Secretary Salazar Commends Employees for Their Hard Work in 2009
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today thanked the department’s employees around the nation for their hard work and accomplishments during 2009, releasing a report on the major conservation, energy and land management initiatives and administrative reforms achieved in the past year.
Secretary Salazar Puts Timeline on Cape Wind Decision
In a press conference in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced that public comment on the Cape Wind application will close on February 12 and that consideration of final alternatives will begin March 1, with a final decision on the matter by the end of April. more
On January 12, 2010, Haiti was struck by the most violent earthquake in a century.
It appears that many schools, hospitals and other buildings have collapsed.
Secretary Salazar Launches Onshore Oil and Gas Leasing Reforms to Improve Certainty, Reduce Conflicts and Restore Balance on U.S. Lands
Citing a need to improve certainty and order in oil and gas leasing on U.S. public lands, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced several reforms that the Bureau of Land Management will undertake to improve protections for land, water, and wildlife and reduce potential conflicts that can lead to costly and time-consuming protests and litigation of leases. Interior will also establish a new Energy Reform Team to identify and implement important energy management reforms. more
Secretary Salazar Announces Reclamation’s Mid-Pacific Region Recovery Act Award for Bridge and Siphon Construction for Red Bluff Fish Passage Improvement Project
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced today that the Bureau of Reclamation’s Mid-Pacific Region has awarded a $21 million contract under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) for the Red Bluff Fish Passage Improvement Project. The work includes the construction of a bridge, siphon, and water conveyance channel to connect the headworks of the Tehama-Colusa and Corning Canals to a future fish screen and pumping plant. The complete facility is designed to improve fish passage through the existing Red Bluff Diversion Dam (Dam). The new diversion facility will be located on the Sacramento River about a mile upstream of the Dam and 2 miles southeast of Red Bluff, California. more
Secretary Salazar Initiates Final Review of Cape Wind Proposal
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar issued a statement in response to the determination by the National Park Service’s Keeper of the National Register of Historic Places that Nantucket Sound is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. The finding of eligibility ensures that significant archeological, historic and cultural values are considered in the review of the permit for the proposed Cape Wind project by the Minerals Management Service (MMS). more
Reclamation Announces Record of Decision on the Delta-Mendota Canal/California Aqueduct Intertie Project
The Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Reclamation took the first step today toward implementing a high priority action from the December 22, 2009, Interim Federal Action Plan for the California Bay-Delta. Don Glaser, Mid-Pacific Regional Director with the Bureau of Reclamation, signed the Record of Decision (ROD) for the Delta-Mendota Canal (DMC)/California Aqueduct (CA) Intertie (Intertie), completing the Federal environmental documentation process. more
Salazar Announces $369 Million in Abandoned Mine Land Grants Available to States, Tribes
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced today that the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) is making $369 million available to states and tribes to restore abandoned coal mines, an increase of over $70 million from last year. more
Obama Administration Officials Release Interim Federal Action Plan for Water Crisis in California Bay-Delta
The Obama Administration today released a coordinated interim action plan to address the water crisis in California. In accordance with a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by six federal agencies at the end of September, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Chair Nancy Sutley of the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) joined the Department of Commerce, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Department of the Army and the Department of Agriculture to release a list of actions being taken by the six federal agencies. more
Secretary Salazar, Attorney General Holder Announce Settlement of Cobell Lawsuit on Indian Trust Management
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Attorney General Eric Holder today announced a settlement of the long-running and highly contentious Cobell class-action lawsuit regarding the U.S. government's trust management and accounting of over three hundred thousand individual American Indian trust accounts.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
Over $68 million in Regulatory Grants, The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) announced the availability of more than $68 million in grants to help eligible states and tribes operate their surface coal mining regulatory programs. more