National Military and Veteran Families Month

Transcript:

Hi, everyone – I'm Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland,
and I am proud to be here in honor of National Military and Veteran Families Month.
 
Our military and veteran families have a special place in my heart. 

They sacrifice right alongside our service members.
 
While my dad served in the Marines when I was growing up,
our family moved every couple of years 
– sometimes more. 

My brother, sisters, and I 
had to start at new schools and make new friends each time. 

My mom 
– who served in the Navy before we were born 
– ran a military-style household,
and she put my dad’s service front and center. 
 
During the years that my dad was on active duty in Vietnam she raised four kids without him. 
 
I remember my mom would sit us down at the table to write him letters nearly every night. 

We knew very well that there was a chance he wouldn’t come home. 
 
Now,
every time I meet a military or veteran family 
– I also thank them for their service,
because the support network here at home helps our servicemembers do their jobs effectively. 
 
At Interior,
we know that the outdoors can offer a place of solace and healing for servicemembers,
veterans, and their families. 
 
In fact,
we created a map of sites near military installations and VA facilities,
so that public lands are just a click away to connect to a national park.
 
Visit 
NPS.gov/subjects/military 

to learn more about the map and our Military Pass which helps servicemembers,
including Reserve and National Guard members,
veterans,
their dependents, and Gold Star family members to access parks for free. 
 
Thank you,
again, to all the military and veteran families who support our servicemembers and selflessly share their loved one in service to our country. 
 
We appreciate you and hold you in our hearts.

Our military and veteran families have a special place in my heart; they sacrifice right alongside our service members. Every time I meet a military or veteran family, I thank them for their service as well, because the support network here at home helps our servicemembers do their jobs effectively. 

At Interior, we know that the outdoors can offer a place of solace and healing for servicemembers, veterans, and their families. We've created a map of sites near military installations and VA facilities, so that public lands are just a click away to connect to a national park. 

Visit nps.gov/subjects/military to learn more about the map and our Military Pass which helps servicemembers, including Reserve and National Guard members, veterans, their dependents, and Gold Star family members to access parks for free. 

Thank you to all the military and veteran families who support our servicemembers and selflessly share their loved one in service to our country.

  • Video
    04/11/2025

    This Week at Interior April 11, 2025

    Video

    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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