The Weekly Wrap — November 29, 2025
"America-first" price hikes, a Boundary Waters land deal in sight, Florida's black bear hunt to proceed, and more.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone,
Welcome back to the Weekly Wrap, where we round up the week’s public land news. The holiday made for a slower public land news week, but sometimes no news is good news.
Trump administration announces “America-first” price hikes for foreign visitors to national parks. (The Guardian)
The biggest news at Interior this week was Interior Sec. Doug Burgum’s announcement that the new year will bring a $100 fee hike for foreign visitors to 11 of the country’s most popular national parks. An annual America the Beautiful pass, which allows access to National Park Service sites, will remain $80 for residents, but go up to $250 for nonresidents. Revenue generated from fee increases on foreigners will go toward national parks maintenance, according to DOI.
Residents will also have free access to national parks next year on eight “resident-only patriotic fee-free days for 2026,” including June 14, which the Interior Department describes as “Flag Day/President Trump’s birthday.”
Minnesota nears deal to sell 80,000 acres of Boundary Waters land to Forest Service. (Minnesota Star Tribune)
The state of Minnesota is on the verge of a deal to sell 80,000 acres of land it owns inside the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness — nearly five decades after Congress first enshrined the area’s wilderness protections. The deal would end some lawmakers’ hopes to trade the state land for federal land that could be used to create a new taconite mine.
Hundreds of Joshua trees were scorched during the shutdown (Los Angeles Times)
Rangers described the fire, which took place during the shutdown, as a “totally avoidable tragedy,” in comments to the L.A. Times. Staff that would normally educate visitors on fire safety were not working due to the shutdown, the paper reported.
USFS sued over Pisgah logging. (ABC News)
Environmental groups sued the Forest Service over allegations that the agency moved forward with a logging project without providing the public notice required under the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA. The groups say that the logging project on a steep slope threatens to dump sediment into the Nolichucky River.
Judge greenlights Florida black bear hunt. (WCTV)
Florida’s contentious black bear hunt will start as scheduled on Dec. 6, after a Leon County judge rejected activists’ petition to halt it with an injunction. Black bear hunting is common throughout the United States, where the meat is a traditional food item, but the practice has faced growing opposition in recent years in several states from animal rights groups and some wildlife advocacy groups. Florida held its last black bear hunt in 2015. State biologists estimate that the state holds more than 4,000 black bears.
The potential longterm effects of Trump’s environmental rollbacks from last week. (Grist)
“The Trump administration’s proposed rollbacks open the door for more drilling, mining, and logging.”
“Imposter syndrome.” (Re:Public)
A window into journalistic malpractice in the artificial intelligence era.
Hope y’all are enjoying the holiday. Here’s a turkey track from Caprock Canyon in Texas.
