This has been a busy month on the policy front, but April is my favorite month of the year for skiing so I’ve been sure to carve out some mountain time too. I hope you’ve also had a chance to soak up the spring skiing goodness! Channel those vibes, because I’m sorry to say there’s not a lot of positivity in the policy news of late.

One hundred days in, the chaos and uncertainty of the Trump Administration continues unabated. This month was marked by a number of Executive Orders and other actions that seek to minimize public input and transparency in decision-making in order to increase resource extraction and development on public lands. I’ll highlight a few here.

Major Policy Moves in D.C.

Logging on National Forests Just Got a Lot Easier

On April 4, the Department of Agriculture issued a Secretarial Memo to expedite logging on over a hundred million acres of national forest, including in protected areas. The memo declares a wildfire and/or forest health an “emergency” across 59% of National Forest lands in the country. This allows logging projects to proceed with limited environmental review and virtually no public comment.  

Public Comment Requirements Are Being Rolled Back

On April 9, A new Presidential Memorandum from the White House declares rules and regulations can now be repealed and rolled back if deemed unlawful by the Administration without the typical public notice or comment period usually required by law in the Administrative Procedures Act. 

Major Changes to Environmental Review

On April 16, the agency in charge of environmental reviews (the Council on Environmental Quality, or CEQ) told federal agencies to toss out their existing procedures for following the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The new CEQ template eliminates most opportunities for public input, limits when reviews are required, and disregards cumulative impacts of agency actions over time, among other things.

Budget Reconciliation Sacrificing Public Lands

On May 6 the House Natural Resources Committee voted 26-17 to advance legislation that guts protections for public lands, prioritizes drilling and logging, and allows industry to bypass environmental reviews and public input. A last-minute addition even authorizes selling public lands. It’s being called “the most destructive environmental bill in American history.” All Republicans and one Democrat, Rep. Adam Gray of California, voted yes on the bill. However, it’s not too late to prevent this devastating bill from becoming law. We need your voice now to stop this short-sighted plan. Lawmakers are aiming to vote around Memorial Day, just as Americans head outside to enjoy the public lands this bill would jeopardize.

Use this form to tell Congress: Public lands should be managed for people and the future, not just industry.

Why do we care?

All of these changes make it easier for industry to develop public lands—and harder for people like us to speak up and protect the places we care about.

We’re also seeing these the effect of the Trump/DOGE chainsaw attack on federal agencies showing up in many different ways. This Denver Post op-ed—written by every living former Forest Service Chief—calls out how these policies are weakening the Forest Service and harming National Forests.

And in a sign of what’s to come, the Bureau of Reclamation in this news release, just announced that many Bureau of Reclamation-managed recreation facilities will be shuttered and closed this summer due to lack of staffing. It’s a preview of what we can expect this summer as the busy outdoor recreation season slams into the reality of DOGE-decimated public lands.

A Few Bright Spots

It’s not all doom and gloom. We also had some inspiring moments in April, including:

A Push to Protect the Boundary Waters

Recently Senator Smith (D, MN) introduced a bill to ban copper mining in the Boundary Waters watershed, one of the most iconic wilderness areas in the country. This complements a similar House bill introduced by Representative McCollum (D, MN) earlier this year. Take Action to support both bills here!

Broad Support for Snow Science

48 organizations and businesses signed on a Winter Wildlands Alliance letter in support of the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Snow Survey and Water Supply Forecasting Program. We sent the letter to the NRCS Chief Aubrey Bettencourt (we have not received a reply).

Colorado Forest Planning

Brittany, our CO Policy Manager, partnered with EcoFlight to take conservation groups, policy makers, and other stakeholders on a unique aerial tour of snowy backcountry terrain in Colorado.  The aerial tour gave new perspectives on winter recreation management and landscapes at stake and inspired conversations around winter travel planning on the Gunnison and Uncompahgre National Forests.

Ground-Level Stewardship in California

Another successful winter putting boots on the ground through our Ambassador program in California yielded over 200 visitor use assessments

Winter Wildlands Alliance in the Feeds

I chatted it up on the Snowbrains podcast, diving into ski area permitting policy, the broad scope of WWA’s work, and more!

Save the Date: Grassroots Advocacy Conference

We’re excited to host our next Grassroots Advocacy Conference, September 11-14! Registration will open right after Memorial Day. Stay tuned for more details. We hope to see you there!