This Week at Interior June 7, 2024

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This Week at Interior  

This week marked several opportunities to celebrate National Ocean Month. Secretary Haaland and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Director Elizabeth Klein delivered remarks at events throughout the week to highlight Interior's commitment to implementing environmental justice measures throughout its ocean conservation work, including the creation of a brand-new offshore wind industry and collaboration with coastal, Insular and island communities on climate adaptation efforts.  

And the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and NOAA Fisheries released long-awaited final management plans for the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts, and the Marianas Trench Marine National Monuments. These monuments will continue to serve as invaluable refuges for climate and biodiversity in our ocean.  

Interior and the Department of Agriculture this week announced a proposed investment of $2.8 billion through the Great American Outdoors Act to protect and sustain our public lands and Bureau of Indian Education-funded schools. The proposed projects, which will occur in all 50 U.S. states, Washington D.C., and multiple U.S. territories, will support more than 20,000 jobs and contribute more than $2.5 billion to the economy.

Interior and the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement this week announced that nearly $725 million from President Biden’s Investing in America agenda is available to 22 states and the Navajo Nation to create good-paying jobs and catalyze economic opportunity by reclaiming abandoned mine lands. This is the third allotment from $11.3 billion in funding provided by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which will help communities clean up dangerous environmental conditions and pollution caused by past coal mining.

Interior and the Bureau of Reclamation this week announced an initial $700 million investment from the President’s Investing in America agenda for long-term water conservation projects across the Lower Colorado River Basin. This investment has the potential to save more than 700,000 acre-feet of water in Lake Mead – it will fund innovative projects like water distribution structures, farm efficiency improvements, recycling water, water purification and more.

Secretary Haaland and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack this week issued a joint memo to federal agency leaders with wildfire responsibilities outlining their vision and goals for managing wildland fires this year. The Secretaries’ memo highlights fire management investments from the President’s Investing in America agenda, as well as other strategic priorities to reduce wildfire risk, restore ecosystems, engage in post-fire recovery, support the wildland fire workforce and make communities more resilient to fire.  

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Martha Williams joined partners this week to announce $3.4 million in funding from the President’s Investing in America agenda to prevent and combat the spread of aquatic invasive species in Lake Tahoe. The funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law represents the continuation of a historic effort with the Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California and the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, which is dedicated to restoring the Lake Tahoe Basin ecosystem.  

Assistant Secretary for Insular and International Affairs Carmen Cantor attended the Micronesian Islands Forum this week in Guam. That's where the governors of Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and leaders of the Freely Associated States, assembled with other Micronesian island leaders to discuss regional issues related to workforce development, invasive species management, renewable energy, recycling, transportation, tourism and more. During her visit Assistant Secretary Cantor announced more than $7 million in Capital Improvement Project grants and two and half million dollars in Technical Assistance Program grants for Guam and more than a million and half dollars in TAP grants for Northern Mariana Islands.  

Kīlauea volcano was back in the news this week, as Hawai’i’s most active volcano began erupting once more. The U.S. Geological Survey's Hawaiian Volcano Observatory and Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park shared imagery of the eruption that began in the early morning on June 3rd. Unlike last September's eruption, this time lava emerged from the remote slopes southwest of the summit for about 12 hours. The current eruption poses no immediate threat to human life or critical infrastructure.  

In celebration of Great Outdoors Month and National Trails Day, Secretary Haaland announced the designation of four new national recreation trails in four states, adding more than 33 miles to the National Trails System. The newly designated trails join a network of more than 1,300 existing national recreation trails, which can be found in every U.S. state, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.  

And our social media Picture of the Week, you might not believe your eyes...look at all those fireflies! June is the month that the 19 different species of synchronous fireflies reach their peak at Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina and Tennessee as they search for mates. Now's the time to get your hugs, from all those lightning bugs!

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

That's This Week at Interior! 
 

This Week: Interior leaders celebrate National Ocean Month; DOI and USDA announce a $2.8 billion proposed investment to sustain our public lands and Bureau of Indian Education-funded schools; nearly $725 million is available to help 22 states and the Navajo Nation reclaim abandoned mine lands; Interior announces a $700 million investment for long-term water conservation projects across the Lower Colorado River Basin; Secretary Haaland and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack issue a joint memo outlining their vision and goals for managing wildland fires this year; the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announces $3.4 million in funding to prevent and combat the spread of aquatic invasive species in Lake Tahoe; Assistant Secretary Cantor announces $11 million in grants for U.S. island territories; U.S. Geological Survey scientists are on alert as Hawai’i’s most active volcano erupted again; Secretary Haaland designates four new national recreation trails in four states; and fireflies light up the night 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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