Policy Corner: Keeping Public Lands Public

Bryan Pride • April 4, 2025

A lot has happened in the Public Lands space since our last Policy Corner. Doug Burgum took his role as the 55th Secretary of the Interior, and Kathleen Sgamma received confirmation to head the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The House Natural Resources Committee has held several oversight hearings on topics ranging from selling off public lands to establish American Energy Dominance, defunding federal agencies such as BLM as a method to incentivize Multiple Land Use by private companies and undercutting the efficacy of the Endangered Species Act (ESA)and calling it a “needed reform”. Through questionable actions made by DOGE, we have also seen thousands of Forest Service, BLM and National Park employees fired and, through court order, rehired. With all this chaos happening far and near, the real question becomes: What does all this chaos mean for Californians?


Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land is concentrated in 12 western states. California holds nearly 15 million acres of BLM lands. In addition to BLM land, California has land that is managed by other federal agencies such as the U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The recent reductions to staff across all federal agencies directly impacts National Monuments, National Parks, and National Forests, that are located within California.


Every year, Californians, residents from nearby states, as well as international tourists visit the public lands within California as a way to spend time with families, enjoy the great outdoors, and experience mental healing. The National Park Service reported that 36.2 million people visited the 28 national parks in California in 2023. Those visitors spent roughly $3.2 billion dollars, which supported 39,678 California-based jobs and contributed $5.1 billion dollars to our state economy. While it may not be as visible, the presence of BLM and U.S Forest Service also creates jobs in California and positively contributes to the local economies of our communities and the overall economic strength of California as a whole. Public Lands are more than recreation; they create employment opportunities and contribute to economic prosperity.


Despite National Monument and public lands holding immense value in the hearts and minds of Californians and the American people in general, our public lands are being threatened. It was announced earlier in the month that DOGE plans to close federal offices across the United States. One of the offices that has been targeted to close is the Ukiah BLM office. The Ukiah BLM office plays a significant role in coordinating protection for the federal lands in California ranging from the intercostal mountain range and Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument, which includes the Mendocino forest. The Ukiah office assists with issuing permits for timber harvesting, livestock grazing, off highway vehicle recreation, and overseeing proper adherence to environmental preservation practices. Additionally, Ukiah is essential in coordinating CalFire dispatch and response to the wildfires that affect our forests and our communities.


The Ukiah BLM office also houses the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument Manager. Without a Ukiah office, the Monument Manager's ability to respond to fires, guarantee safety, and ensure that conservation practices are taking place in and around the monument is reduced. This means that our public lands and forests are at heightened risk of wildfires and trails we love to hike become unsafe to those who use them.


The closure of the physical office is not the only threat to Ukiah BLM operations. Many of the staff have been in their posts for years and have recently been promoted, meaning the invaluable staff is at risk of being terminated due to their probationary status. We run the risk of losing these public servants and the institutional knowledge they have of our public lands. 1.5 million Californians throughout the region will be affected if we lose the Ukiah office or staff.


The Department of Interior (DOI) is also proposing selling an area of federal land larger than the city of Los Angeles as part of the agency's plan to use public lands to help solve the recently announced "housing and energy crisis." The DOI is looking to sell about 400,000 acres—625 square miles—of federal lands for housing. Federal lands that are within a radius of up to 10 miles of all cities and towns with a population greater than 5,000 people are at risk of being sold to private companies. This has the potential to affect communities that are near the Berryessa Snow Mountain Monument. When private companies have ownership of land that surrounds protected landscapes, public access to National Monuments is reduced, oversight on how once-public lands are managed is lost which has the potential to result in the destruction of monuments such as the Berryessa Snow Mountain.


With so much going on in the Public Lands and Conservation space, Tuleyome is working hard within our networks to fight against policies that put our public lands at risk. For the past several weeks, we have connected with both Congressional Offices and members of the California State Legislature, asking our representatives to be advocates for our public lands and promote good land stewardship.

On March 18th, Tuleyome joined the California Power in Nature Advocacy day, where we, along with 80 other organizations throughout California, gathered in Sacramento to advocate for policies that prioritize the protection of California Public Lands and Coastal Waters. This was an opportunity for Tuleyome to amplify the voices and concerns that many of us have regarding public lands and the importance of prioritizing land protection. We were well received by California Legislators and hope to see statewide initiatives that strengthen conservation practices and promote good land stewardship.


Reaching beyond a state level, Tuleyome is partaking in a Conservation Lands Foundation advocacy Fly-in where I will be visiting Congressional Representatives in Washington D.C. and advocating for the importance of: public lands remaining public, the necessity to reinstate park rangers and other public servants in our U.S. Forest Service, and Bureau of Land Management offices. Our visit to Washington will feature stories and connections about how we enjoy our public lands as outdoor enthusiasts, community members, botanists, and individuals whose livelihoods are dependent on public lands.


