Wes Siler’s Newsletter

News from just this week: The Fish and Wildlife Service issued a memo saying it’s ok to kill endangered species, so long as you say you didn’t mean it. Mike Lee is trying to apply the Congressional Review Act to the old management plan for Bears Ears, potentially breaking permitting across all national monuments and teeing up a fail-by-design assault on the Antiquities Act. And, of course, the Roadless Rule is moving closer to its inevitable repeal.

Last year, the National Park Service lost about a quarter of its previously 20,000-strong workforce to reductions in force, early retirements, and buyouts. But that didn’t go far enough for Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, who tried to use last fall’s 43-day government shutdown as a mechanism for eliminating staff at regional NPS offices. A federal judge ultimately stopped that from happening, at least temporarily.

Just two weeks after losing 13,000 soldiers at Cold Harbor, Abraham Lincoln signed what he couldn’t have known would become one of the most consequential and long-lasting pieces of legislation of his presidency: The Yosemite Grant Act.

“New analysis of more than 300 bear encounters suggests our canine companions often increase odds of conflict and rarely serve as early warning systems many recreationists assume,” reads a subhead in Mountain Journal. The thing is, that study reaches no such conclusion. But you have to read beyond the abstract to understand that. Mountain Journalis not alone. Let’s look at a brief list of takeaways published elsewhere just to establish that none of them seem to know how to read science.

Fearing that Ken Paxton’s grossly unpopular campaign will combine with anti-Trump sentiment to flip Texas blue, Republicans have successfully convinced Customs and Border Patrol to massively alter plans for the portion of the border “wall” being constructed in Big Bend National Park. According to an insider with knowledge of the decision making process, no new infrastructure will be built following the path of the Rio Grande river, which forms the park’s border with Mexico.

Take a deep breath everyone, the Roadless Rule is back in the news. Because non-profits need to capture the attention of an easily-distracted public that has a lot more important things to worry about in order to raise money, because publications that sell fear and lies need to scare you, and because it has a sexy name, that means there’s a lot of inflammatory headlines out there right now. Don’t worry, I’m here to cut through the bullshit so you’ll have one less thing keeping you up at night.

Launched Monday, Parks PAC is the first-ever political action committee created solely for the purpose of defending national parks. It hopes to help flip the House this November by spending on competitive races where incumbents have voted to defund the National Park Service, and reduce its staffing. “To quote Fannie Lou Hamer, I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired,” Parks PAC founder Ron Sundergill tells me. Wes Siler’s Newsletter is a reader-supported publication.

The key to saving Minnesota’s Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness? Pushing construction of the copper sulfide mine Chilean billionaires are trying to build at its headwaters into a time when Democrats control both houses of Congress or the White House. And Governor Tim Walz may have just achieved that with an executive order. “It’s our duty as Minnesotans to ensure the sacred place remains wild, pristine, and unharmed,” stated Walz, announcing the order.

A person with insider knowledge has exclusively revealed to me details of the border “wall” being built in Big Bend National Park. There’s good news and bad here if you care about stuff like national parks and the responsible use of your money. Plans for construction along Big Bend’s border with Mexico emerged in February, when former Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem announced plans to waive 28 separate environmental and cultural protection laws in order to fast track the project.

Do your dogs put in big miles and hard work outdoors? You’ll want to help make their recovery as effective as possible by putting them on a good dog bed. My wife and I have three big, active dogs, which just so happens to correspond with the number of top-tier offerings from working dog-adjacent brands Orvis, Gunner, and Yeti. Let’s work through the things a bed needs to do for you and your dog, and help identify which one might be best.