Trump wants more hunting in national parks and refuges

By Todd Richmond, Associated Press

MADISON, Wis. — President Donald Trump’s administration is quietly pushing national park, refuge, and wilderness area managers to dramatically scale back hunting restrictions, raising questions about visitor safety and the impact on wildlife.

U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Doug Burgum issued an order in January directing multiple agencies to remove what he termed “unnecessary regulatory or administrative barriers” to hunting and fishing and justify regulations they want to keep in place.

“Expanding opportunities for the public to hunt and fish on Department-managed lands not only strengthens conservation outcomes, but also supports rural economies, public health, and access to America’s outdoor spaces,” Burgum wrote. “The Department’s policy is clear: public and federally managed lands should be open to hunting and fishing unless a specific, documented, and legally supported exception applies.”

The order applies to 55 sites in the lower 48 states under the National Park Service’s jurisdiction, according to the National Parks Conservation Association. Managers at various locations have already lifted prohibitions on using hunting stands that damage trees, training hunting dogs, using vehicles to retrieve animals, and hunting along trails, according to an NPCA review of site regulations the organization recently performed after learning of the order. The New York Times was the first to report on the changes.

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The hunting season in the Cape Cod National Seashore in Massachusetts, for example, would be extended through the spring and summer. Hunters in the Lake Meredith National Recreation Area in Texas would be allowed to clean their kills in bathrooms. And hunters would be allowed to kill alligators in the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve in Louisiana.

Burgum’s order comes as hunting continues to decline amid increasing urbanization. Only about 4.2% of the U.S. population identified as hunters older than 16 in 2024, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Census data, leaving state wildlife agencies short on revenue from license sales and excise taxes on guns and ammunition.

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Trump using military reviews to put wind energy in deep freeze

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By Kathryn Krawczyk, Canary Media

For the past 15 years, onshore wind projects have followed the same process to get the Department of Defense’s permission to build. Now, that familiar route has been closed off, effectively jeopardizing all new wind projects on private land — more than 250 nationwide — and threatening to sideline 30 GW of potential generation capacity, according to the American Clean Power Association. 

All wind projects in the U.S. must first head through the Military Aviation and Installation Assurance Siting Clearinghouse, where, in the DOD’s own words, they’re supposed to undergo a “timely, transparent, and repeatable process to evaluate potential impacts” to national security and military operations. It’s a routine that has spanned presidencies, including the first Trump administration, and that typically revolves around making sure turbines don’t interfere with radars or federal airspace.

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If an issue arises, developers and the DOD usually come to a mitigation agreement that resolves both parties’ concerns. These deals are often settled in a matter of days, the Financial Times reports. But the DOD hasn’t signed off on a mitigation agreement since last August, the American Clean Power Association says, leaving at least 60 wind projects that were already in formal negotiations awaiting sign-off from the DOD.

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As electricity demand soars, NJ explores new utility profit models


From the New Jersey Monitor

New Jersey’s energy regulators are taking steps to explore a system that would see the state’s utilities draw profit based on their performance rather than tying their returns to capital investments that improve grid reliability but drive up customer bills.

The move follows an executive order Gov. Mikie Sherrill (D) signed when she took office that directed the Board of Public Utilities to examine whether the profit model of New Jersey’s four regulated utilities has outlived its usefulness amid electricity rates soaring as a result of infrastructure investments and data centers’ mammoth power demands.

NJ bill promoting community agriculture

“This model has served the state for decades, but it also creates a structural incentive to favor capital-intensive solutions even when lower cost non-wires or demand-side alternatives may be available,” the board’s president, Christine Guhl-Sadovy, said during a May 7 stakeholder meeting.

In New Jersey, electric distribution companies like PSE&G and Jersey Central Power and Light profit from investments in distribution infrastructure at levels negotiated with regulators and repaid by customers on monthly bills. Their return on equity typically hovers around 9.6%.

Though the price of electricity accounts for the largest share of customer bills, utilities do not profit from its sale; instead, they pass it through at cost.

Officials discussed transitioning New Jersey’s utilities to a business model that pays them based on their performance across an array of metrics including affordability, reliability, customer service quality, and the speed at which they connect projects to the grid.

