This Week at Interior March 14, 2025

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This Week at Interior  

Following an executive order issued by President Trump, Secretary Burgum signed a Secretary’s Order renaming the Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge in Texas to the Jocelyn Nungaray National Wildlife Refuge. The renaming honors 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray, who was murdered by illegal immigrants in North Houston, Texas, in June 2024. Secretary Burgum said the President's dedication ensures her name will always be remembered. This refuge, where life flourishes, will stand as a lasting tribute to her memory, a place of reflection, and a call to action to protect our children and uphold justice.

Secretary Burgum traveled to Houston this week to take part in the Cambridge Energy Research Associates' annual executive conference, known as CERAWeek. The conference brings together executives, government officials and thought leaders from the energy, policy, technology, and financial industries to discuss and develop solutions for the future of energy, the environment, and climate. The Secretary hailed the excitement and enthusiasm for American Energy Dominance he found at CERA, as the nation redoubles its mining efforts and offshore energy development.

Interior this week announced the approval of a federal mining plan modification by the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement for the Spring Creek Mine in Big Horn County, Montana, operated by the Navajo Transitional Energy Company. This decision extends the mine's operational life by 16 years, enabling the production of approximately 39.9 million tons of federal coal and supporting 280 full-time jobs.  

The Bureau of Land Management this week approved the Sapphire gen-tie transmission line and facilities project on approximately 40 acres of public lands in eastern Riverside County, California. The line will connect the planned Sapphire Solar photovoltaic and storage facility on private lands to the electric grid. Once operational, the project will transmit and store up to 117 megawatts of solar energy daily.

The U.S. Geological Survey this week released projections for world production capacity for seven critical minerals and helium for the next five years in the first World Minerals Outlook, part of a larger effort to provide forecasts and scenarios for global mineral supply chains. Among the findings -- the world’s capacity to produce cobalt and lithium, two elements critical to the batteries used to power mobile devices, tools and vehicles, is expected to double over the next five years. See the full report at usgs.gov

The work continues at the Tidal Basin Seawall Rehabilitation Project in Washington DC, funded by the Great American Outdoors Act. Since August hundreds of pilings have been driven into place and capped to raise the level of the seawall and prevent flooding, part of the $113 million project scheduled to wrap up next year. The National Park Service has worked hard to minimize the effect on cherry blossom season, now just weeks away.  

There will be some impact to this year's cherry blossom season, we did have to take down about 148 of the cherry trees, but there are still more than 2500 cherry trees around the Tidal Basin. All the walkways are open, all the roads are open, so still plenty of good opportunity to come down and celebrate spring in the Nation's Capital.

The National Wildlife Refuge System turns 122 years old this week. On March 14, 1903 President Theodore Roosevelt set aside tiny Pelican Island in Florida for the protection of pelicans and other birds. Today there are more than 550 refuges across the country providing space for wildlife and places for all Americans to recreate and reconnect with the great outdoors.

And our social media Picture of the Week, these yellow-headed blackbirds just hanging out at Wyoming's Cokeville Meadows National Wildlife Refuge. Yellow heads typically winter in the southwest United States and Mexico, then head back north for springtime breeding in noisy colonies across the West and Midwest.

Make sure you follow us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and X!

That's This Week at Interior!


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This Week: Secretary Burgum signs a Secretary’s Order renaming the Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge in Texas to the Jocelyn Nungaray National Wildlife Refuge. The renaming honors 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray, who was brutally murdered by illegal immigrants in North Houston, Texas, in June 2024. It is a tragic case that underscores the urgent need for President Trump’s stronger border security measures and stricter immigration enforcement; Secretary Burgum talks American Energy Dominance at CERAWeek in Houston; Interior extends a Montana mine's operational life by 16 years, and that means more coal, and more jobs; a California power transmission line gets the go ahead from the Bureau of Land Management; the U.S. Geological Survey releases its first-ever World Minerals Outlook to provide forecasts for global mineral supply chains; as cherry blossom, season approaches, the project to repair the Tidal Basin's sagging seawall in on schedule and on budget in Washington, D.C.; the National Wildlife Refuge System celebrates a birthday; and check in with some fine feathered friends in our social media Picture of the Week!

  • Video
    04/11/2025

    This Week at Interior April 11, 2025

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    Transcript:

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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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