R.M. Lowery @lowery.bsky.social · 05/10/2026View of downtown Colorado Springs from this morning’s trail. 020
R.M. Lowery @lowery.bsky.social · 05/10/2026Mike Tomlin sounds less like a football broadcaster and more like he’s talking to a friend in a bar with a live band playing. 020
Reposted by R.M. LoweryOurCommonGround @ocgnews.bsky.social · 04/10/2026The people of Asheville weren’t invited by Forest Service to attend a public hearing on the issue, which ordinarily would have been a standard part of the process to roll out a major agency proposal. So, they took matters into their own hands. From @wilderness.orgwilderness.orgThe Forest Service didn’t ask them to show up. They did anyway.The Forest Service hasn't hosted a single public meeting on the proposal to repeal the Roadless Rule. Thousands showed up anyway at their own town halls across the country. 012
R.M. Lowery @lowery.bsky.social · 03/10/2026Republican Colorado gubernatorial candidate Victor Marx was fined $57,647.16 for 210 campaign finance violations, believed to be the largest in Colorado history.gazette.comVictor Marx fined tens of thousands for campaign finance violationsWith just a month before the November general election, the campaign of Republican gubernatorial candidate Victor Marx was fined tens of thousands of dollars for hundreds of campaign finance violation... 030
Reposted by R.M. LoweryOurCommonGround @ocgnews.bsky.social · 02/10/2026First edition of the Our Common Ground newsletter coming next week! Sign up for free here:ocg-newsletter.beehiiv.comSubscribe | Our Common GroundThe Our Common Ground newsletter takes a look at threats to and the top news stories about our public lands. 001
Reposted by R.M. LoweryOurCommonGround @ocgnews.bsky.social · 01/10/2026Under the banner of “Dig, Baby, Dig,” the Trump administration is supercharging an already powerful mining industry. What will happen to vulnerable plants and animals? From @insideclimatenews.orginsideclimatenews.orgThe Trump Administration’s Critical Minerals Agenda Comes for America’s ‘Forgotten Wildlife Corridor’ - Inside Climate NewsUnder the banner of “Dig, Baby, Dig,” the Trump administration is supercharging an already powerful mining industry. What will happen to vulnerable plants and animals? 001
R.M. Lowery @lowery.bsky.social · 30/09/2026The Student Journalists Who Never Let the Cornell Sexual Assault Case Go Gift article:nytimes.comStudents at Cornell Daily Sun Pursued Sexual Assault Case for Two Years (Gift Article)The student newspaper, The Cornell Daily Sun, covered the allegations of rape at a fraternity party since they were first made in 2024 and led the reporting on the case. 030
Reposted by R.M. LoweryOurCommonGround @ocgnews.bsky.social · 29/09/2026A private ranch that wants 2,000 acres of public land in Colorado has spent six figures on federal lobbying and donated to U.S. Rep. Jeff Hurd’s campaign From the @denverpost.com Paywall-free gift article:denverpost.comA private ranch that wants 2,000 acres of federal land in Colorado has spent $200,000 to lobby a congressmanA wealthy ranch owner’s land exchange proposal would privatize thousands of acres of public land in the Roaring Fork Valley. It has rankled locals, who say the deal would sidestep normal processes. 011
R.M. Lowery @lowery.bsky.social · 26/09/2026Happy National Public Lands Day! Here are scenes from my week (well, a couple weeks). Public lands played a key role. 000
Reposted by R.M. LoweryOurCommonGround @ocgnews.bsky.social · 25/09/2026Trump hands Burgum a new way to bypass public lands protections From @westernpriorities.org westernpriorities.org/2026/09/trum...westernpriorities.orgTrump hands Burgum a new way to bypass public lands protections - Center for Western PrioritiesEarlier this month, President Donald Trump signed an executive order making changes to how presidential authority under the Defense Production Act (DPA) is delegated. Previously, the president delegat... 002
Reposted by R.M. LoweryOurCommonGround @ocgnews.bsky.social · 25/09/2026The first newsletter from Our Common Ground is coming soon. Sign up for free at readocg.comreadocg.comWelcome to Our Common Ground - Our Common GroundSign up for the free newsletter! Visit our signup page and enter your email address to have the free newsletter delivered to your inbox every Friday morning! The OCG newsletter takes a look at threats... 001
R.M. Lowery @lowery.bsky.social · 23/09/2026Colorado Springs is getting a UFL team! Please, please don't name it something dumb. 000
Reposted by R.M. LoweryOurCommonGround @ocgnews.bsky.social · 23/09/2026Forest Service Fast-Tracks Logging Across 10,000 Acres of Oregon National Forest. From @morethanjustparks.bsky.socialmorethanjustparks.substack.comURGENT: Forest Service Fast-Tracks Logging Across 10,000 Acres of Oregon National Forest. Deadline Today.The Forest Service is rushing a massive post-fire logging project through a seven-day public comment window. The deadline is tonight. 001
