This Week at Interior October 4, 2024

Transcript:

This Week at Interior

Interior personnel joined emergency responders and assistance agencies from across the country this week in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene – which made landfall September 26th as a category 4 hurricane, causing massive devastation, flooding and more than 200 deaths. Employees from across the Department are supporting search and rescue efforts as well as law enforcement, firefighting, landslide assessments and more. Work is ongoing to assess damage to national parks, wildlife refuges and cultural sites in the wake of the storm. People in need of help, or who would like to help, can contact the Red Cross at redcross.org  

Secretary Haaland and Department leaders traveled to Carlisle, Pennsylvania this week as part of the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative. Secretary Haaland launched the initiative in 2021, the first comprehensive effort by the federal government to recognize the troubled legacy of past policies. Carlisle Indian Industrial School, which was located within what is now the U.S. Army Carlisle Barracks, was the first of 400 off-reservation boarding schools in the continental United States. The school was a model for the federal government’s boarding school policies aimed at stripping Indigenous children of their languages, religions and cultures.    

Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Bryan Newland traveled to the Pacific Northwest this week, where he talked about the impact of President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda on critical Tribal infrastructure projects. On Tuesday he attended a groundbreaking for new water and sewer system upgrades at the Cascade Locks Treaty In-Lieu site in Oregon which provides rehabilitation at Tribal fishing sites along the Columbia River. Wednesday, he joined the Tulalip Tribe in Washington along with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to mark a $240 million investment to support Tribal fish hatcheries that produce Pacific salmon and steelhead.

Interior this week announced more than $24 million from the President’s Investing in America agenda to restore our nation’s lands and waters. The funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will support 50 ecosystem restoration projects in 34 states and multiple U.S. Territories, as well as projects that provide nationwide benefits, building climate resilience, improved habitats, and healthier communities.  

The Departments of the Interior, Agriculture and Commerce this week made recommendations for promoting forest health and job creation through community-led economic development that relies on sustainable forest product industries and outdoor recreation. America’s forests provide millions of jobs and underpin local economies, particularly in rural communities. The Biden-Harris administration is mobilizing historic resources to help these forests and communities thrive.

Assistant Secretary for Insular and International Affairs Carmen Cantor visited the Republic of Palau this week, where she joined festivities celebrating its 30th year of independence. She announced more than $80 million in grants under the Compact of Free Association for the island nation's trust fund, for economic assistance for Palau's health and education systems and to support debt reduction.  

Bureau of Reclamation Deputy Commissioner David Palumbo joined Gila River Indian Community leaders for a groundbreaking ceremony this week at the first of three federally funded projects to enhance critical water infrastructure. The Deputy Commissioner was also on hand to celebrate the completion of the Casa Blanca Solar Covered Canal Project, which was also funded by Reclamation. In all, the Community will receive more than $107 million in federal funds for the three projects.

Funded by the President’s Investing in America agenda, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement this week awarded a contract for the decommissioning of eight orphaned pipelines in the Matagorda Island lease area, about 12 miles off the Texas coast. The project will reduce pollution risks and improve offshore safety by phasing out infrastructure that could interfere with navigation, commercial fisheries, and other ocean uses.

And our social media Picture of the Week, this busy little pika at Cedar Breaks National Monument in Utah. Every summer, pikas gather mouthfuls of wildflowers and grasses and build giant haystacks to stock up for winter. They’ll lay them on rocks in the sun to dry them out and then store them in their dens.

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That's This Week at Interior!  

 

This Week: Interior personnel join emergency responders and assistance agencies from across the country in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene; Secretary Haaland travels to Carlisle, Pennsylvania as part of the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative; Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Bryan Newland travels to the Pacific Northwest to talk about the impact of President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda on critical Tribal infrastructure projects; Interior announces more than $24 million to restore our nation’s lands and waters; the Departments of the Interior, Agriculture and Commerce make recommendations for promoting forest health and job creation; more than $80 million in grants are awarded for the Republic of Palau; the Bureau of Reclamation celebrates the first federally funded projects to enhance critical water infrastructure at the Gila River Indian Community; the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement awards a contract for the decommissioning of orphaned pipelines; a small but mighty mammal stars in 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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