Public policy decisions that will impact land and water conservation in the American West.
What did this year’s politics mean for public lands in the American West? Jonathan Thompson surveys recent political trends and their potential impact on conservation in the West in an article for High Country News.
The war in Ukraine has boosted demand for fossil fuels and other dormant industries like uranium mining while the federal government seeks to clean up polluted sites. “A gusher of federal funding aimed at plugging and cleaning up abandoned and orphaned oil and gas wells shone a spotlight on a pervasive and long-neglected problem. Meanwhile, the Biden administration, plagued by high gasoline prices, continued its back-and-forth approach to energy development on public lands.” The demand for “green metals,” which is growing due to the proliferation of electric vehicles, solar panels, and wind turbines, “has sparked the biggest mining rush on Western public lands since the uranium craze of the 1950s.”
Elsewhere, conservationists are celebrating the imminent removal of four dams and the possible removal of several others as federal regulators recognize the damage caused by dams to local biodiversity. But water supplies in the West’s major reservoirs continue to dwindle as states debate how to handle the deepening crisis.
More of Planetizen’s coverage of the water crisis on the Colorado River:
FULL STORY: How the West’s public lands fared in 2022
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
The state-sanctioned urbicide of Austin
People don’t kill cities. Freeways do.
US to reduce Colorado River water deliveries to Mexico
A new Colorado Treaty amendment reduces Mexico’s Colorado River water allocation by 250,000 acre feet.
Guerilla urbanists are building DIY bus stop benches in Chicago
A before-and-after of one of the bus stops with a new bench. The new benches are not officially sanctioned or permitted, but the residents who placed them hope they will be the start of a network of DIY benches across the city.
Mamdani overhauls NYC's Vision Zero plan with 100 new policy goals
The overhaul aims to reduce traffic deaths and make streets safer for pedestrians, cyclists and drivers through lower speed limits, new safety infrastructure and more.
Amtrak not solely to blame for New Jersey commuter rail's unreliability, report finds
A new study from the Garden State Initiative found that NJ Transit’s budget grew 20% across a 4 year period, but reliability declined significantly over the same period.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
Eagle County Government
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Nashville Planning Department
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
Journal of the American Planning Association