Administration: Interior nominee faced questions over cuts and land sales in confirmation hearing.
Democrats hit Interior nominee on cuts, land sales, E&E News – Kate MacGregor, nominee for deputy secretary, testified Wednesday before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Kate MacGregor parried questions Wednesday on understaffed national parks and selling federal lands in a public vetting of her nomination to be deputy Interior secretary. MacGregor, an energy executive and alum of the first Trump administration, would be reprising her role as second in command at the sprawling public lands and energy department. She sailed through the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee confirmation hearing Wednesday, mostly evading any head-on collisions with Democrats even as they pressed her on the administration’s contentious cuts and potential interest in offering public lands for sale.
Congress: Conversations continue as GOP discusses selling public lands; Daughter of late Rep. Grijalva announces bid for AZ House seat.
Fireworks follow GOP talk about selling public land, E&E News – Republicans have discussed the sale of some lands to help pay for their budget reconciliation package. Top Democrats and public lands advocates were aghast Wednesday over the news that Republicans have been discussing selling federal lands to help pay for their bill to advance President Donald Trump’s agenda. The discussions, reported by POLITICO’s E&E News, come as the GOP is hunting for ways to pay for their reconciliation bill, which seeks to boost energy production, cut taxes and provide additional support to the southern border. The bill will likely carry a multitrillion-dollar price tag, meaning Republicans need to find offsets for the cost. Republicans said that talks were still tentative and may only involve small parcels around National Parks or Western cities. The chair of the House Natural Resources Committee, Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.), described it as a “rounding error.” The U.S. owns and controls about 640 acres of land — roughly 30 percent of the country — leading to frequent turf wars among the government, states and industry. But public ownership also ensures public access, a top priority for outdoor recreationists, hunters, anglers and conservationists.
Adelita Grijalva announces bid for late father’s House seat in Arizona, Roll Call – Arizona Democrat Adelita Grijalva, the daughter of Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva, said Monday that she will run for the Tucson-area seat vacated by her father’s death earlier this month. A Pima County supervisor, Grijalva cited standing up to President Donald Trump as a prime reason for her entering the special election for Arizona’s 7th District. Grijalva joins a crowded July 15 Democratic primary for the safely blue seat that already includes former state Rep. Daniel Hernandez Jr. The general election is scheduled for Sept. 23. If she wins, Grijalva would be the first Latina elected to Congress from Arizona. Two high-profile potential candidates have already taken their names out of the running for the special election: Secretary of State Adrian Fontes and Tucson Mayor Regina Romero, who is chairing Grijalva’s campaign, according to the candidate’s Monday announcement.
Grazing: New conservation deal
pays grazing fees to allow elk crossing on Colorado ranch.
First-of-its-kind deal protects elk migration through private Colorado ranch, Colorado Sun – Park County rancher passionate about helping wildlife just signed a first-of-its-kind agreement with a conservation organization that will cover a significant portion of his cattle grazing fees in exchange for letting thousands of elk migrate through his property. And the Colorado Cattlemen’s Agricultural Land Trust, which helped broker the deal, says other ranchers are already asking how they can get in on it. Brendan Boeppel, conservation director at the land trust, said the organization has protected 800,000 acres of ranch land through conservation easements across Colorado since 1995, and that it’s exploring new ways ranchers can implement smart stewardship on their land without the “in perpetuity” condition of a traditional easement. Every winter Gottenborg lays down barbed-wire fencing on his ranch so migrating elk won’t get hung up in it. He assists them out of the fullness of his heart — and his bank account — because the elk trample ground his cattle graze on during the summer and inadvertently wreck fences he seems always to be fixing. Now he’ll keep helping those elk while also saving a few bucks he normally pays other private landowners to let his cattle graze on their property.
Wolves: Catron County, NM
voices concerns over increasing Mexican wolf populations.
Catron County could declare state of emergency over Mexican wolf population, KRQE News – Pets snatched from front yards and livestock killed. That’s what Catron County said is happening because of what they believe is too many Mexican wolves in their area. Now, county commissioners plan on declaring a state of emergency to protect animals and the public. “Catron County is saturated with wolves,” said Catron County Commissioner Audrey McQueen. Catron County said there has been an increase in Mexican wolf activity. They’re worried with the amount of sightings across the county and reports of livestock being killed. “Parents don’t even let their kids go out to play anymore without supervision. You can’t even let your dogs out of the house to just roam free,” said Commissioner McQueen. McQueen, who is also a rancher, said that just recently she lost four cows and one calf to wolves. She said the county has a high population of Mexican wolves, which the government has been working to recover since the late 1990s. Since then, McQueen said the wolf population is only growing in her area. According to the county, the wolves aren’t frightened by humans and are hanging out near people, with some sightings near schools. When wolves kill livestock, officials said it costs the county a lot of money every year, even though there is a federal program meant to reimburse ranchers for livestock killed by wolves.
