Good morning!
This is the 2nd installment of The Weekly Wrap, a newsletter that is sent out Fridays and includes big stories you may have missed, bills and administrative actions we are tracking, some commentary and analysis, and, of course, some fun. A quick reminder to send story tips, pics of your outdoor adventures and anything else you want to share, as we will begin incorporating reader submissions moving forward.
First up: Senators Martin Heinrich (D-NM) and Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.) officially launched the bipartisan “Senate Stewardship Caucus to Protect Public Lands” on Tuesday — the second public lands-focused congressional caucus to form since Republicans tried to force the sale of federal lands under the guise of combatting housing affordability.
Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), an inaugural member, succinctly highlighted the divide that exists on how best to steward America’s shared lands and waters, boiling the complex issue down to this: “Cheaper gas and better huntin’...That’s what stewardship of our public lands means.” Daines cited the Fix Our Forests Act and the America the Beautiful Act as the group’s top priorities for the moment.
The group also includes Sens. Chris Coons (D-Del.), Katie Britt (R-Ala.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) and John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.).
Public Domain will be tracking the caucus’s work. Hopefully, it produces more than its counterpart in the House, which has largely gone dark — at least publicly — since launching to much fanfare in May.
Burgum says shutdown proves government can work with less — E&E
“What all of us are doing at the Cabinet is taking a hard look at like, ‘Wow, maybe we don’t need all of these resources. Maybe we’re actually able to run with a lot less resources,” Interior Sec. Doug Burgum said at an energy event held by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
Or maybe not, say National Park Service veterans…
Shutdown, staffing cuts taking a toll at National Park Service— Roll Call
“Concerns are mounting amid reports of damaged resources, reduced maintenance and visitor safety issues at the 63 national parks and 370 other units, including national memorials and historic sites, managed by the National Park Service.
More than 450 former NPS employees, including two past directors of the agency and more than 90 former park superintendents, last week urged Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to close all the national parks until the government reopens.”
Toxic Wastewater From Oil Fields Keeps Pouring Out of the Ground. Oklahoma Regulators Failed to Stop It. — ProPublica/The Frontier
“Field reports from agency staff referred to individual incidents as ‘a threat to the environment and the safety of persons’ or ‘a hazard to the ground water.’ These notes describe orphan wells spewing toxic water near homes or into streams, leaving scars of salt residue. A homeowner reported that his grandchildren often play near a purging well. Ranchers have lost calves, which, drawn to the salty water, died after drinking it. But the full scale of Oklahoma’s purge problem — and state regulators’ awareness of it — has never previously been reported.”
AI Is Pushing Climate Goals Out of Reach, New Reports Say — Inside Climate News
“With power- and water-hungry data centers forecasted to come online at staggering speeds to serve big tech companies’ seemingly bottomless appetite for AI infrastructure, utility companies have turned to fossil fuels to help meet the explosion in demand for power.”
Can BLM ignore land-use plans and lease off-limits ‘Golden Triangle’ habitat for drilling? – WyoFile
The Bureau of Land Management appears to be violating its own land-use plan by offering up nearly 20,000 acres of protected wildlife habitat for oil-and-gas leasing in an auction slated for June 2026.
A River Restoration in Oregon Gets Fast Results: The Salmon Swam Right Back — New York Times
“The fish had been missing from the headwaters of the Klamath River for more than a century. Just a year after the removal of a final dam, they’ve returned.”
Almost 40% of Nevada groundwater wells are in decline, study says — Nevada Current
“Nevada’s growing reliance on groundwater for irrigation and drinking water has led to significant declines in thousands of wells across the state, according to a recent study.”
UPDATE: Last week we flagged a news report showing that USFWS would no longer allow Colorado to import gray wolves from Canada to continue its voter-mandated restoration program. A subsequent report from AP makes clear that the change in policy came directly from Brian Nesvik, Trump’s pick to head USFWS. The Senate confirmed Nesvik to the position in August.
Ryan “Cal” Callaghan of MeatEater is taking the helm at Backcountry Hunters and Anglers
Callaghan will serve as BHA’s new president and CEO, according to a press release. He will continue to host the podcast “Cal’s Week in Review.”
Where the deer and the antelope roam — Re:Public
Re:Public founder Chris Keyes interviews award-winning environmental journalist Hillary Rosner about her new book Roam, which explores how to stitch our fragmented landscapes back together to facilitate animal movement and migration. Learn more about the book here.
Bipartisan bill proposes BLM use drones to herd wild horses, burros — E&E News
The bill is sponsored by Reps. Eugene Vindman (D-Va.) and Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.).
MAGA Is A Disaster For Hunters. Top Hunting Influencers Are Making It Far Worse — Ryan Busse, Montana Dispatch
“What is confounding is that these men, who for more than a decade have curated big audiences and made even bigger fortunes promoting hunting and using public lands, don’t even pretend to deny the actual disaster; that much is clear even to them. What they refuse to acknowledge is the source, their very personal role in creating it, their ongoing role in fueling it, and their unquestionable and urgent responsibility to stop it.”