This Week at Interior July 7, 2023

I’m Didja Llanes at Pu'uhonua O Honaunau National Historical Park, and you’re watching This Week at Interior! 

This Week at Interior   

Secretary Haaland traveled to New York this week, highlighting how President Biden’s Investing in America agenda is working to bolster the clean energy economy. In Albany, the Secretary and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Director Liz Klein joined federal and state leaders to host a community roundtable and tour the site of a new offshore wind energy hub which will serve the industry's supply chain and create good-paying manufacturing jobs.   

The visit comes as the Biden-Harris administration announced approval of the third major commercial-scale, offshore wind energy project in the United States. The Bureau of Ocean Management announced it's approved the plan for construction and operations of the Ocean Wind 1 project offshore New Jersey. Located about 13 nautical miles southeast of Atlantic City, the project will have an estimated capacity of 1,100 megawatts of clean energy – capable of powering over 380,000 homes – and is expected to create more than 3,000 jobs.  

Deputy Secretary Tommy Beaudreau and Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks Shannon Estenoz traveled to Puerto Rico this week to highlight the administration’s all-of-government approach to Puerto Rico’s recovery and renewal, investments from the Investing in America agenda, and Interior's work to strengthen the Endangered Species Act. The Deputy Secretary also announced the appointment of three members to the Board of Trustees of The Conservation Trust of Puerto Rico -- that's a nongovernmental, nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving Puerto Rico’s diverse ecosystems, biodiversity and natural resources. 

Interior this week launched a new interactive map to track the more than $7.3 billion invested so far from the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law in over 1,300 projects nationwide. That Law contains $28.1 billion for Interior initiatives ranging from combatting legacy pollution and restoring critical habitats, to helping communities prepare for extreme weather events brought on by climate change. The new map is the first of its kind from a cabinet agency.   

Vulnerable wildlife across the nation will benefit from more than $7.7 million in grants thanks to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Competitive State Wildlife Grant Program. Since 2008, the program has provided over $96 million in federal grant funds to support projects implemented by states, commonwealths, territories, and the District of Columbia to benefit fish and wildlife and their habitats, especially species at risk of declining or becoming threatened or endangered. 

And the Fish and Wildlife Service this week took steps to boost the population of endangered Sierra Nevada yellow-legged frogs. More than 150 frogs that had been raised from tadpoles at San Francisco Zoo & Gardens were released into cool streams in the Plumas National Forest. This comes as the Department celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act this year. 

This week marked the 160th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg, and thousands turned out at Gettysburg National Military Park to mark the occasion with hikes, talks and re-enactments. For three days in July of 1863 150-thousand Union and Confederate soldiers faced off among the Pennsylvania hills, fields and forests here, in what would become a Union victory, and the most pivotal battle of the Civil War. 

And our social media Picture of the Week comes to us from Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in Texas, where the majestic whooping crane stands tall as a symbol of hope and conservation success. Once on the brink of extinction, these remarkable creatures are making strides to recovery thanks to reintroduction programs and habitat protection. 

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That's This Week at Interior