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This is huge. And not at all surprising. Selling off and privatizing public lands has been the plan all along.

Trump’s Interior Dept. Crafted Talking Points For Mike Lee’s Public Land Sell-Off Scheme Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said a federal land sell-off “wasn’t part of the president’s agenda" even though his staff shared research with the Utah senator.

scoop: Trump Interior staff provided Sen. Mike Lee’s committee with technical data and helped craft talking points that Lee used to pitch his wildly unpopular public landa sell-off.

DOI Secretary Burgum two weeks later: Sell-off wasn't part of Trump's agenda.

www.publicdomain.media/p/trump-inte...

Trump’s Interior Dept. Crafted Talking Points For Mike Lee’s Public Land Sell-Off Scheme Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said a federal land sell-off “wasn’t part of the president’s agenda" even though his staff shared research with the Utah senator.

"The fish rots from the head, and these emails make it crystal clear: Doug Burgum is only here to degrade, exploit, and eventually sell off America’s public lands. Our parks and park rangers deserve so much better.”

Big scoop from @chrisdangelo.bsky.social:

open.substack.com/pub/chrisdan...

Trump Guts the Forest Service Ahead of Wildfire Season Ahead of what is predicted to be a dangerous wildfire season, the Trump Administration gutted the Forest Service by closing its regional headquarters along with most research facilities and experimental forests.

Ahead of what is predicted to be a dangerous wildfire season, the Trump Administration gutted the Forest Service by closing its regional headquarters along with most research facilities and experimental forests. newyorkermag.visitlink.me/QDMl4y

thanks for sharing, Sammy!

UPDATE: Trump's Interior Dept. Issues Sudden Waiver Allowing This Controversial Official To Work On Grazing During her stint in the first Trump administration, Karen Budd-Falen was prohibited from working on or even discussing grazing matters.

The third-ranking official in Trump's Interior Department is being allowed to working on public lands grazing issues, even though her family is in the public lands grazing business — a blatant conflict of interest: www.publicdomain.media/p/interior-k... via @chrisdangelo.bsky.social

This Top Interior Official Is Working On Grazing Policy — An Issue She Was Disqualified From “I will recuse myself from any discussion of grazing matters," Karen Budd-Falen wrote in a 2018 ethics filing.

How is Karen Budd-Falen, the No. 3 Interior Dept official and longtime rancher, now working on grazing-related issues?

When she joined Trump 1.0, she signed a disqualification statement that barred her from "any discussion of grazing matters”

NEW from me:
www.publicdomain.media/p/interior-k...

Trump’s War on Iran Could Screw Over US Farmers The Middle East supplies a huge amount of the world’s fertilizer. Conflict in the region has sent prices soaring ahead of the critical spring planting season.

there's a lot going on right now but did you know a massive amount of the world's fertilizer flows through the middle east, and did you know that that fertilizer needs to be shipped to the us *right now* for planting season, and uh did you know we are at war with iran

Documents Shed New Light On Interior Official's Growing Ethics Scandal The Interior Department’s muddled release of Karen Budd-Falen’s ethics documents have sparked renewed calls for an investigation.

we got ahold of a batch of new ethics docs for Karen Budd-Falen, the high-ranking Trump Interior official who is facing a growing ethics scandal

a lot in this story, but two stand outs
- the docs do not include an updated ethics recusal
- clients redacted
www.publicdomain.media/p/new-ethics...

I can't get over this number: in 2007, there were 360,000 newspaper jobs. Now, there are 80,000. "My local paper sucked!" Sure. What sucks even more? The void. "I get all my news from the Guardian!" No, the Guardian doesn't report on your town council, your school board, local cops.

Trump Says Climate Repeal Saves $1.3 Trillion. The EPA’s Math Differs The agency’s own cost-benefit assessment for revoking the endangerment finding points to steep costs that may outweigh the savings.

President Trump said repealing climate standards for cars and the so-called endangerment finding would save Americans $1.3 trillion. EPA chief Zeldin repeated the stat.

But that's not actually what EPA's own math says. My story @bloomberg.com, with a gift link: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Republicans Keep Invoking Teddy Roosevelt. The Roosevelt Family Keeps Pushing Back. "It is now time for all of you to get in the arena with him," four descendants of the late president wrote in a letter to GOP senators.

history has a funny way of repeating itself

www.publicdomain.media/p/republican...

Self-promotion: Sign up for my reporting and commentary, and please support if you can: climatecoloredgoggles.com

@chrisdangelo.bsky.social and I first reported in 2020 that Trump hired him to a top role at the Interior Department. I can confirm he was not very bright. www.huffpost.com/entry/interi...

