This Week at Interior August 18, 2023

Transcript:

I’m Cicely Muldoon, Superintendent at Yosemite National Park and you’re watching This Week at Interior! 

This Week at Interior 

Secretary Haaland this week led the United States presidential delegation to the inauguration of Santiago Peña as President of Paraguay. The delegation met with key counterparts and partners, participated in the inaugural ceremony and events, and met with President Peña to reinforce the United States’ commitment to and strong relationship with Paraguay. The Secretary also met with women Indigenous leaders to hear about the challenges and opportunities they face. 

This week marks the one-year anniversary of the Inflation Reduction Act. Among the historic investments being implemented at Interior, the Bureau of Land Management announced more than $18 million in funding to support 39 shovel-ready restoration and resilience projects in 10 states. BLM Director Tracy Stone-Manning made the announcement during a visit to a project site in the Blackfoot-Clark Fork Restoration Landscape, east of Missoula, Montana. 

Interior this week announced the launch of a new program and $72.5 million in funding through President Biden’s Investing in America agenda to help Tribal communities electrify homes. It's a critical step toward the goal of electrifying all homes in Indian Country with renewable energy sources and advances the administration’s goal of a carbon-free electricity sector by 2035. The funding comes from the Inflation Reduction Act, the largest climate investment in U.S. history. 

Interior this week announced $50 million over the next five years to improve key water infrastructure and enhance drought-related data collection across the Upper Colorado River Basin. The Bureau of Reclamation is making an initial $8.7 million investment to support drought mitigation efforts in Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. 

Department leaders are on the road this month, highlighting how investments from the Great American Outdoors Act -- or GAOA -- are addressing long-deferred maintenance projects. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Deputy Director Siva Sundaresan visited Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge in Marion, Illinois, and Dale Bumpers White River National Wildlife Refuge in Saint Charles, Arkansas, to highlight the success and importance of GAOA funding across the National Wildlife Refuge System. 

The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement this week awarded $100,000 to restore the Pennsylvania watersheds at Dunkard Creek in Dunkard Township. OSMRE’s Watershed Cooperative Agreement Programs help local nonprofit groups restore watersheds harmed by abandoned mine lands and support citizen-based conservation in coal communities. 

And our social media Picture of the Week, the northernmost national park in the United States, Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve in Alaska. It's a vast landscape with neither trails nor roads, and visitors seeking its remote wilderness must rely on the knowledge, skills and equipment they bring with them. 

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

That's This Week at Interior. 

This Week: Secretary Haaland leads the U.S. presidential delegation to the inauguration of Santiago Peña as President of Paraguay; BLM announces $18 million in funding for shovel-ready projects on the one-year anniversary of the Inflation Reduction Act; it's the launch of a new program to electrify homes in Tribal communities; $50 million is on the way over the next five years for infrastructure and drought mitigation in the Upper Colorado River Basin; Department leaders are on the road this month to highlight investments from the Great American Outdoors Act; OSMRE awards $100,000 to repair a Pennsylvania watershed; and we're going north for our social media Picture of the Week!

  • Video
    08/29/2025

    Inside Interior | August 29, 2025

    Video

    Transcript:

    This is Inside Interior.

    From minerals to monuments, from public safety to public lands, the Department of the Interior is focused on energy, security, and preserving what matters most to America.

    First up: the U.S. Geological Survey just released the draft 2025 List of Critical Minerals - designed to guide federal investments, permitting, and policy decisions. New additions to the list? Potash, silicon, copper, silver, rhenium, and lead. These additions strengthen domestic mining, streamline permitting, and boost U.S. mineral processing - ensuring America remains resource-secure and globally competitive.

    In more good news, Interior just announced 42 new hunting and sport fishing opportunities across 87,000 acres of public land - that's three times more than the last administration allowed. It's a win for conservation, the outdoor economy, and the American way of life.

    In Washington, D.C., crime is down, and our Park Police are stronger than ever. And now, thanks to President Donald Trump’s latest executive order, more park police officers are being hired to keep America’s capital safe and secure. To thank our law enforcement for their brave work and dedication, Secretary Doug Burgum and Interior employees hosted a cookout this week for our Park Police officers in D.C. 

    Additionally, Interior deputized Customs and Border Protection officers to work alongside our park police to end rampant crime in our nation's capital.

    Mark your calendars for July 23, 2026, which has been officially designated by Interior as the Day of the American West, honoring the people, values, and traditions that shaped this nation’s frontier.

    And this past Monday, we celebrated 109 years of the National Park Service. That’s over a century of protecting America’s most treasured landscapes, from Alaska to the monuments in D.C.

    At Interior, we are building a safer, stronger, and more self-reliant America.

    That's it for this edition of Inside Interior.

    Have a Happy Labor Day Weekend.

    News and headlines from around Interior August 29, 2025

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