This Week at Interior
Secretary Haaland joined colleagues from the Departments of Defense, Agriculture and Commerce
this week to launch the Federal Interagency Council on Outdoor Recreation, or FICOR. The
effort will create safer, more affordable and more equitable opportunities for Americans
to get outdoors by expanding recreation opportunities and investing in recreation infrastructure.
In a new op-ed in Indianz.com Secretary Haaland highlights the importance of Native people
voting. In the new piece, she discusses the importance of democracy in Indigenous communities
and the struggle to gain the right to vote. She also outlines the steps that President
Biden and Interior are taking to protect voting rights.
The rehabilitation of the George Washington Memorial Parkway is underway. The parkway,
located just across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C., is managed by the National
Park Service and serves more than 70,000 vehicles per day. The project, which comes in at more
than $160 million, is one of the largest Great American Outdoors Act investments in the country.
The rehabilitation efforts will improve visitor safety, preserve the road’s historic design and
ensure that future generations can use and enjoy this scenic roadway
Interior this week released final guidance for eligible states and the Navajo Nation
on how to apply for the first $725 million in funding available for reclaiming abandoned
mine lands. President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides a total of $11.3
billion in AML grant funding over 15 years to eligible states and Tribes; the grants
will help communities eliminate dangerous environmental hazards and pollution caused
by past coal mining while creating good-paying jobs and revitalizing coal communities.
Interior has announced $3.4 million from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for the Lake
Tahoe Basin to address the spread of aquatic invasive species. The investments are part
of $17 million allocated for Lake Tahoe to restore the basin's ecosystem and emphasize
the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to inclusive engagement with Tribes, partners
and stakeholders.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Martha Williams visited Philadelphia's John Heinz
National Wildlife Refuge, to highlight how the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is supporting
the National Fish Passage Program. A $900,000 investment from the infrastructure law is
helping to restore Henderson Marsh by reconnecting 150 acres...that will allow water to move
freely through the marsh, prevent flooding damage to the surrounding communities, and
expand recreational opportunities for kayaking and fishing at the refuge.
The Fish and Wildlife Service joined its federal, state and Tribal partners to celebrate the
return of endangered winter-run Chinook salmon eggs to the McCloud River upstream of California's
Shasta Reservoir. Twenty thousand fertilized eggs were placed into riverside incubators,
and another twenty thousand will be added in August. The move comes in response to severe
drought conditions that have now entered their third year.
Second Gentlemen Douglas Emhoff was the keynote speaker this week at the official dedication
of the newest addition to the Korean War Veterans Memorial on the National Mall -- the Wall
of Remembrance. The wall will be the new focal point at the memorial; it features the names
of more than 36,000 Americans who gave their lives during the Korean War, and those of
over 7,000 Koreans who died while augmenting the U.S. Army.
And our social media Pictures of the Week, a celebration of Landsat's 50th anniversary
from NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey. Since 1972, USGS and NASA have worked together
on an unprecedented and nearly continuous visual record of Earth’s landscapes, icescapes
and coastal ecosystems. Together NASA and Interior shared our top 10 “Earth as Art”
images to celebrate that half century of partnership...check'em out on Instagram.
Make sure you follow us on Instagram, along with Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.
That’s This Week at Interior