June is National Rivers Month, and supporters are calling for greater protections of the Olympic Peninsula's rivers and landscapes.

The Wild Olympics Wilderness and Wild and Scenic Rivers Act in Congress would protect more than 126,000 acres as wilderness and designate 19 rivers and their tributaries as wild and scenic.

The legislation has received support from local elected officials, tribes, businesses and conservation groups.

Ashley Nicole Lewis, owner of Bad Ash Fishing on the Olympic peninsula, and a member of the Quinault Nation, explained the value of the designations.

"Protecting these forests, protecting these watersheds are super important culturally," Nicole Lewis emphasized. "Because salmon and steelhead fishing really is the bedrock of my culture as an Indigenous woman, and also as somebody who works in the ecotourism field."

She pointed out rivers in the region are some of the most productive salmon and steelhead waterways in the country.

Nicole Lewis argued safeguarding the landscapes now while they are still in good condition is crucial. She noted the measure will protect fishing, boating and hunting without closing down access to any such opportunities.

"It protects the Olympic Peninsula's ancient forests, free-flowing rivers and salmon streams for the future," Nicole Lewis stressed. "But it also permanently protects some of the last healthy upstream salmon and steelhead habitats left on the peninsula."

Nicole Lewis stated the bill has benefits for the region's endangered orcas as well, which need the salmon from the peninsula's rivers to survive, and believes everyone has a reason to care about it.

"From the point in which a salmon swims up the river, dies, brings nutrients from the ocean into the forest, creates healthy forests, which creates cleaner air," Nicole Lewis outlined. "Every point of this is important and connected to anything that we care about in the Northwest."

Support for this reporting was provided by The Pew Charitable Trusts.

Three conservation groups have sued to stop a large logging project near Yellowstone National Park they say threatens endangered species in Montana.

The South Plateau Project would clear-cut 5,500 acres of trees, burn more than 16,000 acres, and carve 56 miles of logging roads into the Custer-Gallatin National Forest near Yellowstone Park, close to the Continental Divide.

Mike Garrity, executive director of the Helena-based Alliance for the Wild Rockies, which worked with the Center for Biological Diversity to file the suit, said the logging project would be genetically devastating for grizzlies near Yellowstone, because it proposes to slice through a corridor which allows Yellowstone grizzlies to mix with bears further north as they work their way back from the endangered list.

"Grizzlies, once again, need one connected population so they have healthy genetic interchange," Garrity emphasized. "Grizzlies that are isolated are at risk for inbreeding. Once inbreeding sets in, they are sunk."

Garrity added most grizzlies are killed within one-third of a mile of a logging road - evidence, he said, that humans are threatening the already threatened species in the state. The U.S. Forest Service, which would oversee the logging project, has declined to comment due to the pending litigation.

Beyond providing vital habitat for grizzlies and Canada lynx, which are known to avoid forest clear-cuts for as long as 50 years, Garrity pointed out halting the project would preserve close to 17,000 logging trucks worth of timber, and prevent a devastating ecological impact on the climate.

"Forests are tremendous carbon sinks," Garrity stressed. "National Forests absorb about 12% to 15% of all the carbon the United States produces in a year. They're going to cut down all these trees and disturbing all the soil because trees also pump carbon into the soils, and bulldozing all these new logging roads is going to release a ton of carbon into the atmosphere."

Garrity argued the Forest Service has not analyzed the environmental impacts of the project, which is required under the National Environmental Policy Act.

Imagine reaching your favorite Grand Teton National Park trail in half the time because of new pull-outs that clear traffic on arterial roads.

Or driving into Moose Junction, parking your car, and hopping on an electric-assisted bicycle to explore the park on a dedicated path that connects with a ferry across Jenny Lake to Hidden Falls.

These are the types of ideas that park Superintendent Chip Jenkins said he hopes to gather from visitors to help officials map out the iconic park's future.

"We're trying to get information from people," said Jenkins, "about the kinds of experiences that they would like to have at Grand Teton 10, 15, 20 years from now."

He said because National Parks belong to all Americans, it's important for people to have a say in how they're managed.

You can add your vision for improving the visitor experience at Grand Teton through October 10 online at 'parkplanning.nps.gov.'

The number of people from Wyoming and across the U.S. visiting Grand Teton National Park has swelled over the past three decades, reaching nearly four million in 2021.

But Jenkins said visitation data isn't like a thermometer going up or down, it's more like a balloon where people are doing different things on the landscape in a different way.

"So, while the overall total number of visitors in 2022 was similar to 2014," said Jenkins, "we had over a 50% increase in the number of people who were hiking on our trails."

Park officials have been adapting to visitation trends for over 100 years. In the 1920s and 30s, Highway 89 was created to help people reach Dubois and Riverton.

In the 1950s and 60s there was massive investment in Colter Bay to support increases in overnight stays. Jenkins said more recently, there has been a growing interest in experiencing the park by bicycle.

"It's just a wonderful way to be able to be out on the landscape," said Jenkins. "You'll see many many people like to do it as a family getting together or a group of friends getting together. Of course, E-bikes are opening up all sorts of opportunities for folks."

Many across the state of Nevada will celebrate National Public Lands Day tomorrow.

Nevadans will be able to visit state parks for free on Saturday, to encourage people to explore all the recreation opportunities the state has to offer.

Andrew Sierra, political and organizing director for the Nevada Conservation League, said this year's focus is about the effects of climate change and equity. He added underserved and underinvested communities many times are not able to enjoy the outdoors, which is why, in the most recent legislative session, they supported efforts to fund the Outdoor Education and Recreation Program and bridge the equity gap.

"Not many people's families are too worried or concerned about taking a hike when they are more concerned about putting food on the table," Sierra acknowledged. "If we can help our schools, if we can help community groups through that -- and working alongside state agencies to be able to really get to the point of equity -- then we solve many problems."

Sierra added his group and other stakeholders will be at Craig Ranch Regional Park this Saturday starting at 9 a.m. He said organizers chose to hold the event there, as it is what he describes as an "important part of North Las Vegas," closer to BIPOC and front line communities disproportionately affected by climate change.

No matter where you may find yourself in the state, Sierra pointed out public lands play a significant role in what it means to be a Nevadan. He added it is why it is important to recognize both the conservation efforts and the clean energy transition taking place on Nevada's public lands.

"Clean energy -- be it public lands, be it conservation -- all these issues are interconnected in one way or another," Sierra stressed. "If it is public lands that interests you or if it's clean energy, I just urge folks to get involved and get informed, especially when it comes to clean energy. It's going to be an ever-evolving industry."

In the Department of Energy's latest energy and employment report, Nevada ranks fourth for the most new clean energy jobs in communities of color. Sierra noted his group would like to see more federal dollars invested in education and apprenticeship programs to keep the momentum going.