We are fighting back against a cynical industry lawsuit to strip protections away from the Dixie Valley toad. Read more: biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press...

Vindication today as the feds announce a new round of analysis for the Greenlink North transmission boondoggle. Turns out of if you're going to violate your own laws by sending the sage-grouse to extinction, you at least need to show your work. biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press...

I'm sorry, but have you looked at the Washington Post editorial page lately? For God's sake. @postopinions.bsky.social

Merry Christmas Eve, mining executives. courtesy Meg Bernhard, NYT Mag. www.nytimes.com/2025/01/24/m...

Here's the contest-winning photo legally required to be on the National Parks Annual Pass next to the pass Trump is forcing everyone to use instead. You tell me, which best invokes the majesty and beauty of America's national parks?

Lawsuit filed! “Blotting out the majesty of America’s national parks with a closeup of his own face is Trump’s crassest, most ego-driven action yet. The national parks are not a personal branding opportunity. They’re the pride and joy of the American people" biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press...

If I've learned one thing from 21 years in conservation biology it's to document everything. No matter how insignificant, no matter how repetitive. If you took 50 photos or data points, turn around & get 50 more. You only get one chance to contemporaneously collect data. Use it wisely.

Join me Fri Dec 12 @ 2pm PT for a for a presentation with Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West. I'll be discussing how "Mining for the Renewable Energy Transition Threatens Endemic Plant Diversity". Zoom info in the link dornsife.usc.edu/icw/upcoming/

Here as the majestic National Parks and #PublicLands featured on the last 14 America the Beautiful - National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands passes:

The 2014-2022 National Park passes. Not a bloated ego in sight. Every president but Trump, regardless of political party, agreed that National Parks are America's great treasure, above partisan politics & personal ego. That's why the law mandates the image reflect timeless Nature, not politicians

Which of the 2023-2026 National Park passes do u think meet the legal standard of being "used as a means to educate the American people about Federal recreational lands and waters"? Which pass screams: "Look at me! I'm not a failure. I'm not cringy sensitive to flattery. I'm extremely powerful"?

@biologicaldiversity.org is suing to wipe Trump's face off the America the Beautiful National Parks pass. By law, the pass must display the winning photo of a federal #PublicLands picture contest. Instead, Trump plastered his own face on it. Trump's vanity pass is not American, beautiful, or legal

It’s hard to believe, it's already been three weeks since I married my love and #Teambuckwheat co-conspirator @bitterwaterblue.bsky.social in a beautiful ceremony in the Amargosa River Basin. 💕

ISO a used multiparamater water meter for taking field readings. DM me if you've got one lying around you don't need...

This cement plant & limestone mine would be directly in the communities of Moapa Valley in So. Nevada. Mining shouldn't just be able to roll into your town & ruin your homes & your way of life. Glad the Clark County Planning Commission saw how bad this project is. nevadacurrent.com/2025/11/06/m...

I've never met a mining executive who didn't immediately tell me that he was an environmentalist.

Predicting wildflower blooms is a fool's errand. I'll just note that October rains often yield impressive desert blooms in spring. Germination gets a head start, if sufficient rain comes during the winter... 🌼🌺🌸 I'll also note that we've gotten over 20% of annual precipitation in the past 3 weeks 🤔

Our planet faces a global #ExtinctionCrisis. Scientists predict that over 1 million species are on track for extinction. But there’s still time to stop it — and we need your help. Check out our current action alerts to tackle the extinction crisis from every angle. Take action ➡️ bit.ly/4h2BWJ4

Data center load growth is accelerating climate change. No data centers are good for the climate, even if powered by renewables, because they are simply gobbling up those renewables which should be instead used to reduce fossil fuel consumption. Abundance is a myth.

We've just teamed up with the Amargosa Conservancy to launch a lawsuit against BLM's approval of mining exploration on the doorstep of Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge. We allege that this authorization violates the Endangered Species Act. Read more: biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press...

My latest newsletter just dropped. The grand Greenlink plan string wires all across rural Nevada has hit some snags... sageandsand.substack.com/p/sage-and-s...

October 1st, Happy New Water Year to all those who celebrate.

Great Basin National Park: The sublime beauty of an aspen stand in autumn; the horror of widespread conifer die-off. The forests are telling us something. Will we listen?

Climate folks who trivialize or disregard the threat of lithium battery fires look both foolish and hopelessly out of touch with the realities and perceptions of normal people.

Check out the latest edition of my newsletter, Sage and Sand. Today, I confront myths about the Endangered Species Act. Do fish getting listed mean that farmers use water? The answers will surprise you. open.substack.com/pub/sageands...

Wow, 61° this morning here on the edge of Death Valley. Coolest temp we've had here since May. With highs in the low 90s this week, we may be looking at an early exit from the hot season this year, which usually roughly extends to Sept 30.

