This Week at Interior August 2, 2024

This Week at Interior

Secretary Haaland this week announced major milestones for the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative, which she launched in June 2021 as the first-ever comprehensive effort by the federal government to recognize the troubled legacy of past federal Indian boarding school policies. The Department released the second and final volume of the investigative report led by Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Bryan Newland: the report expands on what was previously known about the number and details of these institutions, including attendee deaths and the number of burial sites, participation of religious institutions and organizations, and federal dollars spent to operate these locations.

One of the reasons I launched the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative was to ensure that this important story was told. That all of America knows of the intergenerational impact of these policies and that we as a nation take steps to heal from them.

Secretary Haaland this week applauded the selection of the National Park Service's Historic Moravian Bethlehem District in Pennsylvania to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s World Heritage List. That list highlights cultural and natural heritage sites around the world considered to be of outstanding value to humanity. It's the first transnational World Heritage listing in the U.S. -- the designation also includes sites in Germany and Northern Ireland.

Assistant Secretary for Insular and International Affairs Carmen Cantor wrapped up her trip to Southeast Asia this week with a visit to Indonesia, where she reaffirmed Interior’s conservation partnerships across the region. The visit underscored the Department’s long-term commitment to Southeast Asia through the International Technical Assistance Program, as well as investments in wildlife conservation and protected areas, and partnerships with regional organizations.

Interior this week announced a $20 million investment through President Biden’s Investing in America agenda to bolster climate resilience in Hawaiʻi. Funding will be awarded to 17 Native Hawaiian Organizations to restore native ecosystems and plants and enhance food security, while incorporating Indigenous Knowledge and practices. Island ecosystems like those found in Hawaiʻi are incredibly biodiverse, and more susceptible to climate-related impacts, such as wildfires and warmer and more acidic oceans.

Orphaned oil and gas wells are polluting backyards, recreation areas, and community spaces across the country. Interior this week announced $52 million from the President’s Investing in America agenda for Colorado, Illinois and West Virginia to clean up that legacy pollution. Those investments won’t just address cleaning up hazardous sites -- they'll also help create good-paying union jobs, catalyze economic growth and help protect public health and the environment from harmful methane leaks.

Happy 47th birthday to the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement. OSMRE was created on August 3rd, 1977, with the signing of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act, to administer programs for controlling the impacts of surface coal mining operations, assisting states and Tribes with abandoned mine land reclamation, restoring natural spaces and creating a better future for all Americans.

We're also celebrating the fourth anniversary of the Great American Outdoors Act this week. That law, which passed with strong bipartisan support, makes unprecedented investments in national parks, public lands and Bureau of Indian Education-funded schools. To celebrate, entrance fees will be waived this Sunday August 4th, at all fee-collecting public lands managed by the Department.  

And our social media Picture of the Week, Arrowleaf balsamroot blooms in the summer sun at Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge. Located in the high elevation of the Centennial Valley, in the southwestern region of Montana, the refuge is renowned for its natural beauty, and is considered one of the most diverse landscapes within the national wildlife refuge system.  

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That's This Week at Interior!