Shaun Gonzales / Mojave Desert Blog

The outlook for desert wildlands is dismal under a Trump Administration, and we will have to be even more vigilant and vocal to stop Washington from undermining the legal and administrative pillars that protect our public lands and wildlife and to keep bulldozers off of intact habitat. I have been critical of some of the Obama Administration’s choices and policies regarding wildlife and wildlands, but there was always give and take within the bounds of existing laws and a relatively strong role for science in how policies were formulated; that probably will not be the case under Trump.

Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress probably will slow or reverse progress we have made greenhouse gas emissions, and they will severely weaken or eliminate the legal and bureaucratic institutions that protect our wildlands and wildlife. Science will be ignored in policy formulation and decision making. Budgets for the folks at the Department of Interior and the Environmental Protection Agency – the Federal arms that that manage public lands and keep our air and water clean – will be slashed further.   [Read more…]