| 10/14/09: Interior Launches Work Plan for BLM Western Oregon Forests |
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today launched a Fiscal Year 2010 work plan for Bureau of Land Management (BLM) forests in western Oregon that will add economic certainty for local communities while protecting endangered species. The plan includes a proposed schedule of 62 timber sales under the Northwest Forest Plan and the formation of federal field teams that will identify future proposed timber sales with high likelihood of being sold and harvested. In addition, a special task force will take a fresh look at forest management issues in Oregon. |
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Topic: Of the 62 proposed timber sales, 46 have already completed ESA consultation. (Text) |
:35 |
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Topic: Since last July's withdrawl of the Western Oregon Plan Revision, a new level of coordination between BLM and FWS has been taking place using the best available science. (Text) |
:48 |
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Topic: Secretary Salazar appointed the Directors of the BLM and the FWS to head a special interdisciplinary task force to come up with a long-term strategy and that Interior is committed to sustainable ecological and economic benefits. (Text) |
:40 |
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| 10/08/09: BLM Releases Report on Utah Oil and Gas Leases |
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today received a special Bureau of Land Management report on a controversial 2008 oil and gas lease sale in Utah that recommended development of a comprehensive interagency strategy to address leasing. The review also made reocmmendations concerning 77 leases that Secretary Salazar had withdrawn pending further investigation. |
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Topic: The report recommended that 17 leases could be reoffered for sale, 52 would be deferred and that 8 parcels should be withdrawn. The decisions were made after on-the-ground inspection by an interdisciplinary team. (Text) |
:39 |
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Topic: The report examined how the leasing process works and made recommendations to improve it. (Text) |
:39 |
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Topic: Secretary Salazar said that improving the way oil and gas is developed is part of the department's reform agenda. (Text) |
:27 |
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Topic: Deputy Secretary David Hayes says future guidance will help both the department and the industry by eliminating confusion. (Text) |
:33 |
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| 10/07/09: Salazar Seeks Congressional Support for Sustainable National Program to Manage Iconic Wild Horses |
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today proposed a national solution to restore the health of America's wild horse herds and the rangelands that support them by creating a cost-efficient, sustainable management program that includes the possible creation of wild horse preserves on the productive grasslands of the Midwest and East. The following are remarks from a teleconference the Secretary had with the press Wednesday afternoon. |
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Topic: Secretary Salazar says the current situation is unsustainable and is costing taxpayer dollars. (Text) |
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Topic: The plan would include moving wild horses to preserves in the Midwest and East. (Text) |
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Topic:The Secretary would bring more attention to Western herds by "showcasing" them through special designations. (Text) |
:24 |
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Topic: The proposal would apply new strategies to balance the growth rate of the herds with adoptions. (Text) |
:34 |
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Topic: The Secretary pointed out that killing wild horses is not considered in any Interior's management plans. (Text) |
:37 |
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| 09/30/09: Salazar Details Administration's Policy Push to Build 21st Century Power Transmission Grid |
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar told energy industry officials today that the federal government’s past electric transmission policy has been as fragmented and disjointed as the nation’s outdated power grid and that one of President Obama’s top energy priorities is to speed the development of a 21st Century network to move American energy more cleanly, efficiently and safely around the nation. |
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Topic: The Bureau of Land Management has identified 5,000 miles of energy transport corridors and is working with stakeholders to locate transmission facilities. (Text) |
:39 |
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Topic: Secretary Salazar says Tribal lands hold great potential for energy and transmission and that we will work with them "nation to nation" to identify projects that will benefit tribal communities. (Text)
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Topic: The Bureau of Land Management is fast-tracking some energy transmission permits that may clear the process in time to receive funding from the 2009 American Reinvestment and Recovery Act. (Text) |
:36 |
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Topic: Secretary Salazar says that electric transmission policy has been ignored for too long, but it is now being discussed in a cabinet level working group. (Text) |
:47 |
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| 09/16/09: Secretary Salazar Ends Controversial Royalty in Kind Program |
In testimony to the House Natural Resources Committee Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced he is reforming and restructuring the Department’s management of U.S. energy resources, starting with the termination of the Minerals Management Service’s (MMS) controversial Royalty in Kind program that accepts oil and natural gas from producers in lieu of cash royalties. Salazar also described administrative actions he is taking to develop a comprehensive energy strategy on U.S. public lands and the Outer Continental Shelf. |
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Topic: Secretary Salazar tells the House Natural Resources Committee that he is ending the Royalty in Kind program. (Text) |
1:05 |
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Topic: Secretary Salazar cites forward movement in the development of renewable energy. (Text) |
:46 |
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Topic: Secetary Salazar tells the committee that responsible development of oil and gas is an important part of the President's comprehensive energy plan. (Text) |
1:00 |
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| 09/14/09: Interior Launches Climate Change Response Strategy |
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar launched the Department of the Interior’s first-ever coordinated strategy to address current and future impacts of climate change on America’s land, water, ocean, fish, wildlife, and cultural resources. Secretary Salazar signed a secretarial order establishing a framework through which Interior bureaus will coordinate climate change and resource management strategies. |
