This Week at Interior April 2, 2021

Transcript:

This Week at Interior 

Celebrating history, while making history. Secretary Haaland, the first-ever Native American Cabinet Secretary, took part in a virtual program saluting Women’s History Month. The month pays tribute to the generations of women who fought to secure voting rights, and who keep fighting for equality and opportunities across all of American society.  

I wouldn’t be here without the many women who have lifted me up in my work, taken my calls when I felt discouraged, coached me through job interviews, or shared a meal to feed our bodies and our spirits. I stand on their shoulders.

More history made this week...Secretary Haaland became the first Interior Secretary to officially mark International Transgender Day of Visibility. In a statement the Secretary said “There is nothing more powerful in this world than the act of living openly, authentically, and safely. On this Trans Day of Visibility, we recognize the hard-fought victories won by and for the transgender community, honor the transgender loved ones we’ve lost along the way, and recommit to the struggle for full equality." 

Secretary Haaland this week joined the Secretaries of Energy, Commerce, and Transportation, along with state, labor, and industry representatives, for a White House forum on offshore wind energy. Interior is working with agencies across the federal government to advance the Biden-Harris administration’s goal of increasing renewable energy development on federal lands and waters. 

Interior's Office of Natural Resources Revenue disbursed $249 million this week in offshore oil and gas revenues to the four Gulf producing states of Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas under the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act, or GOMESA. Those funds are used for coastal conservation, restoration, and hurricane protection. Additional revenues will be flowing into the Land and Water Conservation Fund, and the Federal Treasury. 

A new USGS study shows Greater Sage-Grouse populations have declined significantly over the last six decades, a decrease of 80% rangewide since 1965, with half of that coming in the last twenty years. The report represents the most comprehensive analysis of greater sage-grouse population trends ever produced. 

Better news for the Hawai'ian stilt, or ae'o. The Fish and Wildlife Service this week proposed downlisting the wading bird from endangered to threatened. The Service says the stilt's ongoing recovery shows the power of conservation partnerships between federal, state and private stakeholders. 

America celebrates National Park Week April 17th through April 25th. This year the focus will be on outdoor experiences that follow CDC and public health guidance, and on fun and innovative digital experiences. Visitors will be able to “journey” to national parks through a variety of online activities including virtual tours, scavenger hunts, trivia contests, and junior ranger programs. Find out more, and find your park, at nps.gov.  

And our social media Picture of the Week, sandhill cranes take flight as the Moon rises over Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve in Colorado. The park sits on nearly 150-thousand acres near the San Luis Valley, and has the tallest sand dunes in North America. It's home to some 250 species of birds, as well as large mammals like bison, elk, and bighorn sheep. 

Make sure you follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and You Tube. 

That's This Week, at Interior. 

This Week: Celebrating Women's History Month, and observing International Transgender Day of Visibility; Secretary Haaland joins a White House forum on offshore wind energy; Interior disburses nearly a quarter-billion dollars in oil and gas revenue to Gulf States for coastal conservation, restoration, and hurricane protection; a new USGS study shows significant decline of Greater-Sage grouse populations; the Fish and Wildlife Service recommends downlisting the Hawaiian ae'o from endangered to threatened; National Park Week is set for April 17th through the 25th, and sandhill cranes take flight in our social media Picture of the Week.

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    04/11/2025

    This Week at Interior April 11, 2025

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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.

    Make sure you follow us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and X! That's This Week at Interior!


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    News and headlines from Interior April 11, 2025

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