Current and former utility regulation chairs from states that have already moved to performance-based models, or are in the process of implementing them, broadly praised the shifts, but cautioned they were mostly made in different energy environments than the one New Jersey faces now.

The price of and demand for electricity was largely level through the 2010s before spiking in recent years, and the scale of growth driven by data centers that can consume as much power as, for example, the City of San Francisco is unprecedented.

Related Video: New Jersey officials tout new website meant to speed permits for developers

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NJ bill promoting community-supported agriculture advances

TRENTON—Legislation sponsored by Assemblywoman Lisa Swain to promote community-supported agriculture (CSA) programs in New Jersey cleared the Assembly Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee on Monday.

     Bill A3108 would require the Department of Agriculture to develop and implement a statewide publicity and marketing program to increase awareness of CSA programs, which allow consumers to purchase seasonal subscriptions directly from local farms in exchange for regular shares of fresh produce and other agricultural products.

     The bill would require the department to create and maintain a dedicated CSA webpage, promote participating farms and programs statewide, develop promotional labels for farmers, and establish an annual “Community Supported Agriculture Week” during the last full week of February. It would also expand opportunities for schools to participate in CSA programs through the State’s existing Farm to School Program.

     “Community supported agriculture helps strengthen local farms while making fresh, locally grown food more accessible for New Jersey families,” said Assemblywoman Swain (D-Bergen). “By increasing awareness of these programs and encouraging more participation, we can support our agricultural community, improve food access, and keep more people connected to the farms right here in our state.”

     The legislation would also help connect schools, school districts, and food banks with farms interested in CSA partnerships, creating more opportunities for fresh, seasonal New Jersey-grown products to reach classrooms and communities across the state while supporting the long-term stability of local farmers.

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NJ Tidelands Resource Council approves controversial pipeline

By POLITICO’s Mona Zhang: 

The New Jersey Tidelands Resource Council approved a controversial license for the Northeast Supply Enhancement pipeline project Wednesday. The approval comes after a major push by environmental advocates, local elected officials and concerned residents who called on the council not to approve the application from pipeline developer Williams Transco.

Jane Fonda weighed into the fight this week, penning a letter to Gov. Mikie Sherrill, urging her to “exercise leadership on this issue.”

The council defended its impending decision ahead of its vote, after hearing hours of public comment opposing the pipeline. Council member Joe Grabas pointed to the permits and certifications already issued by the Department of Environmental Protection and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for the project. “We are not the experts in that area. We deal with land transactions,” Grabas said

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Majority of NJ residents want AI projects banned

The majority of N.J. voters don’t want data centers in their towns, poll finds

By Zach Blackburn, NJ Globe, May 05 2026 5:02 pm

New Jersey voters want to see their local officials block data centers from being fabricated in their towns, a poll from the William J. Hughes Center for Public Policy at Stockton University found. 

A majority of registered voters, 56%, said they would support an attempt from their local town to ban data centers, while 22% said they would oppose such a measure. And more than 80% said they would support state measures requiring stricter energy standards for data centers and requiring large facilities to construct their own new electricity sources.

The proliferation of data centers has led to a reckoning in New Jersey politics, as residents across the state push their local elected officials to stifle the construction of new facilities. Councilmen, legislators, and experts are still debating the path forward, seeking to balance the economic and technological benefits of such centers while also ensuring the plants don’t further drive up energy prices or disrupt the way of life in quiet towns. 

The poll also offered New Jerseyans the chance to choose among three paths for data center development: encourage development with strict regulations on energy use and environmental impacts, encourage development with fewer such regulations, or discourage data center development altogether. The poll found 46% backed the first option and 35% backed the third option; just 12% want to encourage data center development with few regulations.

“The findings highlight the challenge facing policymakers as they try to balance economic growth tied to AI infrastructure with growing public concern about costs, environmental sustainability, and local community impact,” said Alyssa Maurice, Hughes Center assistant director.

A touch more than three-quarters of those polled said they are either very or somewhat concerned about the environmental effects of data centers.

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