This Week at Interior October 29, 2021

This Week, at Interior 

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management this week is asking for public input on three major clean energy projects: an environmental review of Mayflower Wind’s proposal for a wind energy project offshore Massachusetts...a proposed lease sale for wind energy development in the Carolina Long Bay area...and the ongoing efforts to assess commercial interest in wind energy leasing in the Gulf of Mexico. The Biden-Harris administration is committed to achieving 30 gigawatts of clean offshore wind energy by 2030, creating nearly 80,000 good-paying union jobs while also fighting climate change.   

Imperiled wildlife across the nation will benefit from nearly seven and a half million dollars in grants from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Competitive State Wildlife Grant program. The program supports projects led by state, territory and commonwealth fish and wildlife agencies, protecting vulnerable wildlife and their habitats. The funds will be used to implement a total of 21 conservation projects. 

Tracy Stone-Manning was ceremonially sworn-in by Secretary Haaland this week as the new Director of the Bureau of Land Management. In celebrating her arrival, Secretary Haaland said “Tracy brings a wealth of knowledge in conservation and environmental policy to [our] efforts and a history of working with diverse communities in service to our public lands.” 

America's first stewards could be among its next...Interior this week announced next steps in a plan for implementation of the Indian Youth Service Corps Program. The IYSC would provide meaningful education, employment, and training opportunities to Indigenous youth through conservation projects on public lands, Indian lands, and Hawaiian homelands – putting young people on the path to good paying jobs working to tackle the climate crisis. 

U.S. Geological Survey crews were on the job this week after a so-called "Atmospheric River event" brought significant precipitation to the western United States. The California Water Science Center dispatched crews to measure high flows in Lake, Mendocino, and Sonoma Counties. In Nevada crews were deployed from the Carson City Field Office to the Lake Tahoe area. 

The Bureau of Reclamation joined local, state and federal partners along with the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation in a virtual celebration this week, marking the completion of the Schaake Habitat Improvement Project in the Yakima Basin. The project restored natural processes and opened about 130 acres of floodplain along a two-mile reach of the Yakima River south of Ellensburg, Washington. 

The Fish and Wildlife Service and the USGS joined state partners this week to remove invasive carp from the Mississippi River near La Crosse, Wisconsin. The removal effort, led by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, featured an innovative method developed by USGS which uses herding and netting techniques to drive the fish from larger to smaller areas to be captured. 

It's Bat Week 2021, our annual celebration of the role of bats in nature and all that these amazing creatures do for us. Just like birds and butterflies, bats are great pollinators, but where they really excel is pest control...our unsung heroes of the night can eat their body weight or more in insects, thus protecting our crops.   

And our social media Picture of the Week, a misty mountain trail at Virginia's Shenandoah National Park. October is a busy time of year here, with people from across the country flocking to marvel at autumn beauty that borders on the magical. Stretching for a hundred miles along the Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah is filled with trails and overlooks where anyone can settle down and find a peaceful moment, to take it all in. 

Make sure you follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and You Tube.     

That’s This Week, at Interior.