“Action is the best antidote to despair.”
–Joan Baez
Public lands and waters are our country’s most popular areas for exploring nature while conserving landscapes, cultural areas, clean water, and wildlife, including the Central Coast’s very own Carrizo Plain National Monument, Los Padres National Forest, and Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary.
But legislation introduced in Congress would make it easier to sell off and privatize those public lands, eliminate conservation areas, and prevent future presidents from declaring national monuments.
The Trump administration has ordered the removal of environmental protections for half of the land managed by the U.S. Forest Service. In February, the secretary of the interior issued an order mandating a review of all lands withdrawn from fossil fuel and mining development, directing the department to “revise all withdrawn public lands.” This could allow industrial development in iconic and important places like the Grand Canyon watershed, wildlife refuges, and other public lands.
When we can’t rely on federal agencies to do their jobs, local governments need to speak up. And the Central Coast has a lot to lose. From Avila Bay up to the Carrizo Plain and everything in between, the Central Coast’s outdoor places are essential to all of our lives. Local leaders have an opportunity to stand in solidarity with our communities and our ecosystems. It’s time to make it clear that Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties will oppose any policies and proposals to reduce or dismantle national monuments and other public land and water protections. Our supervisors should encourage California’s governor and attorney general and the members of California’s congressional delegation to take such actions as may be necessary to oppose future attempts to sell, transfer, or dispose of our national public lands.
They have an opportunity to pass such a resolution, conveying it to Gov. Gavin Newsom, Attorney General Rob Bonta, U.S. Sens. Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff, U.S. Reps. Salud Carbajal and Jimmy Panetta, Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, and President Donald Trump.
For all Americans, now is the time to use our voices in defense of our environment, our neighbors and our communities. We hope Central Coast leaders will join us in defense of people and the planet, starting with a resolution of support.
While we’re waiting, the SLO Sierra Club is hosting a Protecting Public Lands and Waters Panel at the SLO Grange Hall on June 18, from 5 to 7 p.m., featuring Congressman Carbajal and local conservation leaders. RSVP required via sierraclub.org/santa-lucia.
Meanwhile, the importance of this work is continually emphasized by the onslaught of federal efforts to dismantle environmental and community protections. In a profound assault on endangered species, the administration is gutting the Endangered Species Act by proposing to delete the definition of “harm” from federal regulations.
The Trump appointees now running the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service claim that the “take” (i.e., any actions that harm, wound, or kill wildlife) of threatened or endangered species should not include harm to species’ habitats. The administration asserts that “harm” should only mean actions that directly wound or kill wildlife.
Their “logic” fails when you read the first sentence in the section of the Endangered Species Act describing its very purpose, which is “to provide a means whereby the ecosystems upon which endangered species and threatened species depend may be conserved.”
The administration’s proposal to delete the definition of “harm” in the regulations, defies a Supreme Court ruling that has stood for 30 years, ignores the fact that the protection of threatened and endangered species is inextricably bound to the protection of their habitat, and that the protection of habitat is a primary purpose of the Endangered Species Act.
Removing that definition of “harm” would greenlight logging, drilling, mining, development, and other industrial activities that will destroy the habitat endangered species need to survive and recover—and that we humans need to survive. The loss of natural capital, including deforestation and the loss of soils and wetlands, will impair the ability of natural resources to clean air and water, an impact that will occur simultaneously with rising levels of pollution resulting from the proposed action.
The administration claims it is simply proposing a minor regulatory change that is exempt from environmental review. But in fact they are proposing extinction. We can’t let them do that.
Your voice makes a difference in standing up against these threats.
Together we can and must defend people and the planet.
Gianna Patchen is chapter coordinator for the Santa Lucia Chapter of the Sierra Club. Andrew Christie served as chapter director from 2004 to 2023. Send comments in response to letters@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Jun 5-15, 2025.