Hunting YouTuber Had A Bear Violation Before Facing Felony Poaching Charges Ryan Lampers built a following on social media and podcasts before criminal charges led to his downfall.

NEW: Hunting influencer Ryan Lampers, who faces multiple poaching-related charges in Idaho, was also cited in Montana last year for failing to submit a black bear hide and skull for inspection.

A warden seized the animal. Lampers paid $155 for the offense.
www.publicdomain.media/p/ryan-lampe...

Spoiler alert: The Republican Study Committee is just making shit up

The Flimsy Numbers Behind The GOP Push To Sell Off Federal Properties House Republicans say they want to offload "underutilized" federal buildings. Their math isn’t mathing.

House Republicans say they want to sell off "underutilized" federal buildings, claiming it would generate $115 billion in federal revenue.

I went down a rabbit hole here...and their math isn't mathing.
www.publicdomain.media/p/gop-budget...

House Public Lands Caucus Fails Test With Boundary Waters Vote Partisanship trumped common ground on conservation in the long-simmering fight over a proposed mine in northern Minnesota.

how members of the newly formed bipartisan House Public Lands Caucus voted on yesterday’s resolution to lift the 20-year ban on mining near the Boundary Waters...

11 Republicans: Yay
11 Democrats: Nay

open.substack.com/pub/chrisdan...

Docs Detail Trump BLM Nominee’s Vast Wealth, Financial Entanglements Last year, Steve Pearce raked in up to $1.1 million off of frac tank leases and water sales — to whom remains unclear.

Why does Steve Pearce own up to $2 million in gold bars and coins? www.publicdomain.media/p/trump-blm-... via @chrisdangelo.bsky.social

PERC, the Montana-based property rights and "free market environmentalism" nonprofit w/ a history of advocating for privatizing America’s federal lands and rolling back environmental laws, will be the primary beneficiary of the 2026 "conservation-focused" Wildlands event

one important point on the Karen Budd-Falen/Thacker Pass scandal...

it's not just that her family struck a lucrative deal to sell water to the mine

the relationship is ongoing...the mine is relying on the Budd-Falen ranch to monitor for drawdown impacts
www.publicdomain.media/p/karen-budd...

thank you @maddow.bsky.social for highlighting our reporting on this!

readers: subscribe to Public Domain and support our work at publicdomain.media

Public Domain Sues Trump Administration Again Plus, our investigation cited in NYT and featured on Rachel Maddow.

our little"blog" (as Trump's Interior loves to call us) — a “blog” that recently blew the door open on Interior official Karen Budd-Falen’s financial ties to a massive lithium mine on federal land in Nevada — has sued the Trump Interior Dept …

…again
www.publicdomain.media/p/public-dom...

link to our report from last month below

if you’re able, consider a paid subscription so we can keep doing this important work
www.publicdomain.media/p/karen-budd...

audio of Maddow’s show below…first segment highlights our “explosive reporting” (her words) on Trump Interior official's financial ties to massive lithium mine

“If there’s a public corruption child’s picture book, this is the kind of story that would be pictured."
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgIW...

my colleague @jamesctobias.bsky.social and I first reported this in our newsletter Public Domain three weeks ago

link here: www.publicdomain.media/p/karen-budd...

SCOOP: A Top Trump Official Has Financial Ties To Controversial Nevada Lithium Project Karen Budd-Falen’s family ranching operation agreed to sell water rights to the company developing the Thacker Pass lithium mine.

Public Domain, an environmental news outlet, earlier reported some of the details of Mr. Falen’s financial relationship with Thacker Pass

www.publicdomain.media/p/karen-budd...

SCOOP: A Top Trump Official Has Financial Ties To Controversial Nevada Lithium Project Karen Budd-Falen’s family ranching operation agreed to sell water rights to the company developing the Thacker Pass lithium mine.

Top Trump Official Has Financial Ties To Controversial
#Nevada #Lithium Mine

@jamesctobias.bsky.social and @chrisdangelo.bsky.social
report for Public Domain

#news #environment

EJ Today Headlines: sej.org/headlines/list

www.publicdomain.media/p/karen-budd...

SCOOP: A Top Trump Official Has Financial Ties To Controversial Nevada Lithium Project Karen Budd-Falen’s family ranching operation agreed to sell water rights to the company developing the Thacker Pass lithium mine.

Top Interior Department official Karen Budd-Falen has financial ties to the Thacker Pass lithium mine in Nevada, of which the American people are now partial owners thanks to the Trump administration: www.publicdomain.media/p/karen-budd... via @jamesctobias.bsky.social @chrisdangelo.bsky.social