Report from the Tahoe Daily Tribune newspaper - March 29, 2025
More than 300 current and former Western local elected officials, including mayors, county commissioners, and city council members, today sent a letter to the Trump Administration and Congressional offices urgently calling for a more balanced approach to the management of our public lands; calling on them to oppose the sale of public lands in the Budget Reconciliation Package; and asking them to reject any attempts to change the Antiquities Act or reduce the size of our national monuments.
“Local elected officials know firsthand that protected public lands sustain our communities, power our economies, and serve as the cornerstone of our outdoor way of life,” said Anna Peterson, executive director of The Mountain Pact. “Protected public lands are the backbone of our mountain communities – but right now they are under threat. That’s why The Mountain Pact and more than 300 local elected leaders from across the Western U.S. are fighting back, so we can ensure these critical resources are protected and preserved for generations to come.”
Included in the list of signatories are several leaders representing the Truckee-Tahoe region, including Nevada County District 5 Supervisor Hardy Bullock, Placer County District 5 Supervisor Cindy Gustafson, Truckee Mayor Jan Zabriskie, Truckee Vice Mayor Anna Klovstad, Truckee Councilmembers Courtney Henderson and David Polivy, Washoe County Commissioner Alexis Hill and Washoe County School District Board President Beth Smith.
The local officials also called on President Trump and Congress to increase support for public land management which would improve access and help protect some of our most important wildlife habitat, migration corridors, treasured recreation areas, critical water resources, and Indigenous cultural sites.
“Our town council rarely involves itself in federal matters, but we have unanimously adopted resolutions expressing our strong opposition to recent federal funding and staffing cuts affecting public lands and essential services. Our community is surrounded by the national forest. The funding cuts and staffing reductions put our local economy and safety at risk. Our community members are deeply concerned about federal wildfire responses, campground closures, reduced monitoring of dispersed campfires, the availability and cost of property insurance, tourism impacts, and reduced services on public lands. We oppose the funding and staffing cuts for public lands and urge the federal administration to reverse course,” said Mayor Zabriskie.
The letter comes as the Trump Administration has made several moves to decrease funding and staffing for public lands, including at National Parks and key scientific agencies like the EPA and NOAA. Last month, Secretary Burgum issued secretarial orders targeting America’s national monuments and positioning drilling and mining interests as the favored users of America’s public lands. Trump has also fired thousands of employees and slashed millions in funding from public land agencies like the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management, and waged an all-out assault on renewable energy in favor of more drilling and resource extraction.
“Mountain communities depend on healthy and accessible public lands to survive,” the leaders wrote in their letter. “But increased fossil fuel development on public lands, weakened environmental regulations, and fast tracking or eliminating environmental reviews for proposed projects jeopardizes both our public lands and public health while contributing to the climate crisis by causing the release of vast amounts of potent greenhouse gas emissions.”
“Now more than ever we must continue to take and support meaningful actions to both address the climate crisis and protect our public lands. We urge you to continue to support the protection of healthy public lands and take strong climate action. We ask you to fully fund our public lands, oppose the sale of public lands in the Budget Reconciliation Package, and oppose any attempts to change the Antiquities Act or reduce the size of our national monuments.”
Protected public lands are important economic drivers for Western communities. A recent report from the National Park Service found that “325 million park visitors spent an estimated $26.4 billion in local gateway regions while visiting National Park Service lands across the country. These expenditures supported a total of 415,000 jobs, $19.4 billion in labor income, $32.0 billion in value added, and $55.6 billion in economic output in the national economy.”
The threat to national monuments is pressing: on March 14, a White House fact sheet said Trump had signed an executive order that terminated proclamations declaring two new national monuments designated in the waning days of the Biden Administration, Sáttítla Highlands and Chuckwalla. However, the line disappeared by the afternoon of March 15, and the final status of these new monuments remains uncertain.
Polling has consistently shown protections for public lands hold overwhelming support from both the public and local elected officials. According to the 2024 Conservation in the West Poll, 72 percent of Western voters oppose removing protections on existing national public lands to allow more drilling and mining. The same poll found that 85 percent of voters in the West – including 74 percent of Republicans, 87 percent of Independents, and 96 percent of Democrats – say issues involving clean water, clean air, wildlife and public lands are important in deciding whether to support an elected official.
“In Washoe County public lands are a key driver of our economy, and the backbone of our outdoor way of life. They provide our communities with clean air and water, create and support good-paying jobs, and give people space to be with nature. We should be doing more to protect and support our public lands, instead of starving them of badly-needed resources and exploiting them for short-term gain,” said Commissioner Hill.
Similarly, national monuments that maintain public access to public lands and protect ecosystems and wildlife for future generations are also exceptionally popular with the American people. The same poll found that more than four-in-five western voters support the creation of additional public lands like national monuments, and that 89 percent of Westerners believe existing national monuments protected over the last decade should be kept in place.
“Sufficient funding and thoughtful management are key to successfully balancing conservation, access, and enjoyment of our public lands. By gutting our public land agencies and starving them of resources, the Trump Administration is putting our most cherished public spaces at risk. Make no mistake: if these actions aren’t reversed, our communities will face severe consequences. I urge President Trump to stand up for our public lands before it’s too late,” said Supervisor Bullock.
The full text of the letter can be found HERE.
To see the complete article and photos in the Tahoe Daily Tribune, CLICK HERE.