Industry: NCBA Senior Vice President of Government Affairs, Ethan Lane, weighs in on President Trump’s reciprocal tariff plan.
Executives, trade and labor associations on Trump’s reciprocal tariffs, MSN – President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he would impose a 10% baseline tariff on all imports to the United States and higher duties on some of the country’s biggest trading partners, a move that could escalate a trade war and upend the global economy. Trading partners are expected to respond with countermeasures that could lead to dramatically higher prices for everything from bicycles to wine. Ethan Lane, Senior VP of Government Affairs, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association noted, “President Trump is taking action to address numerous trade barriers that prevent consumers overseas from enjoying high-quality, wholesome American beef. NCBA will continue engaging with the White House to ensure fair treatment for America’s cattle producers around the world and optimize opportunities for exports abroad.”
Wildfire: PLC Executive Director, Kaitlynn Glover, urges Congress to back grazing for wildfire prevention.
Producers Urge Congress for Grazing Policy to Help Prevent Wildfires, Drovers – Wildfires have been in the news recently with many West and Midwest states burning acres in 2025. Texas had the second largest fire in history a year ago, burning 1,058,482 acres. The West also had an extreme fire year in 2024 with four states burning at or close to a million acres in each, including California, Idaho and Wyoming. Oregon set a record of burning 1.9 million acres. Kaitlynn Glover is the Executive Director of the Public Lands Council (PLC) and works on natural resources for the National Cattleman’s Beef Association (NCBA). She spoke about wildfires and the importance of common-sense grazing policy as a wildfire prevention tool with guest host Michelle Rook on AgriTalk. “I feel like no matter any time in the year, no matter which year we’re talking about, there’s always going to be an anniversary of a big fire in the West,” Glover says. “The fire in Texas was absolutely devastating, and we’ve seen fires since then in California and Idaho and Washington and in these western states, and even in these Midwestern states, where you have a lot of grazing, you have a lot of forage build up, these grasses that dry out, especially if it’s dry later in the year. Grazing really is the best tool to be able to remove that risk from the landscape.”
Confirmation hearing for Interior Deputy Secretary nominee, Kate MacGregor, set for today.
Kate MacGregor’s second act, E&E News – The former Hill staffer and Interior deputy secretary faces a confirmation hearing Wednesday to return to the department. Kate MacGregor is a utilities executive, Interior Department alum and veteran rower who has already crewed for Team Trump. Interior’s deputy secretary for part of President Donald Trump’s first term, MacGregor is now poised to take the second seat again. Her confirmation hearing Wednesday before a Senate panel is likely to showcase her comfort on Capitol Hill, her inside knowledge of the department and her commitment to Trump’s agenda. If confirmed as Interior Secretary Doug Burgum’s deputy, as appears all but certain, MacGregor will be in a position often described as the day-to-day manager of the department that started the year with about 70,000 employees and an annual budget of roughly $18 billion.
Congress: Proxy Voting Dispute, Aircraft Inspection Termination, Proposal to sell Public Lands
House halts floor activity after proxy voting spat, E&E News – Nine House Republicans voted with Democrats on Tuesday to reject Speaker Mike Johnson’s bid to block a GOP member from allowing lawmakers who are new parents to vote by proxy. House Republican leaders inserted language into a procedural measure that would effectively kill Rep. Anna Paulina Luna’s proxy-voting proposal, which was due to come to the floor later this week. Luna had circumvented party leaders by successfully pursuing a discharge petition. That measure failed on a 222-206 vote. Joining Luna were GOP Reps. Tim Burchett of Tennessee, Kevin Kiley of California, Nick LaLota of New York, Mike Lawler of New York, Ryan Mackenzie of Pennsylvania, Max Miller of Ohio, Greg Steube of Florida and Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey. Approving the “rule,” as the measure is known, would have tabled the discharge petition and blocked future similar proposals, leading Luna and other Republicans to line up against it. Luna and 11 other House Republicans signed onto the discharge petition to force consideration of the proxy-voting measure.
