Amanda Heidt

🧪 AH! I didn't even realize this was running today, but yay! I always have such a great time writing these IWD stories, and this one was no different. Such a bright spot in an otherwise bleak...*gestures around.*

Tapping the sign since I already received a death threat!

Haha, thank you!

Trump admin is blowing up national park sites in the name of border security The administration is also transferring public land to the Defense Department.

🏜️As a final note, I'll just point out that there are things I learned and people I spoke to who were not ultimately included in the final story. That doesn't make me a stupid or a hack. I get that this is a contentious topic, but it costs nothing to be kind!

Trump admin is blowing up national park sites in the name of border security The administration is also transferring public land to the Defense Department.

🏜️But my thanks to everyone who took the time, to @sfgate.com for thinking this work is important and for trusting me to do it, and to @ashleyharrell.bsky.social for basically saying "lol" when I filed a 9-page draft and then deftly digging in. (Oh, and to my copy editor and the photo/social desk!)

Trump admin is blowing up national park sites in the name of border security The administration is also transferring public land to the Defense Department.

🏜️My biggest struggle was that I wanted to keep reporting this forever. Normally with a story, you hit a point where sources start to tell you the same thing, and you know you've finished your reporting. That never happened here, and there are still people I'd have liked to speak to.

Trump admin is blowing up national park sites in the name of border security The administration is also transferring public land to the Defense Department.

🏜️There's so much to get in to, and so many consequences of these decisions by the current administration, so I hope you'll read the piece (all 4,000 words) and stick with it. We're not powerless to act if we decide we want to do things differently, but it's important to understand what's happening.

Trump admin is blowing up national park sites in the name of border security The administration is also transferring public land to the Defense Department.

🏜️NDAs in California and New Mexico cover the southern termini of the Pacific Crest Trail and the Continental Divide Trail, and all of them otherwise bar access to areas that have long been treasured destinations. And while no US citizens have yet been charged, hundreds of migrants have.

Trump admin is blowing up national park sites in the name of border security The administration is also transferring public land to the Defense Department.

🏜️Today, there are 6 NDAs, and they include more than 1/3 of the land along the southern border. If you wander onto one, the military can temporarily detain you (normally the military is barred from acting as a domestic police force) and you can be charged with federal trespassing.

Trump admin is blowing up national park sites in the name of border security The administration is also transferring public land to the Defense Department.

🏜️He mentioned how little coverage national defense areas have gotten, which are tracts of public land in CA, AZ, NM, and TX that have been handed over to the military as part of a state of emergency that president Trump declared on his first day back in office.

Trump admin is blowing up national park sites in the name of border security The administration is also transferring public land to the Defense Department.

🏜️I could go on like this, because this piece really lived/died by collective sourcing a'la "You should talk to X next." But when we did finally speak, I asked Myles if there was anything he though was important beyond what I'd already asked him about. His answer sent me down an entirely new path.

Trump admin is blowing up national park sites in the name of border security The administration is also transferring public land to the Defense Department.

🏜️I scheduled a call with a policy specialist to help me make sense of it, who in turn connected me to @myles-traphagen.bsky.social, who was documenting damage along the borderlands. He canceled our first call to film blasting at Coronado National Memorial in Arizona, which became the story's opener.

Trump admin is blowing up national park sites in the name of border security The administration is also transferring public land to the Defense Department.

🏜️Last November, while I was looking into how my Senator (Mike Lee) planned to make my life difficult that particular day, I stumbled upon a new bill he'd introduced called the Borderlands Conservation Act. Unsurprisingly, it was not really about conservation, but about border roads & barriers.

Trump admin is blowing up national park sites in the name of border security The administration is also transferring public land to the Defense Department.

🏜️Today, the longest piece I've ever written is publishing, on how public lands along the southern border are being damaged or otherwise pulled from public hands and militarized with little pushback. Length doesn't determine quality, of course, but I am proud of it.

To celebrate, a small 🧵

*laughs in sixth cup of coffee of the day*

Lab morale got you down? Try a handbook Documents that lay out a research group’s ethos and practical guidelines are becoming increasingly popular in the academic community.

Scientists across the career spectrum are burnt out, & people are leaving STEM in startling numbers, particularly those from under-represented groups. A lab handbook can foster a more positive research culture. By @scattercushion.bsky.social @nature.com 🧪 www.nature.com/articles/d41...

I savored my coffee a little bit more as I was writing this up. Thank you for sharing!

Lab morale got you down? Try a handbook Documents that lay out a research group’s ethos and practical guidelines are becoming increasingly popular in the academic community.

🧪And then I wrote up this wonderful piece on lab manuals. Rather than a list of protocols, these documents outline a lab's shared ethos and expectations, so that everyone can feel they're working towards a common goal.

