experience, can step up, fall down, and fall in love with the sport.

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