This Week at Interior January 12, 2024

This Week at Interior

Secretary Haaland and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director
Martha Williams visited New Hampshire this week. The Secretary
and Director Williams toured the Fair Hill Marsh site outside
Portsmouth, where a $2 million investment from President
Biden's Investing in America agenda is working to restore salt
marshes to benefit at-risk species and increase coastal resilience.
Secretary Haaland announced the launch of the Department's salt
marsh keystone initiative, a new effort to support Atlantic coastal
communities and protect important wildlife habitat in salt marsh
ecosystems.

Acting Deputy Secretary Laura Daniel-Davis visited the National
Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho this week. She joined
leaders from across the Department to announce $138 million in
new allocations from the President’s Investing in America agenda
to help protect communities from the risk of catastrophic wildfires
in fiscal year 2024. The funding will support the modernization of
wildland firefighter training, help reduce the risk of extreme
wildfires, rehabilitate burned areas, and advance fire science.

Interior this week announced a nearly $80 million investment
from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for the state of Texas to
continue work plugging, capping and reclaiming orphaned oil and
gas wells across the state. It's the first Phase 1 formula grant
awarded since the Department announced last July the
availability of $660 million for 26 states to clean up legacy
pollution sites. These investments will create good-paying union
jobs, catalyze economic growth and revitalization, and reduce
harmful methane leaks.

Interior this week joined the nation to mark National Law
Enforcement Appreciation Day. More than 3,500 law enforcement
professionals serve at the Department, protecting public lands
and waters, upholding our trust and treaty obligations to 
Indigenous communities and ensuring the public can continue to
enjoy safe and equitable access to outdoor opportunities.

The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs this week
announced $1.5 million from the President’s Investing in America
agenda to support the restoration of bison populations and
grassland ecosystems in Tribal communities. The funding will 
support Tribally led initiatives that strengthen bison conservation
and expansion, improve management of existing herds, and
expand ecosystem restoration efforts in native grassland habitats.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management this week announced
the availability of its draft environmental review of wind energy
areas offshore the U.S. Central Atlantic region. Together those
areas have the potential to support enough offshore wind to
power over 2.2 million homes with clean energy.

And our social media Picture of the Week comes to us from
Yellowstone National Park, where this red fox isn't camera shy,
it's coping with the cold. Red foxes are experts when it comes to
battling cold weather conditions...this one is staying warm by
curling into a ball, and wrapping itself in its big, bushy tail.

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That's This Week at Interior.