Latest news with #BobWick
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Colorado must lead on conservation goals for 2030
Handies Peak Wilderness Study Area in Colorado is the site of mountains shaped by volcanic fire and glacial ice. (Bob Wick/BLM/Public Domain Mark 1.0) As an ecologist and someone who grew up hiking Colorado's foothills and enjoying its alpine streams, I've seen firsthand how our relationship with the land shapes who we are — and what we stand to lose. These landscapes aren't just backdrops for recreation. They're places of memory, meaning and sustenance. And they're at risk. In May 2021, the Biden-Harris administration outlined a hopeful, ambitious vision: conserve 30% of the nation's lands and waters by 2030. Known as '30×30' or the America the Beautiful initiative, the goal was clear — work locally and voluntarily to conserve and restore the lands, waters and wildlife that support and sustain the country. But when the Trump administration rescinded this federal directive, the coordinated momentum was lost. Now, it's up to states like Colorado to carry this vision forward. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX The 30×30 initiative goes far beyond drawing boundaries on a map. It's about supporting Tribally-led restoration efforts that honor generations of stewardship. It's about rewarding ranchers, farmers and forest owners who protect soil, water and biodiversity. It's about investing in restoration and resilience projects that create jobs, buffer us from wildfire and drought, and strengthen our climate future. And it's about ensuring every community — especially those historically excluded from public lands access — has nearby green spaces to connect with nature. As someone who's spent the past decade studying ecosystems and the species that depend on them, I can tell you: The stakes are real. Wildlife corridors are shrinking. Watersheds are drying. Pollinators and other keystone species are in decline. These aren't distant problems. They're happening right here, and they're impacting the places we call home. When I think about the future of conservation in Colorado, I think about the families I've met while working on ecological projects — the ranchers eager to pass healthy land on to their kids and the scientists and volunteers planting native species along fire-scarred slopes. These people aren't waiting for action. They're already doing the work. Now, we need policy to meet them there. America the Beautiful has earned the support of Tribal leaders, organizations, and local officials across the country. But to make meaningful progress, we need state-level action that reflects those same values. Fortunately, Colorado has a strong foundation. Programs and coalitions like Keep It Colorado, Colorado Parks and Wildlife's Regional Partnerships Initiative, and the state's Gross Conservation Easement tax credit program are already connecting the dots between conservation and community. But we can — and must — go further. Let's build on that momentum. Let's invest in nature-based climate solutions. Let's strengthen partnerships with Tribes, landowners and local governments. Let's expand access to outdoor spaces and ensure the benefits of conservation flow to every Coloradan. And let's commit — clearly and publicly — to protecting at least 30% of our state's lands and waters by 2030. Our future depends on how we treat the natural world today. The choices we make now will shape the rivers our children fish in, the mountains they hike, and the air they breathe. Colorado has a chance to lead. Let's not miss it. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
07-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Headquarters of the U.S. BLM belongs in the seat of government, as Founders envisioned
A view of oil and gas development on Bureau of Land Management lands in Colorado, on Jan. 3, 2015. (Bob Wick/BLM/Public domain) For over a decade I have helped lead an annual trip of community leaders from western Colorado to meet with federal agencies and our members of Congress. We travel to Washington, D.C., because the U.S. Constitution established the need for a compact and independent seat for the federal government. In contrast, Project 2025 — the current administration's top-down blueprint to dismantle government and inspire 'trauma' in its workforce — undermines this critical foundation of our republic. Project 2025 attacks many things, including America's public lands. It would open up our national estate to increased privatization, industrialization and outright liquidation. In its section on the Department of Interior, Project 2025 specifically states: '(The Bureau of Land Management) headquarters belongs in the American West.' But my own experience has led me to think otherwise, and to conclude that America's Founders who debated, drafted and then agreed on our Constitution, are instead the ones who are correct. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Each year, we travel from our valley to meet with leadership at agencies and with all our federal elected officials or offices. In just a few days we can meet with the Interior Department and its agencies like the bureaus of Land Management and of Reclamation to talk about public lands and irrigation projects. Our rural delegation, which includes farmers, can meet with U.S. Department of Agriculture, and agencies such as the Natural Resources Conservation Service to talk about soil health funding and program priorities, and with the Forest Service to talk about managing the local watersheds. Within a few days we bring concerns and questions directly to top leaders of several agencies and to our representatives only because we are able to visit a single seat of government. I feel confident that this is as the Founders intended. The rationale for relocating BLM headquarters — to better serve public lands stakeholders — is dubious. Project 2025 itself admits that the agency is already highly decentralized, writing that '97 percent of BLM employees are located in the American West.' These state and field offices, and agency employees who staff them, are indeed critical. But Project 2025 also demands vast federal workforce reductions. This transparent bad-faith argument made by Project 2025 should be a warning to any and all who want to see the efficient and proper management of our public lands. BLM headquarters belongs with its department, which belongs with fellow federal departments in the independent and compact seat of government. This most efficiently allows states, citizens and stakeholders from across a far-flung nation the opportunity to petition the government for redress. And it better meets other purposes for which businesses, states and localities, and citizens might have to meet, share information, and work with the variety of agencies that make up our national government. Like most of the parts of our Constitution, the idea and particulars of a federal seat of government and its agencies was discussed and debated. In the Federalist Papers, James Madison emphasized the necessity of complete authority at the seat of government to ensure its independence and effectiveness. '… but a dependence of the general government on the State (that holds the seat of authority) … for protection in the exercise of their duty, might bring on the national councils an imputation of awe or influence, equally dishonorable to the (federal government) and dissatisfactory to the other (states).' The American republic is a union of free and sovereign states. As Madison and the Founders rightfully concluded, a functional federal government protects the individual sovereignty of all the states and of all its citizens. States, and the people, serve to check overreach by the federal government. And the federal government is also sovereign, as a necessary force to provide balance among the needs and perspectives of the varied states. Madison saw a federal seat of government and its agencies as key to protecting the republic's own independence, which in turn best guards the equal footing of the states. One can suppose that the Constitution's authors wanted to ensure that the presence of the federal government in any of the various states could not compromise the nation's ability to perform its duties with impartiality. That federal functions not be paired closely with particular states 'has the more weight, as the gradual accumulation of public improvements at the stationary residence of the government would be both too great a public pledge to be left in the hands of a single State,' Madison wrote. Project 2025 does not seek to create more efficiency, but to deconstruct the federal government and to privatize public lands and resources so that a narrow set of wealthy interests can take an even greater share. Madison correctly saw peril in a weak federal government and intended for the national capital to serve as its 'stationary residence.' The establishment of major national agencies outside of this seat runs contrary to that purpose and need. Project 2025 stands contrary to the shared American project. Project 2025 is not interested in better management for our public lands, more public engagement in decision-making, or even that these lands, or much of the government, remain public at all. Moving the BLM headquarters away from its department and all its sister agencies is part and parcel of the Project 2025 plan. And no one who cherishes our national public lands ought to be fooled one bit, or for one moment, otherwise. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
30-01-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Should e-bikes be allowed on some Jackson-area forest trails?
