WGA’s 2025 Annual Meeting is just over one week away, with the event kicking off on Monday, June 23. Let’s dive into this year’s meeting and see what’s in store for Santa Fe.  

This year’s Annual Meeting is set to feature seven Western Governors (and counting), as well as four Cabinet Secretaries for important policy discussions on some of the big policy issues in the West.

Hosted in Santa Fe by WGA’s Chair, New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, the Western Governors currently set to join include Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy, Colorado Governor Jared Polis, North Dakota Governor Kelly Armstrong, Northern Mariana Islands Governor Arnold Palacios, Utah Governor Spencer Cox, and Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon.

Attending Cabinet Secretaries will be Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Education Secretary Linda McMahon, and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin.

Day one of the meeting on Monday will get underway with the Governors’ opening press conference, followed by the formal opening of the meeting with remarks from WGA Executive Director Jack Waldorf and New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham.

Also on Monday, Governor Lujan Grisham will release her much-anticipated BRAND West housing report from her year as Chair of WGA. After an extensive stakeholder engagement process that included workshops in Utah and Oregon, panel discussions at WGA meetings, a webinar, and a work session, the BRAND West report dives into key areas where federal, state, and local governments can meaningfully address the housing crisis. Be sure to tune in on Monday, June 23, as the report is released to the public.

In addition to a panel examining the housing report, Monday will feature a panel discussion between the Governors and experts on ways to make outdoor recreation in the West more accessible to users of all abilities, including those with disabilities.

The packed Monday itinerary also includes keynote addresses from two Cabinet Secretaries – Secretary of Education Linda McMahon and Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum.

Secretary McMahon will discuss Education Department priorities, including efforts to strengthen career pathways and prepare students for good jobs. She will also engage in meaningful discussion with the Governors.

Secretary Burgum will close out the session on Monday with a keynote and conversation with the Governors about challenges facing the Interior Department and opportunities to collaborate with western states and territories.

Day two of the Annual Meeting picks up with another keynote address, this time from Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer. The Secretary will discuss how western states can collaborate with the Department of Labor on ways to improve workers’ lives in the West.

Following Secretary Chavez-DeRemer will be an important panel discussion on ways to address the elevated risk of flooding following wildfires. Panelists and the Governors will discuss ways to protect communities, infrastructure, and water resources from flooding after fire.

The final keynote of the meeting will be from EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, who will discuss key EPA priorities with the Governors.

After Administrator Zeldin will be a discussion on rural health care delivery, including opportunities for interstate collaboration to strengthen rural health care access.

To close out this year’s Annual Meeting, Governor Lujan Grisham will officially pass the WGA leadership gavel to Utah Governor Spencer Cox, who will assume the role of Chair for the next year. Governor Cox will also announce his WGA Chair initiative and share part of his vision for energy abundance in the West. Stay tuned for more details on the Governor’s new initiative.

View the full meeting agenda here and be sure to follow along with WGA on social media during the meeting to stay up to date on all things WGA.

Big geothermal developments: a new report from the U.S. Geological Survey found massive geothermal potential in the Great Basin, which encompasses most of Nevada, as well as about half of Utah and parts of Idaho, Wyoming, California, and Oregon.  

The report found that geothermal in and around the Great Basin could supply as much as 10% of the country’s electricity demand, though further advancements in geothermal technology would be required to reach that benchmark.  

In related news, New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham was on hand on Thursday to announce an agreement between XGS Energy and Meta to develop 150 megawatts of geothermal power in northwestern New Mexico.

Drought-free: for the first time in nearly six years, the state of Oklahoma is entirely drought-free, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor’s classification.  

This year, the state saw one of the wettest Aprils on record, followed by a rainy May and early June, which has helped ease drought conditions. There were recently still a few “abnormally dry” patches near the Oklahoma panhandle, but none that classify as drought.

Teton Pass rebuild: a little over a year after a landslide destroyed part of Teton Pass, the critical artery between Victor, Idaho and Jackson, Wyoming is slated to be fully rebuilt by the end of the month.  

With the support of Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon, crews managed to open a detour around the damaged area just a few weeks after the collapse last year, and Wyoming Department of Transportation officials now say the full rebuild of the road is set to be completed in the coming weeks.

Quantum workforce: Elevate Quantum, the federally designated Tech Hub that spans Colorado, Wyoming, and New Mexico, is partnering with IBM to roll out the company’s curriculum in quantum to local colleges and universities to train the next generation of the quantum workforce.  

The partnership aims to train 3,500 workers in quantum-related fields by 2030, at no cost to Elevate Quantum.

Indigenous Klamath River descent: on Thursday, a group of young Indigenous kayakers set off on the first source-to-sea descent of the Klamath River since the river’s dam removal project was completed last fall.

The descent was spearheaded by the Paddle Tribal Waters program, and a group of 43 Indigenous kayakers have been training for this expedition for years. It will celebrate the revival of the Klamath River, which hasn’t flowed freely for more than a century. Already, salmon populations on the river are returning to previously inaccessible spawning grounds above the former dam sites.  

The group will paddle more than 300 miles over nearly a month from the headwaters in southern Oregon to the mouth of the river in northern California.