Press Releases

 Today, the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) announced the issuance of a Final Rule amending its Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) regulations. The revisions will help create a more efficient and transparent process that are aligned with recent legal developments, court decisions and policy guidance from the Department of Justice (DOJ) and has bipartisan support from Congress.

The Department of the Interior's Office of Natural Resources Revenue (ONRR) disbursed $11.69 billion in Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 from energy production on federal and American Indian-owned lands and offshore areas.

U.S. President Donald J. Trump announced his intention to nominate Lanny Erdos to serve as the Director of the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE). U.S. Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt applauded the action.

Today, the Department of the Interior (DOI) announced its guidance to implement Secretary’s Order 3376, Increasing Recreational Opportunities Through the Use of Electric Bikes, which will allow the use of low-speed electric bicycles (e-bikes) at national wildlife refuges and other DOI-managed public lands where traditional biking occurs, expanding recreational opportunities and access to millions of Americans. 

U.S. Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt today released the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Economic Report for Fiscal Year 2018. The report highlights Interior activities covering conventional and renewable energy, recreation, non-fuel minerals, irrigation, and conservation that resulted in $315 billion in economic output and supported 1.8 million jobs during the year – up from $254 billion in economic output and 1.6 million jobs in 2016.

Over the past week, U.S. Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt has been traveling through the West, making stops in North Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, and New Mexico. He started the western swing in Hope, ND where he joined Governor Doug Burgum and Senators Kevin Cramer and John Hoeven before joining the First Lady of the United States Melania Trump at Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.

The Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) proposed rule to streamline the royalty rate reduction process will remove unnecessary and overly burdensome requirements providing much needed regulatory relief and efficiencies for non-energy solid leasable minerals, such as soda ash, potash, phosphate, sodium, potassium, sulphur and gilsonite.

In support of the Administration’s America-First Offshore Energy Strategy, Department of the Interior’s Acting Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management Casey Hammond and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Acting Director Dr. Walter Cruickshank today announced that BOEM proposes to offer approximately 78 million acres for a region-wide lease sale scheduled for March 2020.

Today, First Lady of the United States Melania Trump and U.S. Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt joined second and fourth graders in Grand Teton National Park for a field trip highlighting the importance of the Every Kid Outdoors Program.

The Memorandum of Understanding establishes a framework to utilize CPI’s existing training programs in repair, maintenance and stewardship at historic sites across the Department’s bureaus.