More than 300 current and former Western local elected officials, including mayors, county commissioners, and city council members, today sent a letter to the Trump Administration and Congressional offices urgently calling for a more balanced approach to the management of our public lands; calling on them to oppose the sale of public lands in the Budget Reconciliation Package; and asking them to reject any attempts to change the Antiquities Act or reduce the size of our national monuments.
“Local elected officials know firsthand that protected public lands sustain our communities, power our economies, and serve as the cornerstone of our outdoor way of life,” said Anna Peterson, executive director of The Mountain Pact. “Protected public lands are the backbone of our mountain communities – but right now they are under threat. That’s why The Mountain Pact and more than 300 local elected leaders from across the Western U.S. are fighting back, so we can ensure these critical resources are protected and preserved for generations to come.”
Included in the list of signatories are several leaders representing the Truckee-Tahoe region, including Nevada County District 5 Supervisor Hardy Bullock, Placer County District 5 Supervisor Cindy Gustafson, Truckee Mayor Jan Zabriskie, Truckee Vice Mayor Anna Klovstad, Truckee Councilmembers Courtney Henderson and David Polivy, Washoe County Commissioner Alexis Hill and Washoe County School District Board President Beth Smith.
The local officials also called on President Trump and Congress to increase support for public land management which would improve access and help protect some of our most important wildlife habitat, migration corridors, treasured recreation areas, critical water resources, and Indigenous cultural sites.
“Our town council rarely involves itself in federal matters, but we have unanimously adopted resolutions expressing our strong opposition to recent federal funding and staffing cuts affecting public lands and essential services. Our community is surrounded by the national forest. The funding cuts and staffing reductions put our local economy and safety at risk. Our community members are deeply concerned about federal wildfire responses, campground closures, reduced monitoring of dispersed campfires, the availability and cost of property insurance, tourism impacts, and reduced services on public lands. We oppose the funding and staffing cuts for public lands and urge the federal administration to reverse course,” said Mayor Zabriskie.
The letter comes as the Trump Administration has made several moves to decrease funding and staffing for public lands, including at National Parks and key scientific agencies like the EPA and NOAA. Last month, Secretary Burgum issued secretarial orders targeting America’s national monuments and positioning drilling and mining interests as the favored users of America’s public lands. Trump has also fired thousands of employees and slashed millions in funding from public land agencies like the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management, and waged an all-out assault on renewable energy in favor of more drilling and resource extraction.
“Mountain communities depend on healthy and accessible public lands to survive,” the leaders wrote in their letter. “But increased fossil fuel development on public lands, weakened environmental regulations, and fast tracking or eliminating environmental reviews for proposed projects jeopardizes both our public lands and public health while contributing to the climate crisis by causing the release of vast amounts of potent greenhouse gas emissions.”
“Now more than ever we must continue to take and support meaningful actions to both address the climate crisis and protect our public lands. We urge you to continue to support the protection of healthy public lands and take strong climate action. We ask you to fully fund our public lands, oppose the sale of public lands in the Budget Reconciliation Package, and oppose any attempts to change the Antiquities Act or reduce the size of our national monuments.”
Protected public lands are important economic drivers for Western communities. A recent report from the National Park Service found that “325 million park visitors spent an estimated $26.4 billion in local gateway regions while visiting National Park Service lands across the country. These expenditures supported a total of 415,000 jobs, $19.4 billion in labor income, $32.0 billion in value added, and $55.6 billion in economic output in the national economy.”
The threat to national monuments is pressing: on March 14, a White House fact sheet said Trump had signed an executive order that terminated proclamations declaring two new national monuments designated in the waning days of the Biden Administration, Sáttítla Highlands and Chuckwalla. However, the line disappeared by the afternoon of March 15, and the final status of these new monuments remains uncertain.
Polling has consistently shown protections for public lands hold overwhelming support from both the public and local elected officials. According to the 2024 Conservation in the West Poll, 72 percent of Western voters oppose removing protections on existing national public lands to allow more drilling and mining. The same poll found that 85 percent of voters in the West – including 74 percent of Republicans, 87 percent of Independents, and 96 percent of Democrats – say issues involving clean water, clean air, wildlife and public lands are important in deciding whether to support an elected official.
“In Washoe County public lands are a key driver of our economy, and the backbone of our outdoor way of life. They provide our communities with clean air and water, create and support good-paying jobs, and give people space to be with nature. We should be doing more to protect and support our public lands, instead of starving them of badly-needed resources and exploiting them for short-term gain,” said Commissioner Hill.
Similarly, national monuments that maintain public access to public lands and protect ecosystems and wildlife for future generations are also exceptionally popular with the American people. The same poll found that more than four-in-five western voters support the creation of additional public lands like national monuments, and that 89 percent of Westerners believe existing national monuments protected over the last decade should be kept in place.
“Sufficient funding and thoughtful management are key to successfully balancing conservation, access, and enjoyment of our public lands. By gutting our public land agencies and starving them of resources, the Trump Administration is putting our most cherished public spaces at risk. Make no mistake: if these actions aren’t reversed, our communities will face severe consequences. I urge President Trump to stand up for our public lands before it’s too late,” said Supervisor Bullock.
The full text of the letter can be found HERE.
To see the complete article and photos in the Tahoe Daily Tribune, CLICK HERE.
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