This Week at Interior September 15, 2023

Transcript:

Hi, I’m Karrie Schwaab, Refuge Manager at Sachuest Point National Wildlife Refuge in Rhode Island. And you’re watching This Week at Interior! 

This Week at Interior 

The nation paused this week to honor and remember the victims and heroes of the September 11th attacks 22 years ago. Secretary Haaland joined servicemembers at the National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial, which commemorates the 184 lives lost when American Airlines Flight 77 was flown into the Pentagon. The National Park Service awarded $4 million in funds to the National September 11 Memorial & Memorial Plaza at the World Trade Center in New York City. That funding will provide critical support for the continued operation, maintenance and security of the site. In all, nearly 3,000 people were killed in the terror attacks in New York, at the Pentagon, and aboard United Flight 93 in Pennsylvania. 

Secretary Haaland visited Ottawa, Canada to highlight the United States’ ongoing work with Canadian leadership, ensuring that Indigenous communities have the support and resources they need to prosper. Joined by Assistant Secretary for Insular and International Affairs Carmen Cantor and Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Bryan Newland, the Secretary represented the United States at the fifth meeting of the Trilateral Working Group on Violence Against Indigenous Women and Girls. That group was established by American, Canadian and Mexican leaders to address the high rates of violence against Indigenous women and girls as a regional concern.  

Interior announced significant steps to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and more than 13 million acres in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska. That includes Interior’s cancellation of the remaining oil and gas leases issued by the previous administration in the Arctic Refuge. The Bureau of Land Management is also proposing new regulations for the petroleum reserve that would ensure maximum protection for its more than 13 million acres of Special Areas, while supporting subsistence activities for Alaska Native communities. 

Deputy Secretary Tommy Beaudreau this week announced the final report from the Interagency Working Group on Mining Laws, Regulations, and Permitting to reform and improve the way mining is performed on U.S. public lands. There are more than 60 recommendations to Congress and federal agencies, including better public and Tribal engagement, permitting processes that are more consistent and predictable, and protecting impacted communities and workers, as well as the environmentally and culturally sensitive lands they cherish. 

Interior this week announced $180 million in initial funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for a new large-scale water recycling program through the Bureau of Reclamation aimed at creating new water supplies that are less vulnerable to drought and climate change. The program will play an important role in helping communities develop local, drought-resistant water supplies by turning unusable water sources into clean, reliable ones. 

Interior this week announced $5 million from President Biden’s Investing in America agenda to support the restoration of bison populations and grassland ecosystems in Tribal communities. The funding will support Tribally led initiatives to strengthen bison conservation and expansion, improved management of existing herds, and ecosystem restoration efforts in native grassland habitats. 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Martha Williams visited Sachuest Point National Wildlife Refuge, part of the Rhode Island National Wildlife Refuge Complex, to get a first-hand look at work funded by the Great American Outdoors Act, or GAOA. Interior leaders have been on the road throughout the summer months, to highlight the success and importance of GAOA funding on public lands. 

The Fish and Wildlife Service this week announced more than $10.5 million from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to support 59 strategic projects in Western states focused on habitat restoration in sagebrush country. Deputy Director Siva Sundaresan made that announcement at the Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming. America’s sagebrush ecosystem is the largest contiguous ecotype in the United States -- it's home to more than 350 species across the West, including pronghorn, elk, mule deer and greater sage grouse. 

The National Park Service and partners this week announced $25.7 million in Save America’s Treasures grants. The funding will support 58 projects in 26 states, the Virgin Islands and the District of Columbia that will preserve nationally significant sites and collections.   

Interior this week joins the national celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, which runs from September 15th to October 15th. It honors the history and culture of both Hispanic and Latino Americans, their achievements and their contributions to American life.  

And our social media Picture of the Week, the surreal and delicate rock formations of Fantasy Canyon. Located in northeast Utah, the naturally weathered sandstone rises dramatically from clay beds, exposing fantastically colored and shaped configurations. 

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

That's This Week at Interior. 

This Week: Remembering the heroes and victims of the September 11th attacks; Secretary Haaland visits Canada to highlight work to support Indigenous communities; Interior announces significant steps to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and more than 13 million acres in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska; a new report makes recommendations for mining reform; a new large-scale water recycling program aims to create new water supplies that are less vulnerable to drought and climate change; Interior announces $5 million for bison and grassland restoration; the Great American Outdoors Act continues to have a positive impact on our public lands; the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announces $10.5 million from the President’s Investing in America agenda for habitat restoration in sagebrush country; there are new grants to Save America's Treasures; Interior celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month; and we head for the Utah desert in our social media Picture of the Week!

  • Video
    04/11/2025

    This Week at Interior April 11, 2025

    Video

    Transcript:

    (MUSIC BEGINS)


    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!


    (MUSIC ENDS)

     

    News and headlines from Interior April 11, 2025

    Read more