How to Stand Up for Your Public Lands This Fall

October 13, 2025

With so much information to sift through these days, it can be difficult to know where to look and what sources to trust. Guide Matt Williams outlines his preferred sources below to remain informed on how to stand up for our public lands.

I’ve been feeling conflicted lately. On one hand, Fall is absolutely beautiful. The mountains around Salt Lake City are exploding with color as chloroplasts in deciduous trees break down their photosynthetic pigments in preparation for shorter winter days to come. The air is comfortably crisp, and I absolutely love passing time by sitting on old park benches, sipping warm pumpkin spice lattes, and listening to the subtle quaking of fluorescent Aspen leaves.

Fall in Salt Lake City. (Photo by the Author)

On the other hand, I’m sad that river season is over and mourning the fact that I’ll have to wait six whole months to return to my favorite place on Earth: the canyons of the Colorado Plateau. I’m also afraid about what’s happening to the land I love, much of which is under attack by a federal government that sees public land—the 28% of our nation that belongs to all of us, including more than a third of all land in the western states and the reason that many of us choose to live and vacation here—through a purely economic lens.

To be clear, I’m not opposed to using federal lands for the public good, I acknowledge the housing crisis in our nation, and I support the need to tap into our natural resources to meet legitimate human needs. What I cannot accept, however, is the permanent sacrifice (whether through outright sale as my state’s politicians have advocated for, or through short-sighted extractive policies the federal government has recently implemented) of lands that all who call this place home are entitled to sustainably enjoy.

Regardless of what political party you belong to or what forms of recreation you engage in, outright attempts at the theft and destruction of our greatest national treasure for the immediate financial benefit of a select few should infuriate you.

Don’t buy into the political rhetoric: the two sides in this fight are all of us who love having the ability to explore and enjoy this land, and those with dollar signs in their eyes that view our land as nothing more than the next frontier to pillage and profit from. We must stand up for the places we love.

While you might be familiar with the National Parks, they account for only 8% of the federal government’s land. The rest of that public land is hiding in plain sight, denoted on maps and by brown signs pointing to less-traveled roads, containing a plethora of spectacular places to explore, stay, and play outside. This “land of many uses” is all of ours to steward and enjoy. It should be managed in perpetuity for the benefit of the people who call this place home—balancing resource extraction, recreation, and preservation. (Source: Headwaters Science Institute)

So, even though I’ve swapped my PFD out for skis, I’m trying to keep the river and the wild landscapes that surround it on my mind. In between epic powder days, I plan to write my congresspeople relentlessly, submit public comments at every opportunity, and continue learning about the ways that our nation’s remarkable land is under attack.

To do so, I’ve whittled through dozens of sources for public lands news to curate a shortlist of the ones I find most engaging and effective. They are the result of labor and love by folks like us who want to ensure America’s iconic landscapes remain unspoiled and accessible for generations to come, and if you’ve also found yourself asking “how can I learn more about what’s happening to public lands and get involved,” these are great places to start:

An Overview of Public Lands – This Reuters infographic is a great primer and something I’ve wanted to see for years. It’s a phenomenal introduction to or refresher about what public lands are and what this Administration has done to them so far, against opposition from Republicans and Democrats alike. Once you feel good about that, check out…

Outdoor Alliance – Outdoor Alliance’s Action Alerts are a great way to ensure you don’t miss the major threats to public lands. They also make it incredibly easy to act. It’s far from comprehensive, but for that there’s…

More than Just Parks – This newsletter from brothers Will Pattiz & Jim Pattiz does a great job of tracking the myriad of threats to our public lands, explaining what’s happening and what we can do to get involved. It’s also worth looking up the specific places you care about using…

Patagonia Action Works – This awesome resource connects individuals to environmental organizations that are taking action on specific environmental issues in specific places. Use it to identify who’s standing up for your favorite places. Then, if you’re like me and the places that matter most to you are found around the four corners region, you should definitely check out…

The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance – SUWA is an independent organization funded by member dues, as opposed to private donations, that works to “defend America’s redrock wilderness from oil and gas development, unnecessary road construction, rampant off-road vehicle use, and other threats to Utah’s wilderness-quality lands.” In addition to their alerts and engagement opportunities (including stewardship projects run by a Holiday Alum), I love reading…

The Land Desk – Jonathan P. Thompson is a journalist and author who has spent his life and career chronicling the tension between development and preservation across the southwestern states. His newsletter gets up close and personal with these threats, investigating how federal policies are actually playing out on the ground. For a more poetic deep dive into the Colorado Plateau, I also read…

Wild Words – Morgan is an explorer who spends most of the year off the grid in the heart of the American Southwest. She writes with elegance about what we stand to lose and what we can do to save it. She is also a regular guest on Holiday River Expeditions trips 🙂

Matt is an advocate for wilderness preservation and balanced management approaches to public lands. These recommendations are his own and are intended to serve as a starting point for anyone who’s curious to learn more about America’s public lands and ways that we can all stand up for them. If you liked this post, you can follow along with whatever else he’s making here.