In his final Oval Office address, President Joe Biden delivered a warning: “Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power, and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy.” He went on to say, “Powerful forces want to wield their unchecked influence to eliminate the steps we’ve taken to tackle the climate crisis, to serve their own interest for power and profit. We must not be bullied to sacrifice the future of our children and our grandchildren.”

Biden’s warning was spot on. Just a few weeks later President Trump proclaimed “LONG LIVE THE KING” on social media.

It is hard to overstate the impacts of Trump’s policies on our public lands and on SUWA’s mission to protect the redrock wilderness. Instead of advancing conservation as we’ve been able to do for the past four years, our job now is to hold the line and push back against Trump’s madness at every turn.

The news is moving quickly as every day brings a new outrage. Below, we touch on some of the Trump administration’s initial actions and what they mean for canyon country. 

A Barrage of Executive Orders

Every president has the power to issue Executive Orders (EOs), but the sheer scope of Trump’s EOs has been staggering. Think of these orders as directives from the president. They set priorities, policies, etc., for the Executive Branch’s many offices and departments. While EOs are not laws (which Congress must pass), they can be reviewed by federal courts, and many of Trump’s EOs are currently the subject of litigation. Several EOs will influence SUWA’s day-to-day work; two in particular stand out.

EO 14154: “Unleashing American Energy” states, “It is in the national interest to unleash America’s affordable and reliable energy and natural resources.” It goes on to say that it is the policy of the U.S.:

• • “to encourage energy exploration and production on Federal lands and waters . . .” and

• • “to establish our position as the leading producer and processor of non-fuel minerals, including rare earth minerals . . .”

This EO also called for an “Immediate Review of All Agency Actions that Potentially Burden the Development of Domestic Energy Resources” and revoked 12 Biden orders related to climate change.

EO 14156: “Declaring a National Energy Emergency” includes several dangerous provisions, including an “Emergency Approvals” section that calls on agencies to “. . . identify and exercise any lawful emergency authorities available to them, as well as all other lawful authorities they may possess, to facilitate the identification, leasing, siting, production, transportation, refining, and generation of domestic energy resources, including, but not limited to, on Federal lands.”

Together, these EOs send a message: Trump will do anything in his quest for more leasing and drilling. This is despite the fact that every western state has a surplus of lands already under lease but not in development and that the past few years have seen record oil and gas production on public lands in Utah. Let’s be clear: these existing trends are driving our nation and the world deeper into the climate crisis; doubling down on fossil fuels will only make things that much worse.

Since Trump was elected and launched his blizzard of EOs we’ve seen a significant uptick in industry nominations for new oil and gas leases in Utah. Whether that produces a corresponding rise in drilling has more to do with energy markets than with lease availability but we’re bracing for the worst. At the same time, speculators are staking new hard rock mining claims (for uranium, lithium, and other minerals) in some of Utah’s wildest places.

Secretary Burgum Follows Suit

The Department of the Interior manages much of America’s vast natural and cultural resources. It employs over 70,000 people in 11 bureaus, including the National Park Service and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Most recently, Deb Haaland served as Interior Secretary, the first Native American to do so. Now Trump has tapped former North Dakota governor and billionaire Doug Burgum to serve as Secretary.

Once he was sworn in, Burgum immediately began issuing Secretarial Orders (SOs). These are department-level versions of executive orders and provide department-specific direction. With titles like “Unleashing American Energy (SO 3418)” and “Achieving Prosperity through Deregulation (SO 3421)” there is no question that Burgum sees public lands as something to exploit rather than to protect and cherish. Under Burgum, the scales are now wildly tipped in favor of extractive industry and fossil fuels.

Of particular note, Burgum’s “Unleashing American Energy” SO directed Interior staff to compile a series of “action plans” to ensure quick enactment of all the SOs and EOs. Among other terrible things, it calls for a plan to review and revise all national monuments from Devils Tower in Wyoming (est. 1906) to Sáttítla Highlands in California (est. 2025), along with Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears National Monuments.

The Burgum order also calls for plans to eliminate the 2024 BLM Public Lands Rule; review and lay out a path to revise all existing mineral withdrawals (places where oil and gas leasing, as well as new mining claims, are prohibited for 20 years); and identify steps to reinstate “all leases issued by [the BLM] for natural resource development” that were canceled under the Biden administration. 

Gutting the Federal Workforce

In Utah, the BLM manages 23 million acres of public land, including congressionally designated wilderness, more than 80 wilderness study areas, two national monuments, and places like Nine Mile Canyon, Red Cliffs National Conservation Area, and Labyrinth Canyon. In addition to the landscape itself, the federal workforce—including wildlife biologists, recreation planners, wilderness rangers, and trail crews—are under attack from the new administration.

In February, the Interior Department announced mass firings of more than 2,300 people, including hundreds of staff at the BLM. This was a significant blow to effective management of the remarkable public lands and resources in Utah. Already woefully understaffed and under-resourced, the decision is a self-fulfilling prophecy to downgrade the protection and management of public lands, all while furthering the bogus argument that state or private companies could do a better job of “managing” them. Unfortunately, we anticipate more waves of firings.

Chipping Away at Bedrock Laws

In the alphabet soup of acronyms involved in federal land management, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) may be one of the lesser-known statutes, but it’s present in nearly every aspect of SUWA’s work. Signed into law in 1970, NEPA embodies our nation’s environmental conscience and is considered one of the United States’ bedrock environmental laws. It instituted a national policy of “look before you leap” by requiring that agencies carefully analyze and disclose the potential environmental impacts of a proposed action; NEPA also guarantees that the public has an opportunity to participate in decision-making processes.

The first Trump administration significantly weakened NEPA by undermining its regulations. Eventually, the Biden administration reversed the damage with a new set of rules to restore certainty, efficiency, and public engagement. But with his Unleashing American Energy EO, Trump has greased the skids to weaken NEPA far more than in his first term.

In February, the Council on Environmental Quality (a division within the Executive Office of the President) announced the removal of its federal regulations implementing NEPA. Some of those had been in place for more than 50 years. While the dust is still settling from this announcement, it’s clear the action will lead to even more uncertainty and confusion among federal agencies, regulated industry, and the public about how agencies like the BLM will go about their work.

What comes next is very uncertain, though we still have Congress’ remarkably clear words in the underlying law to point to and rely on: the purpose of NEPA is “[t]o declare a national policy which will encourage productive and enjoyable harmony between man and his environment; to promote efforts which will prevent or eliminate damage to the environment and biosphere and stimulate the health and welfare of man; to enrich the understanding of the ecological systems and natural resources important to the Nation.”

Once More Unto the Breach

Energy dominance, chaos, and uncertainty. We’ve covered just a few examples of what we’re up against, and we know there will be many more jaw-dropping developments in the weeks and months ahead.

There’s no doubt we are facing deeply challenging times. While we don’t know all the threats we’re going to face, we will face them together. SUWA will keep you informed, we’ll provide opportunities to use your voice and take action, and we’ll remain focused on defending the redrock. As we’ve been saying since election day: SUWA has never backed down from a hard fight, and we’re not going to start now.

—Grant Stevens & Steve Bloch

The above articles first appeared in the Spring 2025 issue of our Redrock Wilderness newsletter. Become a member to receive our print newsletter in your mailbox 3 times a year.