DENVER—A new report from the Center for Western Priorities found that in 2021, oil and gas companies in Colorado, New Mexico and Wyoming reported an increase in drilling-related spills, as compared to 2020. New Mexico recorded a record number of liquid spills in 2021, however, spills are down in both Colorado and Wyoming as compared to before the […]
Center for Western Priorities
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Report: The Oil Industry’s Public Lands Stockpile
DENVER February 19, 2021 – The Center for Western Priorities today released an interactive report examining the millions of acres of idle leases stockpiled by the oil and gas industry. The report maps out oil and gas leases and finds that the oil industry is currently sitting on 9.9 million acres of idle leases across […]
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Dismal legacy of Trump’s “Energy Dominance” agenda creates opportunity to modernize system for drilling on public lands
DENVER, January 25, 2021 — The Center for Western Priorities today released a report assessing the impacts of the Trump administration’s four-year efforts to enact a drill-everywhere “Energy Dominance” agenda on our nation’s public lands, slashing public health and environmental safeguards to benefit the oil and gas industry. The report, titled “The Dismal Legacy of […]
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Center for Western Priorities: Statement on public lands oil production in light of market crash
DENVER March 9, 2020 – As oil prices plummet amidst the COVID-19 outbreak and a production war between OPEC and Russia, oil producers on public lands in the American West are facing bleak prospects in the coming weeks. The crash will likely lead to bankruptcies among small oil producers, resulting in additional abandoned wells on […]
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More than half of BLM’s Resource Advisory Councils have failed to meet under Trump rules
DENVER October 8, 2019 – For decades, the Bureau of Land Management has relied on Resource Advisory Councils (RACs) to bring together diverse public stakeholders and provide guidance for on-the-ground land management decisions. However, under the Trump administration, the Interior Department has taken steps to undermine these committees and cut out the public. In May […]
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New analysis measures the Land and Water Conservation Fund’s success
DENVER, Colorado August 23, 2018 – A new report released today by the Center for Western Priorities, Funding America’s Conservation Future, offers a data-driven analysis of the Land and Water Conservation Fund’s (LWCF) accomplishments and examines what is at stake if Congress fails to renew the critical land conservation program. The report, which identified and […]
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Trump Administration’s Draft Infrastructure Plan Proposes Selling Off Public Lands
DENVER January 23, 2018 – A draft of President Trump’s infrastructure plan leaked to Axios yesterday, laying out the administration’s “principles” for new infrastructure legislation. In response to the leak, the Center for Western Priorities issued the following statement from Executive Director Jennifer Rokala: “Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has said time and again that he would oppose […]
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New Mexico Senator Calls Out Multiple Factual Errors in Secretary Zinke’s Final Monuments Report
September 19, 2017 – At today’s hearing by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Senator Martin Heinrich (D-NM) identified multiple factual errors in Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s final report to President Trump on national monuments. During an exchange with John Ruhs, Acting Deputy Director of Operations at the Bureau of Land Management, Sen. Heinrich noted […]
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Center for Western Priorities: Statement on National Park Service anniversary: The height of hypocrisy
DENVER August 25, 2017 – As the National Park Service celebrates its 101st birthday today, the Center for Western Priorities released the following statement from Advocacy Director Jesse Prentice-Dunn: “It is the height of hypocrisy for Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to celebrate our parks the day after he proposed wiping vast parts of our national […]
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New Data-Driven Website Reveals How Oil and Gas Companies Influence Energy Development on America’s Public Lands
DENVER August 3, 2017 – The Center for Western Priorities and The Wilderness Society unveiled a new website today, RiggingTheSystem.org, to help Americans sort through the deluge of data and reports about oil and gas development on U.S. public lands. The website launches as Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke is considering sweeping policies to increase the […]
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New fact sheet busts the myth of a “war on oil” and gas
DENVER, Jan. 25, 2017—As the Trump administration takes shape, the Center for Western Priorities released a new fact sheet showing how oil and gas companies thrived on public lands over the course of the Obama administration. Far from a “war on oil” claimed by President Trump, his allies in Congress, and industry lobbyists, data shows […]
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“Winning the West” Report Reveals Outdoor Issues Dominated Elections in Mountain West States
DENVER, Jan. 18, 2017—The Center for Western Priorities today released its Winning the West: Election 2016 Report, revealing the biggest untold story in the Mountain West this election was the rise of public lands and the outdoors as a wedge issue. The report examined candidate positions on the use, protection and management of public lands in […]
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Andre Miller: Obama administration tries to guarantee scientific integrity as Trump administration begins war on science
Dec. 20, 2016 – The nation’s natural and cultural resources are under threat from the anti-science sentiment held by President-elect Trump and his increasingly alarming cabinet nominations. The Department of the Interior (DOI) and many of its agencies — including the National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife Service, and the U.S. Geological Survey — rely […]
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Armed militants pose ongoing, dangerous threat to government employees working to protect America’s public lands
DENVER, CO, Oct. 28, 2016 – An Oregon jury returned a surprise verdict yesterday, finding Ammon Bundy, Ryan Bundy, and five other militants not guilty of conspiring to impede employees at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. The trial is a setback for the U.S. government working to stem the tide of militant extremism on public […]
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Western Attorneys General Throw Cold Water on Legal Case Against American Public Lands
DENVER, Colo. October 3, 2016 – The Associated Press reported that the Western Conference of Attorneys General has issued an analysis rejecting claims made by leading opponents of U.S. public lands that the U.S. government has no right to hold national forests, wildlife refuges, national monuments, and other public lands in trust for all Americans. […]
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New Analysis: Wildfire Costs Alone Sink Public Lands Seizure Efforts
DENVER, Sept. 23, 2016 – The Center for Western Priorities issued a new analysis, The Wildfire Burden, spotlighting one of many flaws with attempts to “transfer” U.S. public lands to state and private control. Any Western state politician pushing this idea is committing his or her state to the liabilities and high costs associated with […]
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Greg Zimmerman: Four Things to Keep in Mind as the Bundys Stand Trial for Occupying American Public Lands
September 6, 2016 – The long-awaited trial for Ammon Bundy, Ryan Bundy, and six other militants who led the 40-day armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge begins on Wednesday in Portland, Oregon. The trial will bring some closure to the central Oregon town of Burns where the armed occupiers disrupted daily life and […]