Chris Hill
Chief Executive Officer
Conservation Lands Foundation
January CLiF Notes: Read the Latest on Your Public Lands and Take Action
Conservation Lands Foundation • January 29, 2026
In January's CLiF Notes Edition:
Letter From Our CEO
As we move into 2026, I want to acknowledge this moment. Fundamental American rights are under attack in ways we haven't seen in generations. While our organization remains laser-focused on the fight for public lands, we recognize these threats are interconnected. The same people undermining our democratic freedoms are working to dismantle the freedom to experience and enjoy public lands that shape our communities, our livelihoods, and our sense of belonging.
In this newsletter, you'll see the scale of what we're up against and how the attacks described below are part of a coordinated effort to sell off public lands. We won't let that happen. Our job is to mobilize local communities and remind people that their individual voices have the collective power to protect the lands and waters that mean so much to us.
Thank you for your continued support and advocacy for the places that matter,
Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Utah | Bob Wick
The Latest Congressional Attack on National Monuments
Congress is continuing to weaponize an obscure law, the Congressional Review Act (CRA), to attack public lands, and this time, it’s a national monument. Utah Representative Celeste Maloy requested an opinion by the Government Accountability Office on whether management plans for national monuments qualify as “rules” and can be subject to Congressional reversal under the CRA. The GAO released its opinion last week affirming this and we stand ready for Utah’s delegation to introduce a resolution to undo the current management plan for Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah.
The current management plan for Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument guides everything from the protection of sacred landscapes to the location of new campgrounds and is supported by the local Tribes and communities. The Congressional backdoor maneuver to eliminate the plan would wipe out decades of public input and scientific planning without any opportunity for public comment. Worse, it sets a dangerous precedent: if Congress can invalidate one monument's management plan through this process, no national monument is safe.
Take Action:You can help us stop this attack, but time is of the essence. Reach out to your members of Congress TODAY to urge them to vote against this dangerous plan to fast-track destruction of Grand Staircase-Escalante!
New BLM Director nominee supports public land sell-offs | Photo: Bureau of Land Management
New BLM Pick Wants to Sell Off Your Public Lands
Continuing the administration's agenda to sell off public lands, President Trump has nominated former New Mexico Representative Steve Pearce as Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Director. Pearce has a troubling and extensive record of supporting public land sell-offs and national monument reductions and we’re rallying our communities to oppose his nomination.
Along with his personal, financial conflicts of interest with the oil and gas industry, Steve Pearce’s ideology and track record make him the wrong choice to lead an agency that manages 245 million acres belonging to all Americans. The country needs a BLM Director committed to balanced stewardship, not someone who consistently puts extractive industries first and wants to bulldoze our natural resources.
Red Cliffs National Conservation Area, UT | Bob Wick
BLM Abandons Its Own Findings to Ram Highway Through Red Cliffs NCA
In an alarming turn of events, the BLM re-approved a four-lane highway through a National Conservation Area, reversing its own 2024 rejection and ignoring overwhelming public opposition, its own scientific analysis, and legal concerns. For decades, we’ve fought alongside our Utah Friends Grassroots Network members and the local community to successfully defend Red Cliffs National Conservation Area (NCA), near St. George, UT, from a destructive four-lane highway.
Just as Congress's abuse of the CRA to overturn monument management plans threatens protections nationwide, this decision will have far-reaching consequences for protected public lands across the country. If they succeed here, no Congressionally-protected public land in America will be safe.
This battle will likely be fought in the courts and in the court of public opinion and outcry. We are strategizing the best steps on both fronts and will keep you posted on how to help. We do know that we’ll need more resources to ensure we have all the legal tools necessary to protect Red Cliffs and defend the integrity of protected public lands nationwide.
Congress Rejects Massive BLM Cuts
As a result of our relentless lobbying over the years to build support for BLM funding, there was bipartisan support to ensure flat funding for the BLM in Fiscal Year 2026 and reject the White House's proposed 75% cut to the National Conservation Lands system. The President signed the Interior appropriations bill into law last Friday.
"We applaud Congress for delivering clear bipartisan support for National Conservation Lands," said David Feinman, our Vice President of Government Affairs. "While current funding doesn't make up for decades of underinvestment, maintaining this level helps BLM protect these irreplaceable landscapes."
Now Hiring: Associate Program Director, Arizona/New Mexico
As attacks on public lands intensify, we want to ensure our Friends Grassroots Network members have the resources they need to successfully defend cherished places across the country. We’re seeking an Associate Program Director for Arizona and New Mexico to strengthen community support for public lands across the region.
This role will work collaboratively with Friends Network organizations, community partners, and other local advocates to build broad-based support for the National Conservation Lands. If you're passionate about public lands and skilled at coalition-building, we want to hear from you.
Know a great candidate? Please forward our job description to them before February 12!
Trail Snacks
🫶 Thank you to everyone who donated to our year-end campaign, enabling us to raise $298,076 in the last six weeks of 2025. These donations are the fuel that allows us and our Friends Network to start the year strong.
🔮 What can we expect in 2026? While we can’t say for certain what types of attacks on public lands we’ll see this year, we know that our collective voice is the most powerful tool we have to safeguard the places we love and need. Read our CEO Chris Hill's 2026 public land prediction in RE:Public’s Year Ahead article.
🔬 Friends Grassroots Network partner, Grand Staircase-Escalante Partnership, is featured in a new article by High Country News, which examines the impacts of chronic underfunding and flip-flopping federal policy changes on scientific discoveries in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Utah.
While we fight back against congressional and administrative attacks at the federal level, our Friends Grassroots Network partners like Get Outdoors Nevada continue showing up for the lands they love by organizing clean-ups, restoring trails, and improving outdoor access.
Header Photo: Red Cliffs National Conservation Area, UT | Bob Wick
