Secretary Haaland Wraps Three-Day Visit to Utah

04/09/2021
Last edited 04/09/2021

Date: Friday, April 9, 2021 
Contact: Interior_Press@ios.doi.gov

U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland today wrapped several days of field visits and meetings in Utah with elected officials, Tribal leaders, and stakeholders invested in the stewardship of the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments. The Secretary was in the state as part of the Biden administration’s review of the monuments’ boundaries and management conditions.

“This has been a special trip, and I deeply appreciate the many people who took time to share their wisdom, perspectives, and prayers with me,” said Secretary Haaland. “How we manage public lands and national monuments is important – not just to the Tribes and ranchers and elected leaders and others who I met with this week, but to the many generations to come. I look forward to sharing what I heard and saw with President Biden so he has the benefit of these perspectives as we chart a path forward on the stewardship of these incredible culturally rich places.”

During her visit, Secretary Haaland received a briefing on the national monuments from Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service employees. She visited the Bears Ears Education Center in Bluff, a place run by Friends of Cedar Mesa where visitors can learn about the national monument and how to respectfully visit the important natural and cultural landscapes. She also toured the Edge of the Cedars State Park Museum, where she saw cultural artifacts and Ancestral Puebloan (Anasazi) pottery. She also met with paleontologist Dr. Alan Titus, who showed her fossils from the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.

Over the course of the three days, Secretary Haaland met with Tribal leaders from the five Tribes in the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition, and other Indigenous-led organizations. She met with Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson, Sens. Mike Lee and Mitt Romney, and Reps. John Curtis, Blake Moore, Burgess Owens, and Chris Stewart. She also held a series of listening sessions in both Kane and San Juan Counties that included state, county and city leaders, local ranchers, conservation organizations, local business owners, mining companies, outdoor recreation permit holders, paleontologists, and archaeologists.

On Thursday morning, Secretary Haaland was joined by Hopi Tribe Vice Chairman Clark Tenakhongva, Ute Mountain Ute Tribe White Mesa Representative Malcom Lehi, Pueblo of Zuni Lt. Governor Carleton Bowekay, Gov. Cox, Lt. Gov. Henderson, Sen. Mitt Romney, and Rep. Blake Moore in the Bears Ears region. During their hikes, they saw cliff dwellings, pictographs, and other sacred sites that are located inside and outside of the national monument boundaries determined by President Trump.

“I am humbled by the hospitality that was shown to me this week. In particular, the hardworking career professionals at the Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service went above and beyond, especially given the pandemic-related restrictions of our visit. I am grateful to know they are here to manage these lands,” added Secretary Haaland.

Prior to the Utah visit, administration officials from the Departments of the Interior, Commerce, and Agriculture held Tribal consultations and met with Utah leaders, including Utah Governor Cox; members of the Utah congressional delegation; representatives from Kane, Garfield, San Juan, and Grand Counties of Utah; members of the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition; non-profit organizations; and small business owners.

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    04/11/2025

    This Week at Interior April 11, 2025

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    Transcript:

    (MUSIC BEGINS)


    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!


    (MUSIC ENDS)

     

    News and headlines from Interior April 11, 2025

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