This Week at Interior September 3, 2021

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This Week at Interior... 

Multiple Interior Bureaus are assisting with search and rescue efforts, assessing widespread damage and tracking flood measurements, and other FEMA mission assignments in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida. Secretary Deb Haaland shared a message of support for Interior employees in the region, and all those working to restore and rebuild.

The Department announced this week that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management will conduct an environmental review of a proposed commercial-scale wind project offshore New York. The project proposes to build up to one hundred twenty-two wind turbines that can power nearly six-hundred thousand homes. It's part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to advance ambitious wind energy projects that create good-paying union jobs ... invest in American infrastructure and support critical research and data sharing. .

Consistent with the Biden-Harris administration’s America the Beautiful initiative, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service this week opened new or expanded hunting and sport fishing opportunities across two-point-one million acres, the largest expansion of the Service’s outdoor recreation opportunities in recent history. The changes come in time for the upcoming 20-21/20-22 hunting seasons.

The public will soon have access to more hiking trails thanks to the Bureau of Land Management’s acquisition of two parcels of land. The land is located in the Cougar Bay area on the west side of Lake Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. The purchase will protect public access into the future and preserve the area from development, protecting a diverse wildlife habitat.

The National Park Service announced seven-point-twenty-seven million dollars in Paul Bruhn Historic Revitalization Grants to eleven recipients in ten states. The grants support the preservation of historic buildings in rural communities across the country. This marks the third year of funding for the program. State and Tribal Historic Preservation Offices, Certified Local Governments, and nonprofits are all eligible to apply for funding.

The U-S Fish and Wildlife is working to save the rusty patched bumble bee. The bee was listed as endangered in 20-17. Rusty patched bumble bees are found in ten states from Maine to Minnesota. The bumble bees are not only necessary for native wildflower reproduction...they also create seeds and fruits that feed diverse wildlife like songbirds and even grizzly bears. Their economic value in the U-S is estimated at three-billion dollars per year.

WaterSMART Small Scale Water Efficiency Grants The Bureau of Reclamation awarded more than one-hundred projects nearly nine-point-two million dollars in WaterSMART grants this week. These grants will help local communities make water efficiency improvements such as installing flow measurement, automating a water delivery system, or modeling and forecasting capabilities. The program supports the Biden-Harris administration's work to increase a community's resilience to the impacts of climate change.

Making good ideas pay...the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement announced the availability of fiscal year 20-21 Applied Sciences Program funding. O-S-M-R-E will provide those funds to eligible applicants for projects that help develop new reclamation science and technology. These efforts are aimed to better protect endangered species, improve re-forestation, protect prime farmland and mitigate harmful environmental hazards.

And with our social media Picture of the Week... a great blue heron stands in the sunset waters at Maryland's Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge. The great blue heron is the largest of the North American herons.

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That’s This Week, at Interior.
 

This Week: Secretary Haaland shares a message of support for Interior employees and all those working to restore and rebuild after Hurricane Ida; Interior announces an environmental review of a proposed offshore wind energy facility; the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service expands hunting and sport fishing opportunities; the Bureau of Land Management acquires land near Cougar Bay; the National Park Service announces $7.27 million in historic revitalization grants; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announces the final recovery plan for the rusty patched bumble bee; the Bureau of Reclamation awards more than $9 million in WaterSMART grants; the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement opens Applied Science funding opportunities; and a great blue heron is our social media Picture of the Week!

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    04/11/2025

    This Week at Interior April 11, 2025

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    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!


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    News and headlines from Interior April 11, 2025

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