Senator seeks end to Forest Service aircraft inspections, E&E News – Montana Republican Tim Sheehy’s aviation company built its business fighting wildfires for the federal government. A generation ago, a spate of fatal crashes of planes and helicopters the Forest Service hired to fight wildfires spurred the agency to start having its own inspectors to make sure the aircraft could safely fly. Now a senator tied to that industry says the inspections aren’t necessary and that the Forest Service should halt them. Republican Tim Sheehy, the founder of a Montana-based company that’s made millions of dollars in Forest Service firefighting contracts, said the agency’s inspections are outdated and duplicate the Federal Aviation Administration’s oversight responsibilities. Indeed, he once requested a review of a fatal 2021 air crash in which the Forest Service failed to detect a crack in an aircraft’s wing.
Republicans weigh sales of public land in reconciliation, E&E News – Republicans are mulling the sale of some public lands to help pay for a massive budget reconciliation bill to advance President Donald Trump’s agenda. But just how big they’ll be able to go is an open question. The discussion, according to lawmakers interviewed by POLITICO’s E&E News, is still in the early stages and is far from guaranteed to make it into a final package. According to one top Republican, concepts under discussion include the sale of some lands around Western cities or national parks to build more housing. Still, the land sales could ignite a firestorm of opposition from Democrats and public land advocacy groups, and deepen fissures within the Republican Party. With Republicans needing offsets for extending the 2017 tax cuts and other spending, the idea of selling government land has stayed on the agenda, along with more oil and gas leases.
Judge rules against USFS over grizzly bear protection in Paradise Valley.
Federal Magistrate Rules for Environmentalist, Finds the Forest Service Failed to Protect Grizzly Bears From Expanded Cattle Grazing, CounterPunch – Montana’s Paradise Valley is aptly named. Sitting between two towering mountain ranges, it cradles the mighty Yellowstone River that flows from its headwaters in America’s first national park and provides critical habitat to the native species still present 200 years after Lewis and Clark’s expedition, including grizzly bears, wolves, and wolverines. Yet, the Forest Service decided to expand cattle grazing on six federal allotments on the valley’s east side, including in grizzly bear recovery zones, It is a formula for destruction of native vegetation, sedimentation in cutthroat spawning streams, and dead wolves and bears – which is why United States Magistrate Judge Kathleen DeSoto issued her Findings and Recommendation Order in favor of the Alliance, Native Ecosystems Council, Western Watersheds Project, and six other wildlife and ecosystem protection advocacy groups on March 27th. The Court ruled in our favor on four out of five of our National Environmental Policy Act claims including: (1) failure to analyze the effects of putting cattle on the allotments early in the spring; (2) failure to analyze habitat connectivity, which is an important factor for grizzlies; (3) failure to analyze the cumulative effects related to activities on private lands in the area; and (4) failure to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement.
Feds plan to remove wild horses from 2.1 million acres of WY land in July.
Feds plan to remove all wild horses from 2.1M acres of Wyoming’s ‘checkerboard’ starting in July, WyoFile – BLMs contentious plans to remove all free-roaming horses from vast reaches of southwest Wyoming’s “checkerboard” region could begin as soon as this summer, although a legal appeal to stop roundups remains in limbo. On Monday, the federal agency released a 47-page environmental assessment outlining plans to gather and permanently remove several thousand wild horses from 2,105 square miles — an area nearly the size of Delaware — managed by BLM’s Rock Springs and Rawlins field offices. Horses would come off an additional 1,124 square miles of private land within the checkerboard. A public review period is underway with comments due by April 30. If the BLM greenlights the round-ups, they could begin within the next three months and continue for a couple of years, possibly longer. First to go would be the estimated 1,125 free-roaming horses in the Salt Wells Creek herd and 736 animals in the northwestern portion of Adobe Town, according to BLM Rock Springs Field Office Manager Kimberlee Foster. Then in 2026, horse-removal crews would move on to eliminating an estimated 894 horses in the Great Divide Basin herd.
BLM extends public comment period for OR lithium exploration project.
Lithium project in southeastern Oregon gets public input extension, OPB – Federal officials have extended what was initially a days-long public comment period for a lithium exploration project in southeastern Oregon. Australia-based Jindalee Resources’ proposal includes drilling at more than 260 sites across 7,200 acres of sagebrush desert in Malheur County, near the Oregon-Nevada border, in search of lithium. The highly valued metal is a key ingredient in batteries, including those that store renewable energy and power electric vehicles. The region’s famed McDermitt Caldera — formed by an ancient supervolcano — is thought to have some of the highest concentrations of lithium in the United States. Nevada already has paved the way for what’s expected to be the largest lithium mine in North America. Jindalee’s proposal is the first step to building one on the Oregon side of the caldera. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management has been reviewing Jindalee’s proposal to explore federal land for lithium since 2022. The agency published its resulting environmental assessment last week, and gave the public just five days to review and comment on hundreds of pages of analyses and data.