Each time we engage in these efforts, Tuleyome is representing our diverse community and advocating on behalf of the land we love, but we could still use more help in amplifying the importance and love of our public lands.


I want to thank everyone who has been emailing and asking how to help advocate for our public lands. All of us have the ability to advocate for keeping our public lands in the hands of the public; together, we have strength, and we can amplify our voices.

For those of you who are interested in getting involved, there are many ways to help out. Some of the most impactful efforts include calling your state and federal representatives. Elected officials want to hear from you. Calling elected officials leads to impact; each call is documented and reviewed. It is one of the best methods for elected officials to keep record of what their constituents care about. I want to urge our readers to call your representatives, and it's okay to call multiple times. Each time you call, it is documented and demonstrates the urgency associated with the cause. Even if you called once before, call again and keep calling.


Reaching out to friends, family members, and community groups and encouraging them to call their representatives is a powerful way to advocate. Don't know who your representative is? No problem—use these links to find both state and federal representatives by using your zip code.


You can also send letters to elected officials. Using this link, you have the chance to send a letter to your elected officials and customize what you want to say about public lands. We encourage folks to use these grassroots options and join the fight to keep our public lands public.


All of us have the ability to advocate for our public lands and its resources – wildlife, flora, fauna, water and culture. If you're interested in learning more ways to help raise awareness and advocate for your public lands, feel free to reach out to me.


Until then, Happy Hiking!


-Bryan Pride (bpride@tuleyome.org)

Policy Director

RECENT ARTICLES

Policy Corner California Defends What's Ours

By Bryan Pride • January 20, 2026
Last year tested us. We watched as the administration attempted to auction off millions of acres of public lands, an unprecedented attack on places we’ve fought to protect for decades. We saw rollbacks of critical environmental protections and threats to lands that belong to all of us. But we also showed up. Together, as a community, we rallied, we organized, and we pushed back against some of the most aggressive land sell-offs ever proposed. And we won some of those fights. In December, just before Congress recessed, Senator Padilla introduced the Protecting Unique and Beautiful Landscapes by Investing in California (PUBLIC) Lands Act , a beacon of what’s possible when we refuse to give up. This isn’t just another bill. It’s a statement that California is refusing to let our public lands become bargaining chips. The PUBLIC Lands Act would protect over 1.7 million acres of California public lands throughout northwest California, the Central Coast and Los Angeles County. That protection includes 550,000 acres of new wilderness and nearly 700 miles of wild and scenic rivers. It includes provisions for forest restoration and fire resilience on another 871,000 acres, work that is desperately needed. This package pulls together three essential bills: Congressman Huffman's Northwest California Wilderness, Recreation and Working Forest Act , which protects 484,733 acres and 479.8 miles of rivers, old-growth forest, salmon streams and wild places that define the North Coast. Representative Carbajal’s Central Coast Heritage Protection Act secures 385,842 acres including critical habitat in Los Padres National Forest, home to California Condors and threatened watersheds. Representative Judy Chu’s San Gabriel Mountains Foothills and Rivers Protection Act that protects 35,335 acres, expanding access to nature for millions of Angelenos who live in communities with some of the lowest park access in the country despite having mountains right in their backyard. The PUBLIC Lands Act matters because it’s happening now when our public lands face their greatest threats. Our champions in Congress aren’t waiting for a better political moment, they’re fighting for these places when the fight matters most. We will be tracking this bill closely and keeping you updated as it moves through Congress. In the meantime, call your representatives and thank Senator Padilla , Representative Huffman , Representative Carabajal and Representative Chu for introducing this legislation. Let them know you support it. Our voices help move good legislation through Congress, especially when the opposition is loud. If 2025 taught us anything, it's that defending our public lands isn’t a one-time battle. It’s the work we do together, every single day. Bryan Pride Tuleyome Policy Director

Monumental Questions - Did you Know Tuleyome Has a Trail Guide for Part of the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument?

By Kristie Ehrhardt • January 20, 2026
It’s true! Tuleyome’s Adventures and Engagement Director Nate Lillge has assembled an incredible guide to the trails located throughout the southern portion of our newly expanded favorite monument. As you may know, the monument is jointly managed by both the Bureau of Land Management (under the United States Department of Interior) and the United States Forest Service (under the United States Department of Agriculture). The two agencies collectively manage and maintain 344,476 acres of natural wildlands in the Inner Coastal Range available for the public to appreciate and explore. That’s where Tuleyome comes in, we want to help you traverse and investigate those acres. Tuleyome’s trail guide not only provides a map of the southern portion of the monument with the trailhead names and locations, but it also shows names of the various trails that can be accessed by those trailheads along with the difficulty rating. It also contains a QR code that will take you to detailed information for each trail, including driving directions, trail maps and hike descriptions. If you’d rather go with a group, Tuleyome can help there too. Check out the Upcoming Events tab on our website to register for one or more of our organized hikes. So, if your New Year’s Resolution was to get out on more hikes in 2026, Tuleyome’s got you covered! Check out the Trail Guide here or look for our booth at one of the many community events that we participate in and pick up a printed copy. And don’t forget about our Youth Boot Bank program if your little hiker needs to borrow some boots; just come see Tuleyome’s Education Associate, Geoff Benn, during Boot Bank office hours, which are also listed under the events tab, and we’ll get your little ones outfitted for the trails too. Happy Hiking!!  -Kristie Ehrhardt ( kehrhardt@tuleyome.org ) Tuleyome Land Conservation Program Manager

