Aerial surveys will begin March 16 and run through mid-May in five states containing lesser prairie-chicken habitat. The surveys are conducted annually by the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (WAFWA) to document population trends and how the bird is responding to management strategies identified in the Lesser Prairie-Chicken Range-wide Conservation Plan.
President’s $11.7 Billion Proposed FY 2019 Budget for Interior Includes Legislation to Strengthen Infrastructure and Address Deferred Maintenance
Budget also focuses on economic growth, responsible energy development and reorganizing for the next 100 years
WASHINGTON, Feb 12, 2018– President Donald Trump today proposed an $11.7 billion Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 budget for the Department of the Interior that includes a legislative proposal to establish the Public Lands Infrastructure Fund. The Fund will provide up to $18 billion to address Interior’s deferred maintenance backlog in national parks, national wildlife refuges and Bureau of Indian Education schools through funding from energy leasing revenues. The legislation complements the President’s national infrastructure investment proposal and recognizes the importance of a long-term investment in America’s treasures.
Western Governors have asked Department of the Interior (DOI) Secretary Ryan Zinke why they were not consulted in advance about DOI's proposal to change the bureaus’ regional office boundaries and shared additional questions regarding the proposal.
"Western Governors appreciate your desire to improve the efficiency of DOI so that it can more effectively respond to the needs of our nation," said WGA Chair and South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard and Vice Chair and Hawaii Gov. David Ige in the letter sent Feb. 1. However, the Governors
Secretary Zinke Signs Order to Begin Process of Creating First Ever National Survey of Critical Minerals
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, following President Donald J. Trump's executive order to break America's dependence on foreign minerals, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke signed a secretarial order directing the initial steps to producing the first nationwide geological and topographical survey of the United States in modern history. The order also directs Interior bureaus to begin work on identifying immediate domestic sources for critical minerals.
By: Rep. Rob Bishop (R-UT) Chairman, House Committee on Natural Resources October 11, 2017
In aTuesday op-ed, I explained the constitutional threat posed by the Antiquities Act, and why its repeated abuse is inconsistent with the constitutional pillars of the rule of law and checks and balances. As it turns out, there's a reason the Founders chose these principles as the basis of our government: arbitrary rule has no incentive to be accountable to the people that policies affect. Without that accountability, political and ideological manipulation corrodes the balance of power.
