This Week at Interior June 21, 2024

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This Week at Interior  

Secretary Haaland met with members of the Barrio Youth Conservation Corps and the Ancestral Lands Conservation Corps at La Plazita Institute in Albuquerque this week. Secretary Haaland launched the Indian Youth Service Corps program two years ago to provide Indigenous youth with opportunities to support the conservation and protection of natural and cultural resources through construction, restoration or rehabilitation. The Barrio Youth Conservation corps is receiving a $250,000 grant through the program to engage Native youth and young adults from the greater Albuquerque area in restorative justice programming and technical training in environmental conservation and natural resource management.  

Interior this week released a report documenting the cumulative impacts of federal Columbia River dams on Indigenous communities, part of the Biden-Harris administration’s unprecedented agreement to restore wild salmon there. The report also provides recommendations for how the federal government can further its treaty and trust responsibilities to Tribes by acknowledging and integrating these impacts in future actions. It marks the first time that the U.S. government has comprehensively detailed the harms that federal dams have and continue to inflict on Tribes in the Pacific Northwest.  

Interior this week announced a $43 million investment from President Biden’s Investing in America agenda for rural water projects that will provide clean, reliable drinking water to rural and Tribal communities. Investments through the Bureau of Reclamation will support six projects already under construction or in the planning phase in Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, New Mexico and South Dakota, and follows $733 million previously announced for rural water projects from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.  

Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy, Management and Budget Joan Mooney joined federal and local leaders at Yellowstone National Park this week, for the announcement of a $22 million grant to the park from the Federal Highway Administration. The funding will go to modernize and reconstruct a 0.7-mile segment of the Norris to Golden Gate roadway segment of the Grand Loop Road. The road is a critical transportation link to Yellowstone’s major destinations and the millions of people who visit the park each year as well as local residents and communities.

The Biden-Harris administration's Interagency Joint Fire Science Program this week announced nearly $11 million for wildland fire research priorities. The program is funded in part by the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law -- funding will be awarded to federal, state, Tribal and local governments, and others to advance wildland fire research and scientific exchange.  

The Bureau of Ocean Energy management this week took initial steps to advance offshore wind near the U.S. Territories, calling for research ideas that would help ensure offshore energy activities are conducted in an environmentally and socially responsible way. The announcement follows the release of a new five-year plan for offshore wind leasing announced by Secretary Haaland in April, which called for a lease sale in the Territories in 2028.

Interior this week observed the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Saipan during World War II, where American forces landed to capture the island from the Empire of Japan and use it as a strategic military location. Deputy Assistant Secretary for Insular and International Affairs Keone Nakoa was joined by National Park Service, administration and military officials, local and territorial leaders, and representatives from the Japanese government to mark the occasion and honor the sacrifices of those who fought and died in the battle.

It's National Pollinator Week! Most of the world's flowering plants and crops depend on hard-working pollinators like bees, butterflies, birds and bats that carry pollen from one plant to another. Conserving our nation’s pollinators and their habitat is key to conserving our lands and waters. Find out more at fws.gov.

This week we celebrate the 122nd birthday of the Bureau of Reclamation. Established in 1902, Reclamation is the largest wholesaler of water in the United States, bringing water to more than 31 million people. It's also the second-largest producer of hydroelectric energy in the country, producing enough electricity to power three and a half million homes.

And our social media Picture of the Week, the northern lights dance across the sky over a glacial lake in Voyageurs National Park in Minnesota, one of the darkest places in the contiguous United States. Caused by the interaction of solar particles with the Earth's magnetic field, the northern lights can appear any time of year, including summer.  

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

That's This Week at Interior.

 

This Week: Secretary Haaland highlights conservation and Indigenous youth public service as she begins her visit to New Mexico; a new report documents the cumulative impacts of federal Columbia River dams on Indigenous communities in the Pacific Northwest; a $43 million investment for rural water projects will provide clean, reliable drinking water to rural and Tribal communities; a $22 million grant from the Federal Highway Administration will help modernize a major thoroughfare inside Yellowstone National Park; the Biden-Harris administration nearly announces nearly $11 million for wildland fire research; the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management takes steps to advance offshore wind near the U.S. Territories; Interior observes the 80th anniversary of the World War II Battle of Saipan; we celebrate the little creatures who make life possible during National Pollinator Week; the Bureau of Reclamation turns 122 years old; and the Northern Lights dance across the sky 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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