Interior Strengthens Coal Mining Oversight, Announces Initiatives to Better Protect Streams in Coal Country
The Department of the Interior is taking immediate actions to strengthen oversight of state surface coal mining programs and to promulgate Federal regulations to better protect streams affected by surface coal mining operations, Interior officials announced today. more
On September 30, the Departments of Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, and the Army, as well as the Environmental Protection Agency and the Council on Environmental Quality signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) committing these agencies to play a leadership role in ensuring a sustainable water supply and restoring the environmental integrity of the California Bay-Delta ecosystem. We are now seeking public input on the key issues that should be addressed in our short term plan.
Interior, Agriculture Secretaries to Purchase 5,026 Acres of Western Land with High Conservation Value
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that their agencies would acquire seven parcels of high value conservation land, totaling 5,026 acres in Colorado, Montana and Nevada for $11.7 million. The largest is a 4,573-acre property within the Canyons of the Ancients National Monument in Colorado. more
Brown Pelican. Photo courtesy U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Brown Pelican Populations Recovered, Removed from Endangered Species List
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks Tom Strickland and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Sam Hamilton today announced that the brown pelican, a species once decimated by the pesticide DDT, has recovered and is being removed from the list of threatened and endangered species under the Endangered Species Act.more
Secretary Salazar attended the ceremonial groundbreaking for the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shankesville, PA. [Photo credit: Tami A. Heilemann - DOI] Hi-Res
Breaking Ground on Flight 93 National Memorial
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar joined Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, Senator Bob Casey and the families of the Flight 93 heroes to break ground on the Flight 93 National Memorial. “On behalf of a grateful nation, we say to the men and women of Flight 93 who gave their lives on September 11, 2001 to prevent terrorists from attacking our nation’s capital ‘We will never forget you,’” Salazar said. more
President Obama takes questions from Tribal Leaders at the White House Tribal Nations Conference. [Photo Credit: Tami A. Heilemann - DOI] Hi-Res
White House Tribal Nations Conference
More than 400 members of federally recognized tribes gathered at the Department of the Interior at a Tribal Nations Conference hosted by President Barack Obama, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Cabinet Members.
Salazar Hosts White House Clean Energy Economy Forum on Renewable Energy, Job Creation, and Climate Impact and Adaptation
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today hosted a Clean Energy Economy Forum with stakeholders from 39 states across the country at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. Deputy Secretary David Hayes and other top Department of the Interior officials spoke about the importance of renewable energy and job creation, climate impact and adaptation, and efforts to support and maintain the treasured landscapes of America in the emerging clean energy economy .more
Christine King Farris speaks the press conference. Also pictured are Deputy Director of the National Park Service Dan Wenk, Secretary Salazar, President of the Washington, DC Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation, Inc. Harry E. Johnson and EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson. .[Photo Credit:Jeffrey Olson - NPS] Hi-Res
Salazar Approves Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Construction on National Mall
At a ceremony with Harry E. Johnson, Sr., President of the Washington, DC Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation, Inc., Christine King Farris, sister to Martin Luther King Jr.; EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson and members of the Black and Hispanic Caucuses, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today signed a permit allowing construction of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial on the National Mall. more
Nine Federal Agencies Agree to Expedite Permitting of Power Transmission Construction on Federal Lands
Obama Administration officials today released a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by nine Federal Departments and Agencies to make it faster and simpler to build transmission lines on Federal lands. The goal of the agreement is to speed approval of new transmission lines, reduce expense and uncertainty in the process, generate cost savings, increase accessibility to renewable energy and jumpstart job creation. more
The Department of the Interior (DOI) is the nation’s principal conservation agency. Interior is a large, decentralized agency with over 67,000 employees and 180,000 volunteers located at approximately 2,400 operating locations across the United States, Puerto Rico, U.S. territories, and freely associated states. more
Bob Abbey Confirmed as Director of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Abbey is a veteran public land policy leader and was chief architect of the Great Basin Restoration Initiative, as Nevada State Director for the Bureau of Land Management. more
At an open house held at the University of Pittsburgh, the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) recognized a collaborative project that will make thousands of historical maps of closed or abandoned underground coal mines in Pennsylvania available to the public. more
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