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Coffee linked to slower brain ageing in study of 130,000 people Study suggests moderate caffeine intake might reduce dementia risk and slow cognitive decline.

🧪Double pub day (or, yesterday was)!

First up, a new study following more than 130,000 people over 40+ years has linked moderate coffee or tea consumption to a lower likelihood of dementia and general cognitive decline.

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

🏜️I have a #sourcerequest: I'm working on a piece about the seizing and destruction of public lands along the southern border for border security, and I'd love to speak with people who live in the region about their experiences. Please share widely! DM or signal at aheidt.16

NIH Unified Funding Strategy Objective peer review, and HHS- and NIH- specific priorities, and a standardized, transparent process for incorporating NIAID-specific priorities will guide funding selections.

New NIH funding strategy has been formalized.

I really do hope scientists understand what this means for the future of science (funding) - it's not subtle.

www.niaid.nih.gov/about/unifie...

Statement from FPF Chief of Advocacy Seth Stern: “The government’s arrests of journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort are naked attacks on freedom of the press. Two federal courts flatly rejected prosecuting Lemon because the evidence for these vindictive and unconstitutional charges was insufficient, and Lemon has every right to document news and inform the public. Instead of accepting that humiliating defeat, the government has now doubled down. “These arrests, under bogus legal theories for obviously constitutionally protected reporting, are clear warning shots aimed at other journalists. The unmistakable message is that journalists must tread cautiously because the government is looking for any way to target them. Fort’s arrest is meant to instill the same fear in local independent journalists as big names like Lemon. “The answer to this outrageous attack is not fear or self-censorship. It’s an even stronger commitment to journalism, the truth, and the First Amendment. If the Trump administration thinks it can bully journalists into submission, it is wrong. We’ve recently seen that even in the Trump era, public pressure still can work. It’s time to do it again. News outlets across the political spectrum need to loudly defend Lemon’s and Fort’s rights. Journalists are not making themselves the story, Trump is.”

The government’s arrests of journalists @donlemonofficial.bsky.social and @bygeorgiafort.bsky.social are attacks on freedom of the press.

Two federal courts flatly rejected prosecuting Lemon, but instead of accepting that humiliating defeat, the government has now doubled down.

Read our statement:

Many moons ago, I spoke with researchers at the University of Amsterdam for a study on the practice of watchdog science journalism, and now that publication is out as a preprint! This is a great chance to learn from dozens of (far more seasoned than me) reporters on how they approach their work.

Reupping my "Abolish ICE" Congress tracker. Right now, only one Minnesota Member of Congress (@repilhan.bsky.social) and one white Member of Congress (@repmcgovern.bsky.social) have publicly called for abolishing ICE:

docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

bsky.app/profile/alex...

Videos show federal agents killing Minneapolis man Some details of federal government’s account of the shooting aren’t supported by footage captured by bystanders.

Filming ICE is an act of journalism. Cell phone footage is vital source material for reporters who can’t be everywhere at once.

Shooting, killing and other targeting of those documenting news is an attack on press freedom and all else that's good in the world.

Statement from Michael and Susan Pretti Parents of Alex Jeffrey Pretti “We are heartbroken but also very angry. Alex was a kindhearted soul who cared deeply for his family and friends and also the American veterans whom he cared for as an ICU nurse at the Minneapolis VA hospital. Alex wanted to make a difference in this world. Unfortunately, he will not be with us to see his impact. I do not throw around the ‘hero’ term lightly. However, his last thought and act was to protect a woman. The sickening lies told about our son by the administration are reprehensible and disgusting. Alex is clearly not holding a gun when attacked by Trump’s murdering and cowardly ICE thugs. He had his phone in his right hand and his empty left hand is raised above his head while trying to protect the woman ICE just pushed down, all while being pepper sprayed. Please get the truth out about our son. He was a good man. Thank you.

Kare 11 local news just read, in full, this statement from Michael and Susan Pretti, the parents of Alex Pretti.

"Please get the truth out about our son."

Now updated with new info from the preliminary report! A second helicopter came within 10 feet of the line an hour after the first, deadly crash.

May or may not be taking a trip there this weekend because I was so intrigued by this story. 👀

Mothers for Nuclear targets Utah's San Juan County for radioactive waste dump The California-based nonprofit was funded by a Biden-era grant

Biden's DOE gave $2 million to a nonprofit called Mothers for Nuclear so they could come to San Juan County and tell us that accepting high-level nuclear waste would be totally safe.

My latest:

Trump's USDA is hiding the data on food stamp cuts The agency's Food Insecurity Survey was pointless "liberal fodder," a spokesperson said.

SNAP now has work requirements for people 55 to 64. But because of the axing of a USDA food insecurity survey, we may not have comprehensive data of the effects of this barbaric change. My latest for @motherjones.com. www.motherjones.com/food/2026/01...