Sacrifice for the Sun: Fiction for the Solstice open.substack.com/pub/landdesk...

Unbelievable. This would be a terrible blow to American science, writ large. It would decimate not only climate research, but also the kind of weather, wildfire, and disaster research that has underpinned half a century of progress in prediction, early warning, and increased resilience.

Utah’s snowpack situation is looking kinda precarious after a warm fall.

This is INSANE www.nytimes.com/2025/12/09/t... and these are our closest allies!

Wolves and bears are recolonizing Greece, sustained in part by an out of control boar population. Awesome. www.independent.co.uk/news/world/e...

Cars kill more Americans than any war since the 1950s every single year. What happened to this woman is awful, but when are we going to talk about how cars have been not merely growing but a *persistent* threat for generations now? How cars blessed us with microplastics, war, and sprawl? Huh? When?

Let's just temporarily name all the ephemeral bodies of water the Beloved Trump stream/arroyo/gully, etc. Protection secured! 😏

On Trump's arroyo-phobic Clean Water Act rule www.landdesk.org/p/on-trumps-...

Et tu, Cisco? Developer looks to turn Utah "ghost town" into "our town." www.landdesk.org/p/et-tu-cisc... via @landdesk.bsky.social

"If Trump really cared about energy dominance, independence or abundance, he would use all of the tools at his disposal to 'win' this war." -- @landdesk.bsky.social w/more great thought-provoking words for @highcountrynews.org www.hcn.org/articles/the...

There once was a time, believe it or not, that Republicans and ranchers lobbied for more wilderness. My piece on the Weminuche Wilderness at 50 www.landdesk.org/p/the-weminu...

The river outlets at Glen Canyon Dam were operating today. Not sure why, but it sure looks cool.

I was wrong about Trump, okay!? www.landdesk.org/p/i-was-wron...

The San Juan River at Pagosa Springs is at major flood level again this morning.

Our ranch in NW Rio Arriba County, NM went fm Abnormally Dry in October 2024 right past Moderate and Severe to Extreme Drought in September 2025... why this doesn't galvanize every farmer/rancher into climate action is beyond me. They should read Jonathan Thompson @landdesk.bsky.social like I do.

It kind of makes you wonder: Is this new wave of nuclear reactors solving the data center energy demand problem? Or are data centers’ energy-gobbling habits "solving" the nuclear reactors’ cost and feasibility problems? www.landdesk.org/p/are-nukes-...

Big Tech invades Nevada's power grid (and desert) www.landdesk.org/p/big-tech-i... via @landdesk.bsky.social

One pretty foolproof way to know your government is fascist is when your government tries to punish you for calling it fascist.

A team of Colorado River experts urges users to slash consumption ASAP to avoid a crisis. www.landdesk.org/p/experts-sl...

“Where the hell is the concern about federal overreach now?” www.landdesk.org/p/where-are-... via @landdesk.bsky.social

🌶️ You can’t grow chile without clean water. In Rio Arriba County, aging oil & gas wells threaten to poison what sustains us: land, water, and legacy. Op-ed from @vivarioarriba.bsky.social on why modernizing bonding will help make #NMPol safer and cleaner. www.santafenewmexican.com/opinion/my_v...

I also talked with Western environmental journalist Jonathan P. Thompson, author of the @landdesk.bsky.social newsletter, for this week's Boiling Point podcast. Great conversation about the Colorado River, coal plants and national parks. Listen in: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

Appreciate @landdesk.bsky.social covering the transition from fossil fuels to renewables -- oh, wait, I mean efforts to extend the life of antiquated coal-fired power plants & build new fossil methane pipelines to meet growing power demand from energy-intensive data centers.

"Interior Department has gone even further with a new order that threatens to kill all new renewable power development on federal lands." - @landdesk.bsky.social writing about the Interior Department's new "capacity density" order: www.landdesk.org/p/trumps-war... 🔌💡

Morons.

No, there is not plenty of water for data centers www.landdesk.org/p/no-there-i...

The West’s data centers suck (water and power). Lots of great information and visualizations here from @landdesk.bsky.social ‪@highcountrynews.org‬ www.hcn.org/issues/57-8/...

The #RioGrande has gone dry in Albuquerque -- John Fleck (InkStain.net) coyotegulch.blog/2025/07/16/t...

In which I compare the Colorado River Compact to an inherited potato farm. www.landdesk.org/p/colorado-r...

@landdesk.bsky.social explains the Colorado River Compact of 1922 open.substack.com/pub/landdesk...

Kanab, Utah, used to be an out of the way, podunk town best known as a center of the Sagebrush Rebellion. Now it’s getting overrun by high-end luxury resorts and gated communities — despite the lack of water. www.landdesk.org/p/as-the-col...

These people are Nazis. I know that's well-understood by many people at this point, but not enough. They are Nazis and we need to keep saying it.

Sen. Mike Lee pulls his public land sell-off bill after serious backlash. That's what happens when you try to hand Americans' land to developers.

Mike MAGA Lee may have changed his public land sell-off bill, but it would still privatize/develop up to 1.9 million acres of your favorite BLM lands near Western communities www.landdesk.org/p/breaking-m...

In which I try to clear up the confusion about public lands acreage for sale in the Senate's latest budget reconciliation bill. Spoiler: It's not 294 million, but it's still atrocious. open.substack.com/pub/landdesk...

MAGA intensifies its assault on public lands www.landdesk.org/p/maga-inten...

A long long time ago, in a far away galaxy... the US used to tax the rich

The first project under Trump's "energy emergency" fast-tracked permitting is a uranium mine in Utah's Lisbon Valley. The BLM has 14 days to complete the review. www.landdesk.org/p/trump-emer...

This reminds us that grizzly bears, wolves, and mountain lions belong in the West.

On the feds' brutal predator-eradication campaign, wildness, and hope in trying times www.landdesk.org/p/longread-o...

Trump administration makes its most egregious move yet to eviscerate public land protections by dramatically (and illegally) fast-tracking mining and drilling permits in the name of a fake energy emergency www.landdesk.org/p/interior-e...

This is nuts. Trump's Interior Dept. is dramatically fast-tracking environmental reviews and permitting for drilling, mining, and more, making it nearly impossible to comply with NEPA and other laws. www.doi.gov/pressrelease...

Trump looks to make the BLM the Bureau of Livestock and Mining Again by discarding a Biden-era tool that hasn't even been used yet. Also: a little perspective on Interior canceling EISs for some oil and gas leases. www.landdesk.org/p/trump-look...

Freedom Cities are back, in a more politically palatable form, and they're coming for your public lands. www.landdesk.org/p/freedom-ci...

Thank you to the resistors for their service and courage. It’s heartbreaking to see good people continually targeted by Musk.

The system in question processes payroll for approximately 276,000 federal employees across dozens of agencies. DOGE workers now have visibility into sensitive employee information, including Social Security numbers, and greater ability to hire and fire workers.

Musk staffers gained access to a system at the Interior Department. We had resisted their attempts for about two weeks to obtain administrative access to the program. Two IT officials who stood their ground are now on administrative leave and under investigation.

Trump halts historic orphaned well-plugging program Western states were using funds from the Infrastructure Act to clean up pollution left behind by industry. www.hcn.org/articles/tru...

My thoughts on Trump's order to turn public lands over to mining corporations and housing developers. www.landdesk.org/p/trump-hand...

The Trump EPA will begin the process of rolling back 31 more environmental rules. “We are driving a dagger straight into the heart of the climate change religion," EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said. www.latimes.com/environment/...