Enjoying Outside! - Snow Goose Festival of the Pacific Flyway

By Kristie Ehrhardt • January 20, 2026
Stretching from the Bering Straight off the coast of Alaska south to majestic Patagonia, the Pacific Flyway is one of the paramount migratory pathways in the entire world. Hundreds of species ranging from tiny hummingbirds, songbirds like sparrows and warblers, shorebirds like avocets, sandpipers and whimbrels, waterfowl including many species of ducks and geese to great Bald Eagles combine to equal the billions of birds that use the Pacific Flyway each migration season. With California's mild winters, available wetlands and flooded rice fields, and oodles of food, it’s not hard to see why waterfowl species like the striking white and black Snow Goose spend their winters here. As many as a million and a half Snow Geese will be using the Pacific Flyway and tens of thousands of them will remain here, in our region, for the winter. The City of Chico and surrounding communities come together to celebrate “this magnificent spectacle of nature with the Snow Goose Festival of the Pacific Flyway.” By connecting and showcasing artists, authors, educators, guides and volunteers the festival aims to excite and unite the community by increasing appreciation, awareness, conservation and understanding of the resident and visiting wildlife and their habitats in the Northern Sacramento Valley. The three day festival features art and an auction, a banquet, field trips, family activities and exhibits and workshops! Snow Geese (Anser caerulescens) breed in Greenland, Canada, Alaska and the northeastern tip of Siberia and winter in the warmer regions of southwestern British Columbia, south through the United States and Mexico. There are two color morphs, white which are called “snows” (shocking, I know) and the dark morphs which are called “blues”. Snows are all white with black wingtips while blues have dark bluish-gray plumage and a white head, neck and tip of the tail. Both color morphs have orangy-red legs and feet and a pink bill with black edges that makes it look like they are grinning. Sometimes minerals in the soil or water where they’re feeding can stain their white heads making them look orange. Snow Geese are vocal. Very vocal. Some may say they are extremely vocal and they can often be heard from more than a mile away. Frequently Snow Geese and Greater White-fronted Geese travel together as they are very similar in size and needs. Combined flocks of them can often be heard on winter days and nights as they fly high overhead to their feeding grounds. If you’re looking for a fun way to Enjoy Outdoors and learn more about the Pacific Flyway, Snow Geese and their fellow travelers, venture on up to Chico during the weekend of January 22-25, 2026. They’d love to see you at one of the many events! Please visit the website ( https://snowgoosefestival.org/ ) for a list of activities, to register and for more information. Snow Goose Fun Facts! When Snow Geese are resting or feeding, lookouts keep an eye to the sky watching for threats such as Bald Eagles or other predators which prey on old or injured geese. The lookout will vocalize and the entire flock may spontaneously take flight which is pretty stunning to watch. Snow Goose eggshells stain easily which makes aging the eggs easy, the older eggs will appear dirtier while the more recently laid eggs remain creamy white. Snow Geese populations dropped so low in the early 1900’s that hunting was no longer allowed in the eastern states. From the 1970’s and on, the population has boomed so much that some of their tundra nesting grounds are being impacted by their numbers. Once females arrive at their breeding grounds they may spend up to 20 hours a day foraging but consume nearly nothing once they begin incubating eggs. Snow Goose digestion is remarkably quick, requiring only about an hour or two to go from gullet to ground. Snow Geese make epic journeys by wing but they are not lazy on foot either. Within the first month after hatching, goslings may walk about 50 miles with their parents. When waterfowl molt they lose their ability to fly but a molting Snow Goose can outrun many predators. The oldest known Snow Goose was over 30 years old! Word Play. A group of geese on the ground or water is called a gaggle . That same collection of geese but now in the air are called a skein , a wedge or a team . Hunters use the term “ grind ” for an assemblage of geese while culinary artists use the same term to mean goose meat . BUT, if you simply call them a flock of geese, everyone will know what you’re talkin' about! -Kristie Ehrhardt ( kehrhardt@tuleyome.org ) Tuleyome Land Conservation Program Manager