The Landscape

Kate and Aaron talk to former Montana gubernatorial candidate, public lands hunter, and Substack author Ryan Busse about how billionaires are cutting off access to the outdoors in Montana and a whole lot more. We also briefly touch on the news that the Trump administration is repealing the Public Lands Rule and give an update […] The post Ryan Busse on how billionaires are locking up land in Montana appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

Kate hosts a live episode in Grand Junction on CWP’s Keep Parks Public tour! Guests discuss the importance of keeping our parks and monuments staffed and funded. Guests: Ken Mabery, former superintendent of Colorado National Monument, Cole Hanson, Grand Valley Outdoor Recreation Coalition board member and Gear Junction co-owner, Jessy Nuckolls, public lands advocate and […] The post LIVE in Grand Junction: Public land advocates take Trump attacks personally appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

Kate hosts a live episode in Salt Lake City on CWP’s Keep Parks Public tour! Guests: Erika Pollard, National Parks Conservation Association; Davina Smith, Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition and Grand Staircase Escalante Partners; Scott Braden, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance; Doug Tolman, Save Our Canyons. Resources Keep Parks Public: Tell us why you love public lands […] The post LIVE: Utah conservation all-stars on how to Keep Parks Public appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

Aaron hosts a live episode in Denver, kicking off CWP’s Keep Parks Public tour. Scott Fitzwilliams, former supervisor of the White River National Forest in Colorado, Kelly Nordini, CEO of Conservation Colorado, and Kara Matsumoto, public lands director at the Conservation Lands Foundation, join us to discuss threats to Colorado’s public lands posed by the […] The post LIVE: Colorado’s public lands are under attack. Keep Parks Public tour highlights threats and ways to fight back appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

What the heck is Utah up to now that it’s land grab lawsuit has been snubbed by the Supreme Court and Senator Mike Lee has made public land sell-off untouchable in Congress? Kate and Aaron put that question to John Ruple, a Professor of Law and Stegner Center Fellow at the University of Utah, and […] The post What’s next for Utah after SCOTUS snub and Mike Lee flame out? appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

Kate and Aaron interview author Barret Baumgart about his new book Yuck: The Birth and Death of the Weird and Wondrous Joshua Tree. Baumgart became obsessed with Joshua trees during the pandemic and ended up uncovering some interesting facts and stories about them. News Trump admin to ink deals with states for forest management – […] The post The strange and mysterious history of the Joshua tree appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

Kate and Aaron talk to Steve Ellis, a 38 year veteran of both the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management and current chair of the National Association of Forest Service Retirees, about what the Trump administration is doing, and trying to do, to the Forest Service, and what that means for everything from […] The post Former Forest Service leader on how Trump is hollowing out the agency appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

Kate and Aaron talk to writer, photographer, and adventurer Josh Jackson about his new book, The Enduring Wild, which beautifully captures the variety and vastness of California’s public lands—with a particular focus on lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management. Josh is also the man behind the @forgottenlandsproject Instagram account, which he uses to share […] The post How do we protect BLM lands? We tell their stories appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

Kate and Aaron talk to experts at the National Parks Conservation Association about illegal mining inside of Mojave National Preserve and a recent uptick in mining claims on public lands, including those near national parks. News 250+ million acres of public lands eligible for sale in SENR budget reconciliation package – The Wilderness Society From […] The post Mining companies are knocking at the doors of our national parks appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

Trump’s Department of Justice just released an opinion stating that the Antiquities Act gives presidents the power to shrink or eliminate national monuments at will. But what does that mean, for example, if Trump tries to undo Chuckwalla National Monument or shrink Bears Ears? Will this DOJ opinion stand up in court? We put those questions and […] The post The DOJ just told Trump he can eliminate monuments. Now what? appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

Kate and Aaron talk to Tracy Stone-Manning, former director of the Bureau of Land Management and current president of the Wilderness Society. Tracy tells us what it was like to inherit an agency that was decimated by the first Trump administration and what she’s worried about this time around—but also, what’s giving her hope for […] The post Tracy Stone-Manning on the biggest threats to public lands right now appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

Kate and Aaron talk to Kurt Repanshek, founder and editor of National Parks Traveler, about President Donald Trump’s proposed funding cuts to the National Park System as well as how staffing cuts imposed by Elon Musk’s DOGE are affecting the Park Service. News In the dead of night, House committee votes to sell off public […] The post How are the national parks holding up against DOGE and Trump’s attacks? appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

Kate and Aaron speak with Len Necefer, CEO & Founder of NativesOutdoors, a native owned outdoor media, apparel and consulting company. You may also know him as the man behind the Sonoran Avalanche Center Instagram account. Len talks about his latest project, a documentary film about the Colorado River basin titled The American Southwest, and […] The post New nature doc frames the Colorado River as an opportunity, not a crisis appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

Kate and Aaron nerd out with John Ruple, public lands professor at the University of Utah and a former member of the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) about recent changes to how the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) is being implemented across federal agencies, like the Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service. […] The post How the White House is making federal permitting less efficient appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

Kate and Aaron talk to two experts about recent executive orders that negatively affect public lands. Mitch Friedman, founder and executive director of Conservation Northwest, talks about how Trump’s executive order aimed at increasing logging in national forests squares with existing law and forest management plans, while Rachael Hamby, policy director at the Center for […] The post Unpacking Trump’s mining and timber EOs appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

Kate and Aaron are joined by Jimmy Tobias, a public lands reporter and contributor to the Public Domain substack, and Jacob Malcom, former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Environmental Management at the Interior Department, to talk about Elon Musk’s attacks on the Interior Department and its employees. Jimmy has been covering changes inside Interior […] The post How Elon Musk is trying to dismantle the Interior department appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

This week, we take a break from bad news to talk about what nature does to your brain. Kate and Aaron speak to author Florence Williams about her book, The Nature Fix, which came out in 2017 but is just as relevant today. Her book looks at the science behind why nature makes us feel happier, […] The post How nature makes us feel happier, healthier, and more connected to humanity appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

Aaron and Kate break down the results of Colorado College’s annual State of the Rockies Conservation in the West poll with pollsters Lori Weigell and Dave Metz. The poll found that voters in the West support preserving and protecting public lands more than ever before in the poll’s 15-year history. That’s right—just as President Trump […] The post Western voters reject Trump agenda on public lands appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

Kate and Aaron are joined by Tim Whitehouse, executive director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, and Mitch Flanigan, a former ranger at Denali National Park, to talk about recent firings across Interior department agencies, including the National Park Service and the Bureau of Land Managment, as well as at the U.S. Forest Service. Prior […] The post Layoffs at Interior are causing chaos and heartbreak appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

Aaron and Kate are joined by Mark Squillace, natural resources law professor at the University of Colorado Law School. Professor Squillace provided legal counsel to the Interior Department under President Bill Clinton and Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, and he’s a two-time veteran of this podcast. Today, we discuss the legality of President Trump’s executive orders […] The post Can President Trump even do that? Public lands edition appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.