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
The blue paint is peeling off the Reflecting Pool. Trump says vandals targeted it. — Washington Post
3 firefighters killed in Western wildfire were trying to shield themselves from flames — Associated Press
Federal wildland firefighters report increased burnout, low morale — Federal News Network

Resources

Produced by Aaron Weiss, Lauren Bogard, Kate Groetzinger, and Lilly Bock-Brownstein
Feedback: podcast@westernpriorities.org
Music: Purple Planet
Featured image: King Range National Conservation Area. BLM Instagram

The post Tracy Stone-Manning on the future of public lands appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.