This Week at Interior December 17, 2021

Transcript:

This Week at Interior 

Secretary Haaland wrapped up a western U.S. trip this week, visiting San Diego, Los Angeles, Palm Springs and Las Vegas, as part of the Biden-Harris administration’s “Building a Better America” tour. The Secretary highlighted how the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will help local, state and Tribal communities tackle the climate crisis, while creating good-paying union jobs, advancing environmental justice and boosting local economies. She also delivered keynote remarks at the Western Governors Association Winter Meeting, discussing how federal and state leaders can work in partnership to get infrastructure investments out to communities as quickly as possible.  

Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs Bryan Newland completed a tour of meetings with Tribal leaders across Washington state this week. During his visit, he saw and heard about the immediate challenges coastal Tribes are facing related to climate change, as well as ecosystem and infrastructure degradation. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law includes $466 million for Tribal climate resilience and infrastructure.   

The Bureau of Indian Affairs this week announced the launch of its new website dedicated to solving missing and murdered cases in Indian Country. The tool draws attention to unresolved cases involving Indigenous persons that the Missing and Murdered Unit is working on. The public is invited to help law enforcement solve those cases. 

Interior took new steps this week toward addressing the tragic legacy of federal boarding schools for Indigenous peoples.  Interior and the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition announced an agreement to share records and information in support of Secretary Haaland’s Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative. Those schools separated Native children from their families and sought to erase their languages and cultural identity in the name of assimilation. 

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management this week announced it's completed its environmental review of potential impacts from offshore wind energy leasing activities in the New York Bight, a portion of the Atlantic Ocean located offshore New York and New Jersey. The completion of this Environmental Assessment is an important step forward in advancing the Biden-Harris administration’s goal of increasing renewable energy development on federal lands and waters.  

Assistant Secretary for Water and Science Tanya Trujillo was in Nevada for the Colorado River Water Users Association’s annual conference this week, part of the Biden-Harris administration’s “Building a Better America” effort. Interior and water agencies across Arizona, California and Nevada signed a Memorandum of Agreement to invest up to $200 million in projects over the next two years to keep Lake Mead, from dropping to critically low levels. Interior also announced agreements to establish partnerships across the Colorado River basin, and new water conservation agreements with the Colorado River Indian Tribes and the Gila River Indian Community. 

Camille Calimlim Touton was ceremonially sworn in this week as the Commissioner for the Bureau of Reclamation, which oversees water in the west, especially water management of the Colorado River. She most recently served as the Deputy Commissioner for the Bureau of Reclamation. 

And Charles F. Sams III was sworn-in this week as the Director of the National Park Service, the first tribally-enrolled leader in the Service's 105-year history. Chuck most recently served as a Council Member to the Northwest Power and Conservation Council. 

The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy this week released the new 5-year Arctic Research Plan...that plan plots out a high-level strategy for guiding future research to improve community resilience and health, support sustainable economies and livelihoods, and improve risk management and hazard mitigation. The U.S. Geological Survey represents Interior on the planning committee, and provides coordination and research vital to its success. 

And our social media Picture of the Week, this breathtaking shot of our Milky Way Galaxy in the skies above BLM's Piedras Blancas Light Station Outstanding Natural Area. The station stands on a rugged windswept point of land along California's Highway One, and the remote location allows for clear night skies, perfect for gazing into infinity, and beyond.  

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

That’s This Week, at Interior 

This Week: Secretary Haaland wraps up a western U.S. trip, part of the Biden-Harris administration’s “Building a Better America” tour; Assistant Secretary -- Indian Affairs Bryan Newland meets with Tribal leaders across Washington state to discuss how the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law includes $466 million for Tribal climate resilience and infrastructure; a new website draws attention to the unsolved cases of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples; Interior takes new steps to address the tragic legacy of federal boarding schools; the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management completes its environmental review of potential impacts from offshore wind energy leasing activities in the New York Bight; Assistant Secretary for Water and Science Tanya Trujillo travels to Nevada for the Colorado River Water Users Association’s annual conference; the Bureau of Reclamation and the National Park Service have new leadership; there's a new five-year plan for Arctic research; and our social media Picture of the Week takes us to infinity, and beyond!

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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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