In the News
The California climate export catching fire in Trump’s DC
by Camille Von Kaenel
California’s wildfire tech companies are seizing their moment in Washington as Congress and President Donald Trump eye sweeping fire reforms. Representatives from Truckee, California-based forest mapping company Vibrant Planet and Earth Fire Alliance, a nonprofit coalition working on wildfire-tracking satellites that includes Google and Muon Space, backed the bipartisan Fix Our Forests Act in a House Natural Resources subcommittee hearing in Washington on Thursday focused on wildfire policy … Continue Reading
June 26, 2025
Committee approves coal mining, ocean mapping bills
by Michael Doyle
The House Natural Resources Committee on Wednesday approved several bills that provoked sharp disagreements over mining coal, mapping offshore resources and permitting undersea fiber cables. While approving 16 noncontroversial and bipartisan measures, the Republican-led panel debated at length — and at times with some verve — before also approving several more controversial bills. "When I hear this line about how we have the cleanest oil in the world, that is such a hollow argument, like … Continue Reading
June 25, 2025
These 4 million acres of California forests could lose protection. Here’s what Trump’s ‘roadless rule’ repeal could do
by Rachel Becker
The Trump administration’s plan to repeal a rule prohibiting logging and road construction in undeveloped parts of national forests would strip protection from more than 4 million acres within California’s borders. U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced on Monday that she will act to rescind the “roadless rule,” developed during the Clinton administration, to allow “for fire prevention and responsible timber production” on more than 58 million acres of national forests. But … Continue Reading
June 24, 2025
Trump bid to repeal forest protections faces hurdles
by Marc Heller
The Trump administration’s announcement Monday that it’s lifting timber-harvesting restrictions on more than 58 million acres of national forests is just the beginning of what’s likely to be a drawn-out fight. Rescinding the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, which Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced at a meeting of Western governors, will require formal rulemaking and is sure to prompt legal challenges from environmental groups, said people who’ve worked on issues related to … Continue Reading
June 24, 2025
Prized public lands on California’s North Coast at risk under Senate proposal to sell off up to 3 million public acres
by Austin Murphy
Cow Mountain Recreation Area, 52,000 acres of oak and pine forest straddling Mendocino and Lake counties, has something for everyone: fishing, target shooting, 120 miles of trails for ATVs and four-wheeling, and a separate, nonmotorized area for hikers and mountain bikers. This rugged refuge of federal land in the Mayacamas range, east of Ukiah, was officially conserved as a recreation area in a 2006 wilderness bill whose chief sponsor was Rep. Mike Thompson. So it’s not surprising that the … Continue Reading
June 24, 2025
Prized public lands on California’s North Coast at risk under Senate proposal to sell off up to 3 million public acres
by Austin Murphy
Cow Mountain Recreation Area, 52,000 acres of oak and pine forest straddling Mendocino and Lake counties, has something for everyone: fishing, target shooting, 120 miles of trails for ATVs and four-wheeling, and a separate, nonmotorized area for hikers and mountain bikers. This rugged refuge of federal land in the Mayacamas range, east of Ukiah, was officially conserved as a recreation area in a 2006 wilderness bill whose chief sponsor was Rep. Mike Thompson. So it’s not surprising that the … Continue Reading
June 24, 2025
Close to Home: Vulture capitalism threatens public land
by Jared Huffman
As Republicans muscle their “Big Ugly Bill” through Congress, many Americans are rightfully worried about its immediate impacts. Like potentially crashing our health care system by stripping health insurance coverage from 16 million people, triggering deep Medicare cuts, ending food assistance for millions and driving up electricity costs. Targeting family budgets to fund tax breaks for billionaires is bad, but there’s more: now we’re learning the bill is coming for public lands — our shared … Continue Reading
June 22, 2025
‘Congress exists’: Bay Area lawmakers deride Trump’s decision to bomb Iran as unlawful, risky
by Molly Burke
Bay Area congressional Democrats condemned the U.S. bombing of nuclear sites in Iran on Saturday, saying President Donald Trump overstepped his authority and thrust the country into another risky Middle East conflict. • ‘Hands off Iran’: Hundreds of S.F. protesters condemn Trump for bombing “Tonight, the President ignored the Constitution by unilaterally engaging our military without Congressional authorization,” House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi posted on X. “I join my colleagues in … Continue Reading
June 17, 2025
Sonoma County joins lawsuit against Trump administration’s new ICE mandate and anti-DEI limits on federal funding
by Emma Murphy
Sonoma County has joined a lawsuit by dozens of local governments across the country accusing federal departments of coercing them to comply with the White House’s political agenda via new requirements attached to federal funds. The lawsuit, led by Washington’s King County (Seattle), comes in response to notices issued earlier this year by several federal departments, including those overseeing transportation and housing, that outlined new criteria for pending and future grants distributed to … Continue Reading
June 14, 2025
‘Political violence is a sickness’: Elected officials worry that attacks will escalate
by Giselle Ruhiyyih Ewing, Ben Jacobs, Natalie Fertig, Jessica Piper
Republican and Democratic politicians are warning about rising violence targeting elected officials in the aftermath of a series of attacks, including the killing of a state official in Minnesota on Saturday. Within the last year, there have been multiple assassination attempts against President Donald Trump, an arson attack on Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s residence, and the killing of two Israeli Embassy staffers in Washington — setting a new cycle of violence in the … Continue Reading