R.M. Lowery @lowery.bsky.social · 23/09/2026Trump wants to open nearly all national forest trails to dirt bikes and ATVsgrist.orgTrump wants to open nearly all national forest trails to dirt bikes and ATVsThe Forest Service is proposing to allow motorized vehicles on all trails, two-tracks, and roads unless it explicitly designates otherwise. 010
Reposted by R.M. LoweryOurCommonGround @ocgnews.bsky.social · 23/09/2026A proposed four million square foot data center and natural gas power plant could be built on public land just southeast of Boise, Idaho. From @boisestatepublicradio.orgboisestatepublicradio.org4 million square foot data center proposed on public land near BoiseA proposed four million square foot data center and natural gas power plant could be built on public land just southeast of Boise, earning push back from a prominent environmental advocacy group. 001
Reposted by R.M. LoweryOurCommonGround @ocgnews.bsky.social · 22/09/2026Colorado wildlife overpass results in 91% reduction in collisionscbsnews.comLargest wildlife overpass in North America located in Colorado with 91% reduction in collisions: "Big success"A wildlife mitigation system made up of North America's largest wildlife overpass, five wildlife underpasses, and fencing to guide animals to the crossings has led to a 91% decrease in wildlife collis... 012
R.M. Lowery @lowery.bsky.social · 21/09/2026“Polling shows that Americans of all stripes and political persuasions overwhelmingly love their parks … But President Trump’s administration has thrown the 433 sites managed by the National Park Service into turmoil.” From @maxinejoselow.bsky.social Gift link:nytimes.comHow Trump Has Disrupted National Parks (Gift Article)Maintenance projects have been put off around the country and resources diverted to the president’s favored projects in Washington. 011
Reposted by R.M. LoweryOurCommonGround @ocgnews.bsky.social · 20/09/2026The Trump Administration Is Trying to Build Data Centers on Public Lands From @sierraclub.orgsierraclub.orgThe Trump Administration Is Trying to Build Data Centers on Public LandsThe latest was supposed to be a solar project. Now, in a “bait and switch,” it’s set to power AI 012
Reposted by R.M. LoweryOurCommonGround @ocgnews.bsky.social · 20/09/2026“[T]he right-wing Wyoming Freedom Caucus lost its majority in the Wyoming House of Representatives; it now holds only 10 of 62 House seats heading into the next legislative session.” From @highcountrynews.orghcn.orgWyoming chooses public lands at the ballot box - High Country NewsVoters in the Equality State finally felt the threat to public lands had reached a critical point, observers say. 011
Reposted by R.M. LoweryOurCommonGround @ocgnews.bsky.social · 19/09/2026Colorado’s St. Mary’s Glacier has fully melted for the first time on record. Story from @cprnews.bsky.socialcpr.org‘Just a big rock pile:’ St. Mary’s Glacier has meltedAn abnormally hot summer following record snow drought has melted one Colorado’s most iconic natural landmarks. 012
R.M. Lowery @lowery.bsky.social · 18/09/2026Our Common Ground will also track threats like, oh, off the top of my head: bulldozers flattening Big Bend, or the recent leasing of 156,000 acres of Colorado public lands for oil and gas use. More deets coming soon! 000
R.M. Lowery @lowery.bsky.social · 18/09/2026The target audience is not just those who spend their free time outdoors, but also those who rarely go outdoors, because whether you use public lands once in a while for a picnic, or you’re hiking and biking every free moment, these lands belong to US, they are, in fact, our common ground. 100
R.M. Lowery @lowery.bsky.social · 18/09/2026🚨Personal news alert: I am launching a new outlet called Our Common Ground (found soon here: @ocgnews.bsky.social ). Through Our Common Ground, I will track and report on threats to our public lands and offer original reporting on topics like the science behind wildfire mitigation, for example. 100
R.M. Lowery @lowery.bsky.social · 16/09/2026Hmmm. It's almost like robots shouldn't be in charge of everything. 000
R.M. Lowery @lowery.bsky.social · 14/09/2026I've long suspected that capitalism would destroy civilization, but I assumed it would be in more abstract ways than tech-bro capitalists creating tech that will destroy us, and then ignoring warnings, all because said tech is making them money right now... 000
R.M. Lowery @lowery.bsky.social · 12/09/2026Point well made. (In Old Colorado City this afternoon.) 000
R.M. Lowery @lowery.bsky.social · 10/09/2026Imaginary money just doesn’t go as far as it used to. 010
