OPEN MESSAGE ONLINE  

Welcome back Bodie Hills Lovers!

We know these are troubling times for many public land lovers and advocates, and while the Bodie Hills have not been spared, we are glad to say we have many opportunities to get involved and do something about it. 

Thank you for helping us stand up for the Bodie Hills,

The Bodie Hills Conservation Partnership (BHCP)

Congress is considering selling off America’s public lands.

Senator Lee (R-UT) and his allies have announced massive public land sales across the West. Lee’s proposal specifically calls out California as one of 11 states where sale of up to 3.25 million acres of our public lands would be mandated – that’s roughly the equivalent of four-and-half Yosemite National Parks! Your favorite places, including the ENTIRE Bodie Hills, are at risk of being sold off without any public input. This cannot stand. 

This proposal would put California’s extraordinary natural resources on the auction block to fund tax cuts for the ultra rich. Congress selling off millions of acres of national public lands through a backroom process with no public input is a massive breach of public trust. 

Just a few weeks ago, your letters and calls helped stop 500,000 acres of land sales in the House version of this bill. Now, these sell-offs are back in the Senate bill, and they are even more extreme. We need you to speak up now against this unprecedented (and wildly unpopular!) land sale. 

This is a critical moment to act. Once lands are sold, they’re gone for good—along with access to trails, wildlife, and the outdoor places we love.
Make a call. Send an email. Add comments on Reps.' and Senators' social media pages. Spread the word!

Proposed drill sites for the Lodestar Project

California and specifically the Sierra Nevada region is both an old and new extractive frontier, with hotspots of environmental injustice. Abandoned gold rush era mines have left a toxic legacy that continues to impact communities and ecosystems. Recently, high gold prices have sparked renewed interest in exploration for open pit mines, threatening biologically diverse and sacred landscapes from the Sierra to the desert. 

Watch to learn about mining threats in the Sierra Nevada: what is happening, what are the impacts, how it conflicts with the State and National conservation goals, and what we can do to help. 

Watch the free recording on gold exploration in the Bodie Hills by local experts from the Sierra Club and Earthworks, recorded on May 27th. 

 Photo taken by Joanne Hihn of areas being explored for gold. These projects would be visible from U.S. 395, Panum Crater, and Mono Lake's South Tufa area.  The exploration projects go from the saddle between West and East Brawley Peak to Spring Peak, which can be seen from the Mono Basin. More sites are on the north side of Mt. Hicks and behind East Brawley Peak. 

We need volunteers with a variety of skills to help us defend the Bodie Hills.

Here are just a few things we need help with: 

On the Ground

Spreading the Word 

...and so much more!

About Emily: 

Emily Markstein has lived in the Eastern Sierra for 7 years. She grew up in Upstate New York, spending her time hiking and gardening with her family. After obtaining a Masters Degree in Climate Change Impacts on Heritage Management from the University of St. Andrews, she moved to Vermont and worked for ECO AmeriCorps for two years, then moved to Mammoth Lakes. She was the co-founder and campaign organizer for the grassroots organization No Hot Creek Mine. After local organizations defeated the mining company in court, Emily is now working with Trout Unlimited on permanent protections for Hot Creek and is excited to use the skills she learned working to save Hot Creek on the Bodie Hills project. When she’s not fighting mining companies, Emily loves to bikepack, backcountry ski, backpack, and swim in as many alpine lakes as possible.

On March 20th, the Trump Administration announced  an executive order on critical minerals mining which continues the Trump administration’s pattern that replaces balance and consideration for the multiple needs of public lands management with bulldozers and a disregard for any policy outcome other than destruction of public lands. This executive order uses wartime authority in the absence of a war to expedite exploration and production of minerals, thereby side-stepping public and environmental protection laws and public scrutiny. 

A statement from the White House on March 20, 2025 outlined “Immediate Measures to Increase American Mineral Production," tying in with the previous January 20th "Unleashing American Energy" executive order, which stated that agency heads "shall identify all agency actions that impose undue burdens on the domestic mining and processing of non-fuel minerals and undertake steps to revise or rescind such actions," attacking  mineral withdrawal designations. Trump declared a national energy emergency to accelerate permitting of oil, gas and power projects. 

In  response, on May 9th, 15 states sued the Trump Administration to overturn Trump’s national energy emergency declaration and keep it from being used to fast track energy projects. Washington and California are the lead states. Also suing are Arizona, Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin. The plaintiffs are asking the judge to rule that 1) the Executive Order with the national energy emergency declaration in it is unlawful, 2) actions taken by the Army Corps of Engineers and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation based on that EO also have legal problems, 3) to temporarily and then permanently enjoin the Army Corp and ACHP from implementing that EO, and 4) anything else justice requires.

Thank you for supporting the Bodie Hills Conservation Partnership (BHCP). If you would like to represent your Bodie Hills love out in your community, please message allison@friendsoftheinyo.org to have a BHCP sticker sent to your address: perfect for cars, water bottles, laptops and more!