This Week at Interior February 2, 2024

This Week at Interior

In September, President Biden announced the launch of the American Climate Corps, a new workforce training and service initiative that will prepare tens of thousands of young people for good-paying jobs in the clean energy and conservation economy. Secretary Haaland this week joined one of several virtual listening sessions to speak about the Department’s Indian Youth Service Corps and hear directly from prospective American Climate Corps applicants and partners about how to ensure its success.

Assistant Secretary for Insular and International Affairs Carmen Cantor completed a weeklong trip to the Pacific. In Hawai’i, she highlighted investments from President Biden’s Investing in America agenda to prevent the imminent extinction of Hawaiian Forest Birds through the Department’s Hawaiian Forest Bird Keystone Initiative. Her visit also underscored Interior’s commitment to the U.S. territories and Freely Associated States.  

Interior this week awarded nearly $5 million from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for Missouri to assess about 5,000 documented orphaned oil and gas wells, and prioritize them for future plugging and remediation. That creates good-paying jobs, catalyzes economic growth and revitalization, reduces harmful methane leaks, and reduces environmental and public health risks to surface water and groundwater resources critical to U.S. communities and ecosystems.

The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement this week announced more than $3.1 million in funding from the President’s Investing in America agenda to address dangerous and polluting abandoned mine lands in North Dakota. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law allocates a total of $16 billion to address legacy pollution nationwide, including $11.3 billion in abandoned mine land funding over 15 years.

In commemoration of Mahina ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi, or Hawaiian Language Month, and in recognition of its unique relationship with the Native Hawaiian Community, Interior announced new guidance this week on the use of the Hawaiian language. The new Departmental Manual chapter will help Interior bureaus improve descriptions for identifications and references, including flora and fauna, cultural sites, geographic place names, and government units within Hawai’i.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service this week announced that it's awarding $10.8 million for 12 projects in seven states that will protect, restore or enhance over 2,000 acres of coastal wetlands and adjacent upland habitats. Coastal wetlands are vitally important in protecting us from floods, filtering our water, supporting recreation and local economies, and providing habitat for fish and wildlife.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have released their final strategy for the protection and recovery of the North Atlantic Right Whale. BOEM has committed nearly $14 million in Inflation Reduction Act funding toward acoustic impact modeling, passive acoustic monitoring and various right whale-related studies.

And our social media Picture of the Week, these bristlecone pines at Nevada's Great Basin National Park. Bristlecones are among the oldest living organisms on earth, with life spans measured in the thousands of years. Their secret to longevity? Their ability to withstand harsh environments and adverse growing conditions.  

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That's This Week at Interior.