Congress Passes Rare Bipartisan Funding Deal for Public Lands
Courtesy of Unplug Magazine
In a rare show of bipartisan unity, Congress this week passed the Fiscal Year 2026 Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies appropriations bill—bringing long-awaited funding clarity to the federal agencies that manage America’s public lands.
The Outdoor Alliance described the FY26 bill as a meaningful bipartisan compromise. The organization highlighted several provisions it says are especially important, including full funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund, rejection of proposed cuts to federal land management agencies, and funding to maintain public lands staffing at prior-year levels.
The bill also avoids adding new policy riders that could have harmed public lands and waters and provides clearer congressional guidance on how funds should be spent—something advocates say has been missing during the extended use of continuing resolutions.
Read more:
https://www.unplugmag.com/post/congress-passes-rare-bipartisan-funding-deal-for-public-lands
DOI announces creation of new U.S. Wildland Fire Service
Courtesy of NACo
By Zeke Lee and Andrew Nober
On January 12, the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) announced the official establishment of the U.S. Wildland Fire Service (USWFS) and directed all departmental firefighting resources to be consolidated under the new service. DOI also announced Brian Fennessy as the Service’s first Fire Chief. Fennessy previously headed the Orange County Fire Authority (Calif.).
The announcement reorganizes all DOI wildland fire assets under the USWFS but makes no change to wildland fire actions handled by the U.S. Forest Service, which oversees most wildfire operations at the federal level. Additionally, the fiscal year (FY) 2026 appropriations bill for DOI, recently passed by the U.S. House as part of a minibus spending package, does not provide funding or direction for further consolidation of firefighting resources between the Wildland Fire Service and Forest Service.
Read more:
https://www.naco.org/news/doi-announces-creation-new-us-wildland-fire-service
'Fix It Fair’ brings new life to damaged items, helps divert waste
Courtesy of NACo
By Meredith Moran
WASHINGTON - Thurston County’s Public Works partners with Lacey MakerSpace, a non-profit community-based organization, to host Fix-It Fairs, community repair events where volunteers help fix residents’ damaged items, including textiles, household items, small appliances, tools, bicycles and jewelry, all at no cost.
The items people bring in to be repaired are ones that cannot be recycled in traditional ways, so the Fix-It Fair is not only helping bring new life to damaged items but also helping the environment by diverting waste out of the landfill, Pudner noted.
Read more:
https://www.naco.org/news/fix-it-fair-brings-new-life-damaged-items-helps-divert-waste
E-Bike Boosters Ask: Is It All Downhill From Here?
Courtesy of Bloomberg
By David Zipper
E-bike companies have faced sagging demand and escalating costs over the last two years, resulting in bankruptcies and financial struggles for companies like VanMoof and Rad Power Bikes.
Despite recent challenges, the e-bike industry's future is considered brighter than the current headlines suggest, with potential to transform urban transportation and reduce emissions.
The industry is experiencing consolidation, with companies that offer both affordability and high-quality products likely to survive, and e-bikes remaining a useful and fun option for consumers, with potential to emerge stronger in the future.
Read more:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-01-14/what-s-killing-off-all-the-e-bike-companies
How Does Nature Contribute to the Economy? These Environmental Accountants Are Trying to Find Out
Courtesy of Today's Climate
In an era of rapid globalization, economic growth has come with trade-offs. To make room for urban development or fossil fuel extraction, countries often clear forests, pollute water and decimate wildlife populations.
However, while nations and businesses build lucrative markets around these activities, destroying nature often comes at a cost—literally. Natural resources underpin the global economy, from pollinators supporting agricultural supply chains to forests ensuring water quality and availability. One estimate suggests that more than half of the world’s gross domestic product is moderately or highly dependent on the environment.
Read more:
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/13012026/todays-climate-natural-capital-accounting-economy/
How Stockholm Is Sprouting Healthy Trees From Concrete
Courtesy of Next City
By Peter Yeung
The design involves digging a pit and constructing a frame underground around the tree’s roots, and then filling said pit with a mixture of soil and stone, sometimes including biochar, to both aerate and fertilize the soil. These permeable layers are very strong and physically adaptable but also allow stormwater to flow in, meaning the trees are provided with sufficient air and water naturally. They also allow rainwater to be soaked up — a necessity amid more extreme weather brought on by climate change.
Proponents say the method has a number of benefits, including the fact that pits can be installed around existing trees, they can bear the weight of heavy-vehicle traffic, they require little topsoil — a resource that is becoming scarce — and they need less watering than traditionally-planted trees.
Read more:
https://nextcity.org/urbanist-news/how-stockholm-is-sprouting-healthy-trees-from-concrete
Ten Million Corals Are in the Path of a Federal Dredging Project in Florida
Courtesy of Inside Climate News
By Teresa Tomassoni
FLORIDA - Beneath the surface of one of South Florida’s busiest maritime hubs, Port Everglades, scientists found 10 million corals thriving in and around the main channel traversed daily by cargo and cruise ships, now threatened by a major federal dredging project.
Army Corps officials say the project is necessary to relieve mounting pressure on Florida’s already constrained ports. In an email to Inside Climate News, they said neither Port Everglades nor Port Miami alone can handle the region’s growing population and energy needs, noting that Port Everglades supplies nearly all of South Florida’s petroleum.
Read more:
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/04012026/florida-port-everglades-dredging-project-could-damaga-corals/
Plan for ballot measure to reopen SF's Great Highway fails
Courtesy of SFGate
By Matthew Tom
CALIFORNIA - Despite needing just four signatures, San Francisco Supervisor Alan Wong failed to get a measure on the June ballot to reopen the Great Highway to vehicles, according to Friends of Sunset Dunes, an advocacy group opposed to the idea.
“This was the last gasp of an anti-park crusade that San Franciscans have rejected at every turn,” said Lucas Lux, president of Friends of Sunset Dunes. “It’s time to move forward and focus on improving our coastal park together. San Franciscans have made a decision and the park is here to stay.”
Read more:
https://www.sfgate.com/local/article/supervisor-ballot-effort-great-highway-fails-21293510.php
Putting Your Emerging Trail Town on the Map: A Practical Social Media Checklist
Courtesy of Trail Builder
If you have been following our conversations around trail towns, you already know the tension. Many rural communities have enough trail infrastructure to be proud of, but not enough confidence to say it out loud. They worry about marketing too early. They worry about attracting the wrong kind of attention. They worry about promising more than they can deliver.
This article is about putting your emerging trail town on the map in a responsible, realistic, and doable way. Not through glossy campaigns or paid ads, but through consistent documentation, thoughtful storytelling, and a simple social media strategy that works even with limited budgets and capacity.
Read more:
https://www.trailbuildermag.com/articles/putting-your-emerging-trail-town-on-the-map-a-practical-social-media-checklist?
Trump’s Takeover of Public DC Golf Courses Threatens to Erase “Model Public Playgrounds”
Courtesy of Planetizen
By Diana Ionescu
The Trump administration terminated a 50-year lease held by the National Links Trust on three public Washington, D.C. golf courses, prompting questions over the future of the courses and their accessibility and affordability to local residents.
All three courses have struggled with maintenance and renovations in their decades-long histories, and the administration terminated the lease on the grounds that NLT was in default of its agreements.
Craig Dean, the executive director of the Langston Golf Course Conservancy, worries that a Trump takeover of the courses could mean a steep rise in prices for players and the erasure of the course’s Black history.
Read more:
https://www.planetizen.com/news/2026/01/136735-trumps-takeover-public-dc-golf-courses-threatens-erase-model-public-playgrounds
