Interior Department Welcomes Additional Members of Agency Leadership

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This Week at Interior

President Trump this week signed Executive Orders aimed at achieving the Administration's goal of American Energy Dominance with a renewed focus on coal. One of the orders directs Interior to identify untapped coal resources on federal lands, while removing barriers to mining and leasing.

The value of untapped coal in our country is one hundred times greater than the value of all the gold at Fort Knox, and we're going to unleash it and make America rich and powerful again.

To advance the President Trump's order, Interior will implement a series of policy moves and regulatory reforms to position coal as a cornerstone of the nation’s energy strategy by ensuring federally managed lands remain open and accessible for responsible energy development. Secretary Burgum likened the actions to creating a new Golden Age of "Mine, Baby, Mine," saying that  

Interior is unlocking America’s full potential in energy dominance and economic development to make life more affordable for every American family while showing the world the power of America’s natural resources and innovation.  

Among the actions are ending the moratorium on federal coal leasing, reopening federal lands in Montana and Wyoming to coal leasing, removing regulatory burdens for coal mines, and providing royalty rate relief.  

Interior this week announced the disbursement of more than $13 million in grants to support the reclamation of abandoned mine lands, furthering the Trump administration’s commitment to American Energy Dominance, environmental stewardship and economic renewal in coal communities. The funding is administered through the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, and it will support job creation and economic revitalization efforts in North Dakota, Tennessee and Texas.  

Interior this week announced the release of updated oil and gas reserve estimates for the Gulf of America's Outer Continental Shelf. The new data and analysis over the last couple of years reveal an additional 1.3 billion barrels of oil equivalent since 2021, bringing the total reserve estimate to 7.04 billion barrels of oil equivalent. That figure includes 5.77 billion barrels of oil and 7.15 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. Earlier this year, the Trump administration announced plans to significantly increase oil and gas leasing on the Outer Continental Shelf, and just last week Secretary Burgum directed the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to hold the first Gulf of America oil and gas lease sale since its renaming in February.

Secretary Burgum held his first All Hands meeting this week at Interior's historic Yates Auditorium. The Secretary saluted the notable accomplishments the Department has achieved in making the transition from the previous administration, and expanded on his vision that innovation, rather than regulation, is the cornerstone of American prosperity.

The thing that has led our country for 250 years is innovation, doesn't matter whether it's the Agricultural Revolution, the Industrial Revolution our ability to innovate in a way that allowed us to win World War One and World War II and lead the world and become the world leader, all of it was innovation based, and we have to get back to those roots. That's how we win. That's how America wins in this world, that's how we win again for our children and our children's children, is we win with innovation.

U.S. Geological Survey crews were deployed late last week and this week to monitor flood impacts after storms dumped heavy rain across portions of the southeast and Midwest. Crews are still hard at work gathering flood measurements in Indiana, Kentucky, Illinois and Ohio, as well as West Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee and Mississippi, where as much as ten inches of rain fell causing massive flooding. The gages provide information for the National Weather Service to predict when dangerous flooding might occur and allow for warnings to vulnerable residents, as flood crests will continue into early May.

And our social media Picture of the Week, California's Battery Point Lighthouse. Perched on California's rugged northern coast, this historic beacon stands among the rocky outcrops of the California Coastal National Monument and has guided mariners since its first lighting in 1856.

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This Week at Interior

Secretary Burgum this week directed the National Park Service to implement an Executive Order from President Trump, aimed at enhancing public safety and cleaning up NPS lands in the District of Columbia. The new directives focus on revitalizing public spaces, addressing crime and making the nation's capital both cleaner and safer for both residents and visitors. The Secretary says the actions will help improve the experience for those who call D.C. home, as well as the millions who visit the Nation's Capital each year.

The U.S. Park Police are doing their part to keep DC safe...their arrest and investigation of a serial robbery suspect in December 2023 led to a guilty plea this week. 25-year old David Crocker pled guilty to multiple counts of armed robbery and firearms violations, stemming from a series of robberies near Anacostia Park before he was apprehended and arrested by Park Police officers. Crocker's sentencing is scheduled for June 4th.

Secretary Burgum directed the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to hold the next scheduled oil and gas lease sale in the Gulf of America this week. The latest surveys from BOEM put the amount of technically recoverable oil and gas resources in undiscovered fields in the Gulf of America at more than 29 and a half billion barrels, along with nearly 55 trillion cubic feet of gas. The Secretary says Unleashing America’s energy resources will lower prices at the pump, at the grocery store and across all aspects of American life while strengthening our national security.

Secretary Burgum sat down with Fox News to share the Department’s historical accomplishments in unlocking America’s energy potential. On "My View with Lara Trump," recorded at the U.S. Park Police Stables on the National Mall, the Secretary said that conservation and responsible stewardship are at the heart of the administration's goals to unleash American Energy Dominance.  

President Trump wisely understands that affordable reliable energy is the key to prosperity here at home in terms of driving our economy forward. Because energy is not an industry it is the foundation of every industry, and now it's also critical to our national security in terms of artificial intelligence, so he created the National Energy Dominance Council. Our job is to drive forward, cut red tape, and make sure that we can have the energy to power our economy and to support all of our allies.  

The Secretary also shared his excitement about celebrating America’s upcoming 250th birthday and the role that Interior plays in planning for that celebration.  

U.S. Geological Survey scientists at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory are closely monitoring high fountaining lava during the ongoing Kīlauea summit eruption. Lava fountains at the south vent reached over 700 feet this week, well over the height of the Washington Monument. USGS is working closely with the Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park Service to ensure visitors in the area are staying safe from emissions of sulfur dioxide gas and small fragments of volcanic glass. You can check out the eruption from home via the USGS live stream.

And our social media Picture of the Week, one of the iconic barns of Mormon Row, as snowcapped mountains catch the rays of the rising sun at Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. The barn is one of two on adjacent homesteads, the legacy of Mormon settlers in Jackson Hole in the 1890's. Now they're a popular spot for pictures... and are often called the most photographed barns in the world.

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That's This Week at Interior!

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