R.M. Lowery @lowery.bsky.social · 10/09/2026I find it hard to express just how much I love public lands. I encourage you to go enjoy them; bonus points if you fight to keep public lands in public hands. (Not for nothing, voting is a good place to start…) Photo from Staunton State Park this afternoon. 010
R.M. Lowery @lowery.bsky.social · 05/09/2026“Across his two terms, President Donald Trump has taken away protections from more than 100 million acres of public lands.” Full piece: www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/open...sfchronicle.comI lead the Sierra Club. Trump is America’s biggest threat to its national parksOPINION: “The threats to our national parks have never been greater. If we fail to meet this moment, we may lose so much of what we cherish,” Loren Blackford writes. 064
R.M. Lowery @lowery.bsky.social · 05/09/2026The reports of his death are greatly exaggerated… #nmtrue 000
R.M. Lowery @lowery.bsky.social · 30/08/2026What you see when you access Google Maps from the US vs. Canada. (I use a VPN. First image is from Maps using a Chicago server; second images is using a Vancouver server, which still shows Lake Ontario.) 010
R.M. Lowery @lowery.bsky.social · 29/08/2026Take your tiny fucking hands off our public lands. Paywall-free gift article : www.nytimes.com/2026/08/28/u...nytimes.comTrump Administration Looks to Give a Swath of Yosemite Park to Developer (Gift Article)The proposed land swap would allow easy access to the crown jewel of the national park system. Democrats and former Park Service officials are incensed. 020
R.M. Lowery @lowery.bsky.social · 25/08/2026Outdoors people are the best people. Paywall-free gift link: www.denverpost.com/2026/08/25/b...denverpost.comShe thought her Colorado vacation photos were gone for good. Then a stranger found her film.The only realistic way to find the smiling hikers in the photographs was online. It was a long shot, but one worth taking. 010
R.M. Lowery @lowery.bsky.social · 24/08/2026The former deputy who shot and killed 36-year-old Sonya Massey in her home near Springfield, Illinois, in 2024 is dead. www.nprillinois.org/sangamon-cou...nprillinois.orgSean Grayson, convicted in the death of Sonya Massey, has diedGrayson was sentenced to 20 years in prison for second-degree murder. 000
R.M. Lowery @lowery.bsky.social · 23/08/2026Btw, the assault on public lands was in the playbook all along.sierraclub.orgConservation Groups Say Project 2025 Would Gut Wildlife and Public Land ProtectionsThe Far Right plan to hollow out the federal government would be a disaster for the environment 000
R.M. Lowery @lowery.bsky.social · 23/08/2026This is only 11 minutes. Please, please consider watching it. youtu.be/JZ1pytOdRqsyoutu.beAmerica Is Losing 44 Million Acres | Roadless Rule, Explained YouTube video by Chris Cage 010
R.M. Lowery @lowery.bsky.social · 21/08/2026In fact, in April, the federal government announced plans to increase logging on public lands, and rescinding the roadless rule paves the way (this is not an attempt at a pun...the roads will likely be dirt) for companies to cut roads on public land for logging activities. 010
R.M. Lowery @lowery.bsky.social · 21/08/2026But now the bad news: Forests in 48 other states are at risk for future (and inevitable?) development and exploitive activities. 120
R.M. Lowery @lowery.bsky.social · 21/08/2026In 2012, Colorado broke from the federal policy and adopted its own. (Under the rules, Colorado allows for ski area expansions that would have otherwise be banned under the federal rule.) Idaho is the only other state that has adopted separate roadless protections. 110
R.M. Lowery @lowery.bsky.social · 21/08/2026Those protections fall under what is known as the “roadless rule,” and they restrict commercial logging and the building of roads on most national forest land. A 2005 amendment allowed each state to petition for their own roadless rules. 110
R.M. Lowery @lowery.bsky.social · 21/08/2026Good news/bad news... The good is that Colorado's forests are spared from having roadways cut through them so crews can chop down trees for logging and other exploitive endeavors as part of the federal government's plan to rollback protections that have been in place for more than 25 years. 121
R.M. Lowery @lowery.bsky.social · 19/08/2026AND, book three, "Time Fades Away," will be released in print and ebook later this year! (An audio version will be available sometime next year.) 000
R.M. Lowery @lowery.bsky.social · 19/08/2026Excited to announce that the audiobook of "We Kill Our Own," the second in my award-winning Jakob Larsen Mysteries series, will be available very soon. Print and ebooks are available now, and the first book, "The Gentle Slope," is available in print, ebook, and audio: books2read.com/RML-JLM01 110
R.M. Lowery @lowery.bsky.social · 17/08/2026Back in May of 2022, Coyote vs. Acme was being filmed in our Albuquerque neighborhood. Later this month, we'll FINALLY have a chance to see it. 010