Mountain bikers on e-bikes in Montana's Acton Recreation Area. (Bob Wick/BLM/FlickrCC) This story was first published by WyoFile on Jan. 29, 2025. Electric bikes are growing in popularity as more people find pedal-assisted riding eases work commutes, leisure rides and even mountain bike outings. But with their increased power and appeal to beginner cyclists, should they be allowed alongside hikers, dog walkers and fellow mountain bikers on certain national forest trails? That is the question Bridger-Teton National Forest officials are considering with a years-in-the-making project that could allow e-bikes on Teton Pass area trails and expand their season on others. Under the original project scoping proposal, the agency would open 27.5 miles of national forest trails around the pass to class one electric bikes. That class includes bicycles with a motor that assists riders while pedaling up to 20 miles per hour, but no throttle. Class one generally includes models like mountain bikes, low-end commuters and bikes used around town. The U.S. Forest Service proposal would also expand the season that people can ride e-bikes on trails near Munger Mountain and Horsetail Creek, and it contemplates a permit system that uses stickers sold at bike shops to identify the class of e-bike. Following a scoping period that gathered comments and included public meetings, the national forest this month released the draft environmental analysis for the project, 'E-bike Use Designation on Select Jackson Area Trails.' That analysis includes two alternatives, or options, along with the original one. One would take no action and the third would focus e-bikes in areas already managed for motorized use and make e-bike-specific improvements to those trails. The third option was developed in response to earlier comments and is meant to address public concern. Now, the agency wants to hear from the public on the draft analysis and its alternatives. People can learn more about the project online, or during an open house Thursday in Jackson. Bicycle sales surged during the COVID-19 pandemic, and none more than e-bikes. Sales of e-bikes spiked 145% in 2020 compared to 2019, outpacing sales of all bikes, which were up 65%, according to market research firm NPD Group. The growing popularity of electric bikes also led to conflicts and management challenges. A sudden influx of more powerful bikes on roads and trails — often piloted by relative newcomers — led to concerns over impacts to wildlife, safety of fellow trail users and trail degradation. 'With a rapid increase in e-bike use in the Jackson area, Bridger-Teton National Forest staff believe now is the time to address this topic,' the draft environmental assessment reads. Staff initiated the project in the fall of 2023 with what's known as scoping. After laying out a proposal to allow e-bikes on new trails and expand the seasons in other places, the agency collected hundreds of comments. Themes that emerged from those comments included worries about safety, trail damage, wildlife impacts, the potential for battery-started fires and a lack of forest service staff to enforce permitting and proper trail use. However, many people also highlighted the benefits of the proposal, which include offering an on-ramp for more people into outdoor recreation, boosting tourism and increasing healthy activities. This sample of comments illustrates the wide spectrum of sentiments: 'These 'bicycles' are dangerous and can go ridiculously fast.' 'These trails are underutilized and can easily handle any increase in user traffic.' 'As an aging mountain biker, Ebikes have allowed me to continue to access our public lands.' 'As it starts to get excepted, (sic) it'll be all over wilderness. that is my biggest future concern.' 'E bikers tend to be novice riders and are clueless about how their speed is totally in conflict with other users.' The draft environmental assessment's first alternative, which was drafted in response to public comment, would focus on existing motorized trail areas, which are already open to all three e-bike classes. Under this alternative, the Forest Service would expand and improve these areas to meet growing e-bike demand. These areas include Shadow Mountain, Mosquito Creek and Swinging Bridge — all in proximity to Jackson. The work would entail constructing new trails specifically designed for e-bike use; rerouting existing motorized trails to improve rideability and experience for e-biker users; adopting closed roads or non-system trails as Forest Service trails; and relaxing seasonal restrictions to expand the e-bike season in certain areas. Under that alternative, Teton Pass-area trails and the entire Cache-Game trail system would be managed only for non-motorized uses. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE An open house will take place from 5-7 p.m. Thursday at the Jackson Ranger District Office, where staff can answer questions about the proposed action, alternatives and the timeline moving forward. The public can comment on the draft environmental assessment online using this form, or via written responses delivered to the Jackson Ranger District Office on North Cache Street in Jackson. They will be accepted through Feb. 24. This round of comments will help inform the final environmental assessment and draft decision, which will be released later this spring, according to the agency. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
