The Weekly Wrap — November 14, 2025

Trump's BLM nominee, a road in the wilderness, northern lights and more.

Welcome back to The Weekly Wrap, the Friday newsletter from Public Domain. I am going to keep this brief, because it’s my last morning up in Door County, Wisconsin and I want to spend it outside with my dog. Washington D.C. was dramatic as usual this week — the Senate voted to reopen the government amid accusations that Democrats caved to Trump; more evidence emerged concerning the President’s ties to the pedophile Jeffrey Epstein; FHFA chief Bill Pulte beclowned himself yet again, plus there were plenty of Interior Department developments. But first, I’ll start with the fun stuff.

The northern lights at last …

The big news from the upper Midwest this week was the arrival of a beautiful aurora borealis light show. I’ve spent a lot of time outdoors in my life — three seasons as a trailworker in Idaho and Montana, big backpacking trips out West, canoe trips along the U.S.-Canada border — but I had never seen the northern lights. And then on Wednesday night the opportunity finally arrived. This was the view looking north across Lake Michigan from Sister Bay, Wisconsin.

Source: Andrew Stein

From The PD Desk

He Once Pushed to Divest Federal Lands. Now He’s Trump’s BLM Nominee.

I took a look this week at the financial entanglements and past policy positions of Steve Pearce, the former New Mexico Congressman that Trump nominated to lead the Bureau of Land Management. The major takeaway: Pearce has made millions in the oil and gas industry. He has also pushed to divest federal lands. Here is an eye-popping quote, penned by Pearce and a Republican colleague in 2012: “The federal government owns roughly 650 million acres of land, or 1/3 of the entire landmass of our country. Over 90% of this land is located in the western states and most of it we do not even need.”

Water Watch

States That Rely on the Colorado River Miss Deadline to Agree on Cuts - NYT

“The seven states that rely on the Colorado River for drinking water missed a Tuesday deadline to agree on reduced shares as the river’s flow continues to decline dramatically,” reports The New York Times. These thorny and extremely consequential negotiations continue even as the Trump administration has yet to install a permanent commissioner at the Bureau of Reclamation, the Interior Department agency that manages the river and its reservoirs.

Coastal Concerns

Trump administration planning to allow oil and gas drilling off California Coast - The Guardian

A draft plan, first reported by The Washington Post, shows that the Trump administration is planning to open the California coast to offshore oil and gas drillers. California Governor Gavin Newsom, whose state banned oil drilling in its waters after the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill, called Trump’s plan “dead on arrival.” The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, an Interior Department agency headed by former offshore oil lobbyist Matt Giacona, is playing a leading role in the development of the federal government’s five-year offshore oil and gas leasing plan at the center of this controversy.

NEPA doesn’t apply to megalaw’s offshore lease sales - Politico

“The Interior Department said Monday that the National Environmental Policy Act ‘is not applicable’ to dozens of offshore federal oil and gas lease sales mandated by the megalaw signed by President Donald Trump in July,” according to Politico’s E&E News. DOI, in other words, is trying to sidestep our country’s key environmental review law to move forward with new oil and gas lease sales in offshore waters. Again, BOEM is playing a central role here.

Road Warriors

Lawsuits challenge land exchange aimed at allowing a road to be built in an Alaska wildlife refuge - AP

Conservation groups and tribes filed three lawsuits this week to challenge a land exchange meant to allow a road to be built through Alaska’s Izembek National Wildlife Refuge, a vast wilderness area home to brown bears, wolves and caribou. The refuge also serves as a major stopover for migratory waterfowl. The road, which would connect the village of King Cove to a nearby all-weather airport, is a long-time priority for Alaska’s congressional delegation. Conservationists argue that the road will harm the refuge’s wildlife and wilderness character.