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The Protect Wild Utah movement has lost a giant: D

The Protect Wild Utah movement has lost a giant: Darrell Knuffke passed away peacefully last week, surrounded by his family. Darrell was an over 30-year SUWA Board Member and served as Chair of the Board of Directors from 2008-2016. A fierce and unwavering defender of wilderness to his core, he will be remembered as a powerhouse of an advocate, but also to many of us as a wryly funny and beloved friend and mentor.

When Darrell was interviewed for SUWA’s 40th anniversary (video link in bio), he said, “‘From the very beginning, SUWA knew the land better than the agency that manages most of it. We made that our business. And right now, we can still claim to know more than anybody about what redrock country looks like.”

And that’s in no small part because of Darrell’s efforts and his vision for the organization. He was a founding pillar of SUWA, and all of us who care about Utah’s wild places are standing on his shoulders today. Darrell leaves behind a remarkable legacy -- one filled with protected wild landscapes and the cultivation of new leaders and advocates that will honor his memory. We extend our deepest sympathies to his family, friends, and all who had the privilege of knowing him. The next issue of our newsletter will contain an appreciation of Darrell and his many contributions to the wilderness movement.

On July 3rd, The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) a

On July 3rd, The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced it had completed an “accelerated environmental review process” and approved a significant expansion of the Wildcat Loadout Facility near Helper, UT. The facility is used to transfer Uinta Basin crude oil from tanker trucks to rail cars. The expansion is intended to push an additional 80,000 barrels of crude oil per day traveling on train tracks along the Colorado River, raising the risk of oil spills and other accidents.

See quote above but Staff Attorney, Landon Newell. For more info, read our full statement at the link in our bio.

Today, the House of Representatives passed the FY2

Today, the House of Representatives passed the FY25 budget reconciliation package (Budget Bill) known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. On July 1, the Senate passed the Bill by a vote of 51-50 with Vice President JD Vance breaking the tie.

In the weeks leading up to today’s vote, House and Senate Republicans from Utah proposed public lands sell-off as part of the Budget Bill; in each case, this provision was removed in the face of national, bipartisan opposition:

In the House, Rep. Celeste Maloy (R-UT-2) and Mark Amodei’s (R-NV-2) Amendment would have forced the sell-off of over 11,000 acres of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) managed public land in Utah and at least 500,000 acres in Nevada. It was stripped on May 21.

In the Senate, Senator and Chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee Mike Lee (R-UT) attempted to include language that would have mandated the sell-off of millions of acres of federal lands across 11 Western states, including Utah; his final version focused on over a million acres of BLM land. It was removed on June 24.

See quote above from SUWA D.C. Director, Travis Hammill.

Just minutes ago, Senate Republicans passed the re

Just minutes ago, Senate Republicans passed the reconciliation package known as One Big Beautiful Bill Act (H.R.1). The vote was 51-50 with Vice President JD Vance breaking the tie, meaning the legislation was approved by the Senate and will be sent back to the House of Representatives.

In the weeks leading up to today’s vote, Senator and Chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee Mike Lee (R-UT) attempted to include language that would have mandated the sell-off of millions of acres of federal lands across 11 states in the West, including Utah; his final version focused on over a million acres of Bureau of Land Management land. Thanks to the bipartisan backlash and fierce opposition from SUWA’s members, partners, and Americans across the country, Sen. Lee was forced to pull his unpopular proposal mere hours before debate began.

Read our statement at the link in our bio.

Thank you to each and every one of you who reached

Thank you to each and every one of you who reached out to your senators—whether it was a phone call, email, postcard, or social media post. This is a moment to celebrate!

Two other important points.
First, while we’re excited that the Public Lands Sell-off has been removed, the Budget Bill is still deeply anti-conservation and anti-public-lands.

Second, though this sell-off attempt has been defeated, we know Senator Lee’s underlying goal remains the same: to force the sale of America’s public lands using any excuse or legislative opportunity he can find.

Read the full update from SUWA Executive Director Scott Braden at the link in our bio.

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Salt Lake City, UT 84111
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