This Week at Interior January 28, 2022

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This Week at Interior  

Secretary Haaland joined federal, state and local leaders in Pennsylvania this week. She highlighted the investments in President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to address legacy pollution, create good-paying union jobs, and help communities eliminate dangerous environmental conditions caused by past energy development. It's the first stop in a multi-month, multi-state tour of Appalachia to highlight critical infrastructure investments. Overall the law includes $11.3 billion for abandoned mine land reclamation projects, and $4.7 billion for orphaned well site plugging, remediation and restoration activities.  

The Secretary then traveled to John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge in Philadelphia. That's where she discussed the important role of urban wildlife refuges in conservation and community-building...she also highlighted the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s investments in the Delaware River Basin and underscored Interior's commitment to advancing environmental justice. The John Heinz refuge was the first of its kind, specifically created to provide environmental education and connect surrounding urban communities to nature.   

Interior this week hosted three nation-to-nation consultations with Tribes on the implementation of President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. That law invests more than $13 billion directly into Tribal communities across the country to bolster community resilience, replace aging infrastructure, expand access to clean drinking water and help ensure that everyone has access to high-speed internet. 

Assistant Secretary for Water and Science Tanya Trujillo traveled to California this week, highlighting the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s historic $8.3 billion investment in water-projects and drought resilience. She took part in a groundbreaking ceremony to mark the start of repairs to the Friant-Kern Canal...the 152-mile canal plays a critical role in delivering water to one million acres of highly productive farmland, and more than 250,000 people from Fresno south to Bakersfield. 

Interior this week announced the Department will appoint new members to the Invasive Species Advisory Committee. That committee provides information and expert advice to inform federal government activities related to invasive species, which cause an estimated $120 billion in environmental damage every year. Addressing that threat helps advance the conservation goals of the America the Beautiful initiative, while also adding to  climate resilience in communities across the country. 

It was the first meeting this week of the President’s Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons. The task force has primary responsibility for coordinating efforts across twenty federal agencies to combat human trafficking. During the meeting Secretary Haaland outlined Interior's work in pursuing justice for Missing and Murdered Indigenous people. Human trafficking disproportionately impacts people of color, women and girls, LGBTQI+ individuals, migrants and others from historically marginalized and underserved communities. 

NASA astronauts and Junior Rangers from Mt. Rainier National Park came together for some orbital questions and answers this week. The Rangers sent in pre-recorded questions for Flight Engineers Raja Chari and Kayla Barron aboard the International Space Station. They're in the midst of a planned six-month mission living and working aboard the microgravity laboratory to advance scientific knowledge and demonstrate new technologies for future human and robotic exploration missions. 

And our social media Picture of the Week, you got your cool cats, then you got your *coolest* cats, like this Canada lynx at Alaska's Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge. You can tell it's a Canada lynx by its long legs, large paws, long dark tufts on the ears, and a short, black-tipped tail. The Tetlin Refuge is also home to wolf packs, grizzly bears, moose, and dozens of other species of mammals, birds, and fish. 

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That’s This Week, at Interior 

This Week: Secretary Haaland highlights environmental investments in the  Bipartisan Infrastructure Law during a visit to Pennsylvania, and underscores Interior's commitment to advancing environmental justice at the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge; Interior hosts nation-to-nation consultations with Tribes, as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law steers more than $13 billion to Tribal communities; Assistant Secretary for Water and Science Tanya Trujillo travels to California to highlight the BIL's historic $8.3 billion investment in water-projects and drought resilience; Interior will appoint new members to the Invasive Species Advisory Committee; the Secretary speaks at the first meeting of the President’s Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons; NASA astronauts and Junior Rangers from Mt. Rainier National Park come together for some orbital Q&A; and our social media Picture of the Week is one cool cat!

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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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