Trump Administration Takes Aim At Protections For California Desert
Trump administration officials announced this week that they’re now considering dropping protections for a vast swath of the California desert to open up more land to energy development.
The warning is similar to the one that led to the dramatic reduction of protected land in the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments in Utah to provide drilling and mining rights to energy industries.
The federal Bureau of Land Management said in a statement Thursday that it’s taking a new look at millions of acres in the desert region of southern California to comply with Donald Trump’s executive order last year to increase energy development on public lands.
“We need to reduce burdens on all domestic energy development, including solar, wind and other renewables,” Interior Department deputy assistant secretary Katherine MacGregor said in a statement announcing the review.
Though MacGregor referred to renewable energy development, the administration is also seeking comments about increasing access to the public lands for mining, grazing, and off-road vehicles.