Best way to ensure that I do not like you and immediately ignore what you say? Proclaim that you're a fan of AI. It's a clear dividing line in the sand. And I know what side I'm on, and it ain't the robots' side.

What is one basic scientific concept from your job that you wish everyone understood? I'll start in the replies...

You can have my NEPA when you pry it from my cold, dead hands.

The Sonoyta mud turtle is clinging to existence at the beautiful and deeply imperiled Quitobaquito Spring in Organ Pipe Natl Mon. Border wall construction and groundwater pumping have already harmed it. @biologicaldiversity.org got it protected under the ESA in 2017. tucson.com/news/local/s...

Riley passed away a few months ago. He had a long, wild ride on this Earth and devoted his time to conservation of the desert. From humble beginnings at the Devore animal shelter to desert wild man to his final resting place along the Amargosa River, join me on his journeys...

The drought of 1924 sounds like the drought of 2021-2022, when all the desert holly defoliated. It still hasn't really recovered from the recent drought. From Ken Lengner's brilliant new book, Death Valley Region, a Chronological & Pictorial History, Book 2 (1904-1925).

This @latimes.com @nohaggerty.bsky.social column is blaming John Muir for out of control wildfires? But doesn't mention the words climate change or drought? The 10am policy predates the Wilderness Act by decades, motivated by preserving timber to cut it down later. www.latimes.com/environment/...

Well, that's a wrap on August here on the edge of Death Valley. The Tecopa weather station recorded 0.02" of rain. Average daily high 110.3°, low 73.3°, hottest day 119°, coolest day 101°. Monthly average temp of 93°, about 1.3° above 20-year average. Yes, it's getting hotter.

We're working on scoping comments on an oil & gas lease sale in the beautiful White River Valley of eastern Nevada. Trump wants to give 20,000 acres to oil companies for fracking in a sensitive groundwater system. Obama-era FWS recommended withdrawing the area from leasing.

I fired up the old newsletter machine for the first time in a while. In it, I take a lay of the land of the Western public lands extraction boom. TLDR: it's chaos. Read more: sageandsand.substack.com/p/sage-and-s...

Three cheers to @repdinatitus.bsky.social for speaking out against wasteful sprawl development in the Clark County lands bill, & for pointing the way to the future with mandatory affordable housing and strict water limits in development. More in @nevadacurrent.com: nevadacurrent.com/2025/08/28/i...

Oh we are so back! I took a break from the public eye for a while- it was heavenly. But social media is our public square. And I was born to be the town crier. Or Chicken Little, depending on your perspective. So I'm back in the saddle, charging into battle, not going gentle into that good night.

The @amargosaconserv.bsky.social Amargosa Conservancy is hiring a new Executive Director! The ED will work closely with a very active Board of Directors to secure a future for the Amargosa River and the communities that depend on her. Join us! bit.ly/AmargosaED1

We've officially turned the corner here on the edge of Death Valley: the chorus frogs are going off at dawn in Tecopa Marsh. In a normal year we'd be seeing the first signs of the bloom at lower elevations, but we've had almost no rain so there aren't flowers in our immediate future.

A decade after the Center and allies petitioned to protect monarchs under the Endangered Species Act, the USFWS has *finally* proposed the iconic butterflies for protection as a threatened species. Join us in urging the Service to finalize protections ➡️ biodiv.us/4aOYERV

Coming into February we've gotten 0.25" of rain this cool season here on the edge of Death Valley. About 16% of normal to date. Don't expect much of a spring in the desert.

People have this idea that I'm a big jerk because I like to talk shit but I'm told that I'm actually a nice and friendly guy, as long as you're not a mining company executive on Christmas Eve.

The Amargosa River cuts a deep canyon below Tecopa, CA. It carves through strata, exposing our deep carbonate aquifer which transmits groundwater from far away. The water emerges at seeps and springs in the canyon walls, which feed what is the nation's only exclusively groundwater-fed River. 💙

Rain! Glorious, glorious rain! The desert rejoices.

One of the joys of my life is to work alongside my partner and love @bitterwaterblue.bsky.social ❤️. Our work to preserve life in the desert is featured in this @nytimes.com magazine piece by Meg Bernhard. Please read and share! www.nytimes.com/2025/01/24/m...

Halting the #ExtinctionCrisis isn’t just about saving a species when it’s dwindled to only a few. It’s also about keeping track of species as they begin to decline so we can intervene with solutions before it’s too late. Learn more about our work: SaveLifeOnEarth.org

Have you ever had genetic information blow your mind? Genetics revealed that speckled dace in isolated desert springs likely surf down the crest of flash floods across dozens of miles of xeric desert to downstream springs, breeding with the speckled dace they find there. 🤯

What fresh hell is this? I just want to open a word document bro

Thinking about my beloved chaparral plants. Maligned and misunderstood. Victims of “fuels treatments”. masticated and bladed down to nubs only for Bromus kindling to take their place.