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Topic: Secretary Salazar says all departments will be connected in an across the board approach, working together and sharing information. (Text) |
:27 |
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Topic: Secretary Salazar renewable energy is a primary focus of the climate change strategy. (Text) |
:38 |
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Topic: Secetary Salazar will chair the Climate Change Response Council and Deputy Secretary David Hayes will be the Vice Chair. Hayes says decisions will be driven by science. (Text) |
:28 |
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| 08/31/09: Agreements Signed for Flight 93 Memorial Land |
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today announced at a rooftop news conference Monday that the federal government has reached agreement with all of the landowners for all properties needed for the construction of the Flight 93 Memorial in western Pennsylvania. |
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Topic: Secretary Salazar says with a ground breaking this fall, the memorial should be completed by the 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks. (Text) |
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Topic: Secretary Salazar called the fields of western Pennsylvania hallowed ground. (Text) |
:32 |
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Topic: Secetary Salazar said Somerset County and the memorial will be good neighbors. (Text) |
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| 08/18/09: Recovery Investments Put Alaskans to Work |
The Department of the Interior is investing $85 million in Alaska under the President’s economic recovery package. Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks, Tom Strickland, in a week-long visit to the state, has covered thousands of miles from the Kodiak Island to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to highlight the investments in parks and refuges. He reports that they are laying a foundation for economic growth in Alaska communities. The following actualities are from a phone interview with Assistant Secretary Strickland on Tuesday just before his Blackberry lost its signal in the wilds of Denali National Park. |
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Topic: The National Park Service is starting to use some of its $21.8 million while the Fish and Wildlife Service will eventually put to use more than $10 million in Alaska. Assistant Secretary Strickland says it will help address deferred maintenance and infrastructure. (Text) |
:37 |
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Topic: Many of the projects promote renewable energy and energy efficiency while at the same time putting Alaskans to work. (Text) |
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Topic: On his trip, Strickland has gathered information on climate change and says Alaska is already feeling the impact of it. (Text) |
:41 |
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Topic: The Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks wants everyone to know that Alaska is a very friendly and beautiful place to visit. (Text) |
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| 08/06/09: Interior Tells Senate About Progress on Renewables |
| Tom Strickland, the Department of the Interior’s Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks
, testified before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works Thursday August 6. The full committee hearing was entitled “Climate Change and Ensuring that America Leads the Clean Energy Transformation.” Also testifying on the panel were Jon Wellinghoff, Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and David Sandalow, Assistant Secretary for Policy and International Affairs at the Department of Energy. |
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Topic: Assistant Secretary Strickland
assured the committee that development of renewable energy is not coming at the expense of conventional energy development on public lands. (Text) |
1:05 |
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Topic: Assistant Secretary Strickland said that all issues including environmental and transportation issues are being looked at with respect to development of solar energy. (Text) |
:42 |
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Topic: Assistant Secretary Strickland says that renewable energy development is in an early stage but that the department is moving quickly to put infrastructure into place. (Text) |
1:06 |
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| 07/30/09: Interior Invests $40 Million for California Drought Relief |
The Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Mike Connor announced today that $40 million under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) has been released for drought-relief projects in California. Projects include the installation of temporary pipelines and pumps, drilling and installation of new water wells, well-enhancement projects, and a groundwater monitoring effort. In an interview, Deputy Secretary of the Interior David Hayes said these investments will help preserve permanent crops and associated jobs in an area that is experiencing a prolonged drought, economic hardship and some of the highest unemployment rates in the United States. |
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Topic: Deputy Secretary David Hayes was appointed by Secretary Salazar to lead the federal water efforts in California. He says the emergency drought relief will help to stretch limited water supplies. (Text) |
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Topic: Deputy Secretary Hayes says the drought projects can begin immediately. (Text) |
:11 |
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Topic: Deputy Secretary Hayes says California water is a top priority for recovery dollars. (Text) |
:36 |
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Topic: Deputy Secretary Hayes promises the federal government will be a full partner with California. (Text) |
:39 |
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| 07/24/09: Secretary Salazar Cites Progress
Under Recovery Act |
| Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar testified today before the House Budget Committee that the Department of the Interior is making “swift progress” on making investments and creating jobs using the $3 billion entrusted to Interior under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. |
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Topic: Secretary Salazar says the Recovery Act is working and that investments are being made responsibly. "We want to insure that taxpayer dollars are not going to waste." (Text) |
:46 |
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Topic:Secretary Salazar told the committee that nearly $1.1 billion of recovery act funds will be committed by October. (Text) |
:23 |
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Topic: Secretary Salazar says jobs will be created during the next 18 months as the recovery funds are obligated and that it will have a positive economic impact. (Text) |
:40 |
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