June 13, 2025
Burgum spars with Dems over Alcatraz, parks, wildfires
by Heather Richards
Democrats on the House National Resources Committee pummeled Interior Secretary Doug Burgum with questions about the Trump administration’s management of public lands in a combative hearing Thursday. They probed the reopening of Alcatraz as a federal prison and whether the department has lost firefighters to the administration’s cuts. Ranking member Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) compared Burgum’s public statements on public lands to vulture capitalism: “Strip the asset, extract the value and … Continue Reading
June 12, 2025
Democrats' fears of Trump admin violence erupt after Padilla incident
by Andrew Solender
Democratic lawmakers' fears of violence and arrest at the hands of the Trump administration spiked Thursday after Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) was aggressively detained by Department of Homeland Security Personnel. Why it matters: The concerns among Democrats were already on the rise amid the prosecution of Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-N.J.) — with members even buying liability insurance. Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas), the chair of the Progressive Caucus, said the level of concern is "higher than … Continue Reading
June 11, 2025
Resident Commissioner introduces bill to evaluate the impacts of coastal erosion
Resident Commissioner Pablo José Hernández Rivera, member of the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources, introduced the Puerto Rico Business & Economic Assessment of Coastal Hazards and Erosion Study Act—also known as the Puerto Rico BEACHES Act—along with the Democratic leader of the Natural Resources Committee, Jared Huffman. The Puerto Rico BEACHES Act would direct the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to evaluate the economic and environmental impacts of coastal erosion along … Continue Reading
June 10, 2025
Energy, enviro agencies eager to resume layoffs
by Robin Bravender, Ellie Borst, Hannah Brownley, Jennifer Yachnin
Trump administration officials are anxious to resume sweeping layoffs inside energy and environmental agencies as they push the Supreme Court to green-light their plans. The administration’s push for large-scale layoffs are on hold across much of the government due to a lower court’s sweeping order. But the administration — arguing that it’s being forced to keep “large numbers of employees on the payroll without necessity” — is making a case to the Supreme Court that it ought to urgently … Continue Reading
June 09, 2025
Donald Trump’s plan for pirate mining
by David Helvarg
On April 24, President Trump issued another questionable executive order, this one calling for deep-sea mining in both federal and international waters. The former is within his control; the latter would be a violation of international law. Although the U.S. is not a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea - the 1982 treaty ratified by 169 other nations that regulates maritime activities, including deep-sea mining, on and in the high seas - the U.S. has always abided … Continue Reading
June 09, 2025
SUBSCRIBER ONLY ‘Safeguard our oceans’: Jared Huffman revives update to fisheries bill
by Robert Schaulis
Lawmakers from the House Natural Resources Committee last week announced that they were reintroducing the “Sustaining America’s Fisheries for the Future Act,” a reauthorization of and update to the Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA), “the country’s primary statute governing fisheries management in federal waters.” The legislation, a bipartisan effort put forth by U.S. Representatives Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael), James Moylan (R-Guam), and Ed Case (D-Hawaii), represents “a culmination of a … Continue Reading
June 09, 2025
Natural Resources to mull wildfire, forestry bills
by Marc Heller
A House Natural Resources subcommittee will take testimony on four wildfire- and forestry-related bills Tuesday, including a measure to speed communications-related projects on land hit by natural disasters. The communications bill, called the “Wildfire Communications Resiliency Act,” H.R. 1655, would exempt certain infrastructure projects from reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act if they’re carried out within five years of a declared disaster such as wildfire. Rep. Cliff … Continue Reading
June 05, 2025
New bill seeks to strengthen U.S. fisheries with MSA updates
by Carli Stewart
Once again, the U.S. House of Representatives lawmakers have introduced legislation to reauthorize and update the Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA). The MSA was last revised in 2006, and being the primary legislation governing U.S. fisheries, it is critical to ensure that federal law reflects today’s fisheries challenges across the country. Representatives Jared Huffman (D-CA), James Moylan (R-Guam), and Ed Case (D-HI) reintroduced the Sustaining America’s Fisheries for the Future Act. The bill … Continue Reading
June 05, 2025
Bills introduced in US House will end offshore drilling protections
by Mary Benjamin
A Federal Congressional bill targeting the reversal of offshore drilling protections, first introduced by U.S. Rep. Higgins (LA) on January 16, 2025, had its first hearing before the House Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources on May 20. 2025. The bill was proposed on behalf of the U.S. Department of the Interior, which is interested in opening areas along the California coast to new offshore drilling. The bill includes the U.S. coastline areas and the Gulf of Mexico, which currently … Continue Reading
June 05, 2025
Lawmakers clash over NOAA fisheries rules
by Daniel Cusick
House lawmakers struggled Wednesday to reconcile President Donald Trump’s recent executive order to bolster the U.S. fishing industry while simultaneously gutting the nation’s fisheries agency. A hearing before the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries offered seesawing interpretations between Republicans and Democrats over how NOAA should regulate the fishing industry. Republican lawmakers, led by Rep. Harriet Hageman of Wyoming, focused on what critics … Continue Reading