Are America’s public lands entering a new Gilded Age?

Are America’s public lands entering a new Gilded Age?

Kate and Aaron are joined by Professor John Leshy, one of the nation’s top scholars of public lands law, to discuss a new essay of his that argues America’s public lands are entering a new Gilded Age, complete with robber barons, corruption, and deregulation. We also talk about a new exposé revealing Doug Burgum to be a really bad boss who’s breaking the law, and about Border Patrol breaking ground inside Big Bend National Park. NEWS * Inside Doug Burgum’s rocky tenure at Interior [https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2026/08/07/doug-burgum-interior-department-jeanine-pirro-01028360] – POLITICO * “Warfare on the People.” Big Bend Residents Fear the Border Wall Will Cut Off Public Lands. [https://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/environment/big-bend-national-park-border-wall-access/] – Outside * Mapping it out: onX tool connects Montanans to public land comment opportunities [https://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/news/local/onx-publiccomment-publiclands-nationalforestservice-nationalparkservice-blm/article_2fbb4008-5521-4f4c-810e-f526d1f1fb55.html] – Bozeman Daily Chronicle RESOURCES * On Shaky Ground: America’s Public Lands Face an Uncertain Future  [https://celj.cu.law/?p=1161] * Keep Parks Public Tour — RSVP to Tucson! [https://www.keepparkspublic.org/tour] * On Common Ground: An American Inheritance [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/on-common-ground-an-american-inheritance/id6795598387] * Watch this episode on YouTube [http://youtube.com/watch?v=u4f5bIx7sYo&feature=youtu.be] Produced by Aaron Weiss, Lauren Bogard, Kate Groetzinger, and Lilly Bock-Brownstein Feedback: podcast@westernpriorities.org [podcast@westernpriorities.org] Music: Purple Planet Featured image: Basin and Range National Monument; Source: BLM Photo Bob Wick [https://www.flickr.com/photos/blmnevada/21422626250/] The post Are America’s public lands entering a new Gilded Age? [https://westernpriorities.org/2026/08/are-americas-public-lands-entering-a-new-gilded-age/] appeared first on Center for Western Priorities [https://westernpriorities.org].

LIVE from Santa Fe: Defending New Mexico’s public lands

Recorded live at Nuckolls Brewing in Santa Fe as part of CWP’s Keep Parks Public campaign [http://keepparkspublic.org], Kate interviews four experts about the current stakes for New Mexico’s public lands. Charlotte Overby (Conservation Lands Foundation), Keegan King (Native Land Institute), Andrew Black (National Wildlife Federation/Earthkeepers 360), and Elaine Leslie (Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks) discuss the importance of defending New Mexico’s land, water, and wildlife from the current threats coming out of the Trump administration. Thank you to Nuckolls Brewing, REI Santa Fe, and New Mexico Wild for joining us at this event! Come see us at our next live show in Tucson! [https://www.keepparkspublic.org/event-tucson2026] NEWS * Tribes decry two-week comment period tied to BLM proposal to strip Chaco protections — Santa Fe New Mexican [https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/tribes-decry-two-week-comment-period-tied-to-blm-proposal-to-strip-chaco-protections/article_00817ed1-90b8-4ccd-bfa6-37b7432f6f07.html] * Before-And-After Maps Show How Trump Is Slashing Utah National Monuments — Newsweek [https://www.newsweek.com/before-after-maps-trump-slashing-utah-national-monuments-bear-ears-grand-staircase-escalante-12193104] * Interior Department Planning More Changes To National Park Service Staffing — Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks [https://protectnps.org/2026/04/02/interior-department-planning-more-changes-to-national-park-service-staffing/] * Lujan Grisham, Stansbury support 10,000-acre Sandia land transfer as Heinrich, NMWF oppose — Rio Rancho Observer [https://www.rrobserver.com/news/lujan-grisham-stansbury-support-10000-acre-sandia-land-transfer-as-heinrich-nmwf-oppose/3092045] RESOURCES * Keep Parks Public Tour — RSVP to Tucson! [https://www.keepparkspublic.org/tour] * REI Cooperative Action Fund [https://www.reifund.org/] * New Mexico Wild [https://nmwild.org/] * Conservation Lands Foundation [https://www.conservationlands.org/] * Native Land Institute [https://www.native-lands.org/] * National Wildlife Federation [https://www.nwf.org/] * Earth Keepers 360 [https://www.earth-keepers.org/] * Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks [https://protectnps.org/] * Center for Western Priorities Road to 30 Postcard: Caja Del Rio [https://www.roadto30.org/cajadelriopostcard] * W [https://youtu.be/kLgiqyj93t4]atch this episode on YouTube [https://youtu.be/kLgiqyj93t4] Produced by Aaron Weiss, Lauren Bogard, Kate Groetzinger, and Lilly Bock-Brownstein Feedback: podcast@westernpriorities.org [podcast@westernpriorities.org] Music: Purple Planet Featured image: CWP photo The post LIVE from Santa Fe: Defending New Mexico’s public lands [https://westernpriorities.org/2026/08/live-from-santa-fe-defending-new-mexicos-public-lands/] appeared first on Center for Western Priorities [https://westernpriorities.org].

