Pulse of the Land - 1/27/2026
When Congress moves fast, the water still remembers.
“Wilderness is a resource which can shrink but not grow… the creation of new wilderness in the full sense of the word is impossible.” — Aldo Leopold
This Week’s Take
This week felt like somebody put America’s wild places on a lazy Susan and started spinning. The Boundary Waters got shoved toward the edge. BLM kept the leasing machine warm with new parcel lists. And a federal appeals board basically said: not so fast, you still have to follow the law. Meanwhile, clean energy kept doing what it should do. More power, less sprawl, fewer fresh scars if we’re smart about it.
The State of Public Lands and Energy Relationship
January 21 - Boundary Waters mineral protections targeted (H.J.Res. 140 passes House)
The House passed a resolution aimed at overturning the Boundary Waters-area mineral withdrawal (Public Land Order 7917), teeing up a faster path for copper-nickel mining pressure near the wilderness.
Why this matters: This isn’t just one mine fight, it’s whether long-term watershed protection can be undone on a political shortcut, right when we’re supposed to be getting more serious about “don’t poison the water.”
January 24–26 - Grand Staircase–Escalante gets the “Boundary Waters treatment” (CRA threat).
A new GAO (U.S. Government Accountability Office) decision says the Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument Record of Decision + Resource Management Plan qualifies as a “rule” under the Congressional Review Act, which opens the door for Congress to try to overturn it.
Why this matters: This is bigger than one monument. If CRA becomes the go-to weapon for land-use plans, years of public process can get erased with a short vote, and monument protections start to look… temporary.
January 21 - Wyoming lease-sale scoping opens: 271 parcels, 357,358 acres
BLM opened a 30-day scoping window for a potential September 2026 Wyoming oil-and-gas lease sale, with a preliminary list totaling 357,358 acres.
Why this matters: Scoping is where the map quietly hardens—once parcels make it through this funnel, the “where” question gets harder to claw back. This is the moment for disturbance-first and real stipulations, not vibes
Jan 22, 2026 — Interior appeals board vacates approval of massive Wyoming gas project (NPL)
An Interior Board of Land Appeals decision vacated BLM’s approval for Jonah Energy’s Normally Pressured Lance Project after Clean Air Act conformity issues, per reporting this week.
Why this matters: This is what “rule of law” looks like on public land, if agencies cut corners, projects can get knocked back years later… after the pressure (and drilling) momentum is already rolling.
January 26 - The U.S. government is literally buying into mining companies (shares + warrants).
Commerce Department is backing a $1.6B debt-and-equity package for USA Rare Earth, including the U.S. receiving shares and warrants (an equity stake) as part of the deal. In this case (USA Rare Earth) mines are not on public land, but earlier this year they purchased shares of Trilogy Metals (Ambler, Alaska) and Lithium Americas (Thacker Pass) which are on public lands complicating the securities vs conservation priority.
Why this matters: When the government becomes a shareholder, it changes the vibe. Faster dealmaking, more “national security” framing, and a higher chance we treat landscapes like supply-chain components.
Government Spotlight Public Lands
January 21 - BLM approves Northern Corridor highway plan through a National Conservation Area
BLM approved construction of Washington County’s Northern Corridor highway, a long-debated right-of-way cutting through public land in southern Utah.
Why this matters: Roads are forever. One “transportation fix” can become decades of habitat slicing, edge effects, invasives, and the slow-motion unraveling of what a protected landscape is supposed to mean.
January 22 - FERC greenlights fast-track interconnection studies (MISO + SPP)
FERC accepted expedited interconnection-study processes intended to move resources through the queue faster in MISO and SPP.
Why this matters: Permitting fights get loud, but queues are where projects go to die quietly. Faster, smarter interconnection can mean fewer “new stuff everywhere” arguments because we’re actually using the grid we already have.
Clean Energy in the News
January 22 - DOE puts $155M into industrial efficiency + load flexibility (including data-center cooling)
Department of Energy’s Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation selected 16 projects to strengthen national-lab capabilities for industrial efficiency, process heating, load flexibility, and even a data center cooling collaborative.
Why this matters: Every megawatt you don’t waste is a megawatt you don’t have to generate, which can mean fewer new corridors, pads, and land fights. Efficiency is conservation’s quiet ally.
I have a piece coming out on the top 3 technologies (Grid Enhancing Technologies (GETs): More Megawatts, Same Wires, Less Land) that I believe can make an impact. It comes out on January 31st.
January 22 - FERC issues a 50-year license for a 1,200-MW pumped-storage project (Goldendale, WA)
FERC licensed the Goldendale Energy Storage Project, a major pumped-storage facility designed to store energy at grid scale.
Why this matters: If we want clean power without carpeting fresh terrain in new generation, storage is the cheat code—shift energy in time, reduce peaker demand, and ease pressure to industrialize new places.
Thank you for reading! I highlight threats to public lands and the energy industry’s impact. I believe clean energy is the future, and ALL energy projects should prioritize private land first to keep wild places wild. When energy extraction is needed on public lands all projects must restore the land after extraction. Public lands are unique and once lost, they’re gone forever.
Sources:
FERC - Energized for 2026
ColoradoPubli Radio - The US Wildland Fire Service has officially launched. Congress decided not to fund it
DOE - U.S. Department of Energy Awards $2.7 Billion to Restore American Uranium Enrichment
DOI - Interior to Launch U.S. Wildland Fire Service
Politico Pro - House deploys rule-killing law against Biden mining curbs
The Colorado Sun - Oil and gas companies leave nearly half of leases on Colorado public lands unsold at federal auctions
BLM - BLM oil and gas lease sales in Montana and North Dakota generate over $8.6 million in revenue
Reuters - US to back $1.6 billion USA Rare Earth funding, shares jump