Wild women with author Heather Hansman

Kate and Aaron talk to Heather Hansman about her new book, Fierce Country: The Untold Story of Three Women Who Ignited America’s Love for the Wild [https://www.harpercollins.com/products/fierce-country-heather-hansman]. Plus, mining companies are staking an unprecedented number of claims in New Mexico. And we’re going on tour [https://www.keepparkspublic.org/tour]! Come see us in Santa Fe and Tucson. NEWS * By the #s: More mining claims filed in New Mexico in last 4 years than previous century [https://sourcenm.com/2026/07/24/by-the-s-more-mining-claims-filed-in-new-mexico-in-last-four-years-than-previous-century/] – Source NM RESOURCES * Keep Parks Public Tour — RSVP to Santa Fe and Tucson! [https://www.keepparkspublic.org/tour] * Buy Fierce Country [https://www.harpercollins.com/products/fierce-country-heather-hansman?variant=44270250459170] * Watch this episode on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVR-HN5PsqE] Produced by Aaron Weiss, Lauren Bogard, Kate Groetzinger, and Lilly Bock-Brownstein Feedback: podcast@westernpriorities.org [podcast@westernpriorities.org] Music: Purple Planet Featured image: CWP photo The post Wild women with author Heather Hansman [https://westernpriorities.org/2026/07/wild-women-with-author-heather-hansman/] appeared first on Center for Western Priorities [https://westernpriorities.org].

Who is Doug Burgum, really?

Forum of Fargo-Moorhead columnist Mike McFeely [https://www.inforum.com/mike-mcfeely] joins Aaron and Kate to trace Doug Burgum’s path from software tycoon to “opportunist” politician. McFeely outlines how Burgum abandoned his once-moderate image to become a die-hard Trump loyalist as Interior Secretary, all while chasing his future political ambitions and defending indefensible policies. In the news: On Monday, Trump slashed Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante [https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/13/climate/trump-national-monuments-utah.html?utm_source=1500+CWP+List+Daily+Clips+and+Updates&utm_campaign=d1e5987cdf-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2026_07_13_08_43&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-d1e5987cdf-84321517] by about 90% each (3 million acres total). SUWA’s Scott Braden joins the pod to explain the unlawful basis for the cuts, the elimination of the Bears Ears Commission, Tribal exclusion, and plans to challenge the reductions in court. NEWS * Day of Action on Monday, July 20th [https://suwa.org/monumental-day-of-action-on-monday-july-20/] * Trump Sharply Cuts the Size of Two National Monuments in Utah — New York Times [https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/13/climate/trump-national-monuments-utah.html?utm_source=1500+CWP+List+Daily+Clips+and+Updates&utm_campaign=d1e5987cdf-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2026_07_13_08_43&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-d1e5987cdf-84321517] * How President Trump and Utah leaders lied and misled on Bears Ears and Grand Staircase — Center for Western Priorities [https://westwise.substack.com/p/how-president-trump-and-utah-leaders] * McFeely: Doug Burgum’s very bad day — Forum of Fargo-Moorhead [https://www.inforum.com/opinion/columns/mcfeely-doug-burgums-very-bad-day] RESOURCES * Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA) [https://www.wilderness.org/] * Mike McFeely’s column in Forum of Fargo-Moorhead [https://www.inforum.com/mike-mcfeely] * Watch this episode on YouTube [https://youtu.be/OehNojdhm8w] Produced by Aaron Weiss, Lauren Bogard, Kate Groetzinger, and Lilly Bock-Brownstein Feedback: podcast@westernpriorities.org [podcast@westernpriorities.org] Music: Purple Planet Featured image: Burgum hearing ENR Apr 29 The post Who is Doug Burgum, really? [https://westernpriorities.org/2026/07/who-is-doug-burgum-really/] appeared first on Center for Western Priorities [https://westernpriorities.org].

Tracy Stone-Manning on the future of public lands

Aaron talks with Tracy Stone-Manning, president of The Wilderness Society, former director of the Bureau of Land Management, and three-time guest on The Landscape, about how to rebuild federal land agencies after years of political disruption and why the current moment may be a once-in-a-generation opportunity to rethink public lands law from the ground up. They discuss the Forest Service reorganization, the lessons Tracy learned rebuilding BLM after the first Trump administration’s failed relocation, the new Ground Shift initiative, and why aging laws like the 1872 Mining Act are long overdue for an overhaul. In the news: Aaron covers the ongoing fiasco at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, where a rushed, no-bid repainting job has devolved into peeling paint, algae, and an administration blaming phantom vandals. He also covers the tragic deaths of three federal wildland firefighters along the Colorado-Utah border and the questions it raises about whether staffing cuts are putting our fire crews in danger. NEWS * A bumpy beginning for the Great American State Fair — Washington Post [https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2026/06/26/great-american-state-fair-has-bumpy-beginning-its-opening-day/] * The blue paint is peeling off the Reflecting Pool. Trump says vandals targeted it. — Washington Post [https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/2026/06/19/blue-paint-is-peeling-off-reflecting-pool/] * 3 firefighters killed in Western wildfire were trying to shield themselves from flames — Associated Press [https://apnews.com/article/firefighters-killed-colorado-utah-459ad012d96b3a149b1560897a31eba6] * Federal wildland firefighters report increased burnout, low morale — Federal News Network [https://federalnewsnetwork.com/workforce/2026/06/federal-wildland-firefighters-report-increased-burnout-low-morale/] RESOURCES * Ground Shift [https://www.groundshift.us/] * The Wilderness Society [https://www.wilderness.org/] * Watch this episode on YouTube [https://youtu.be/4dg5g2fbrTc] Produced by Aaron Weiss, Lauren Bogard, Kate Groetzinger, and Lilly Bock-Brownstein Feedback: podcast@westernpriorities.org [podcast@westernpriorities.org] Music: Purple Planet Featured image: King Range National Conservation Area. BLM Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/p/DMI0ImUtmrj] The post Tracy Stone-Manning on the future of public lands [https://westernpriorities.org/2026/06/tracy-stone-manning-on-the-future-of-public-lands/] appeared first on Center for Western Priorities [https://westernpriorities.org].