Federal Agencies

 

Striking Confederate Place Names Still Stirs Debate — “A Virginia lake that since the 1970s has commemorated a slain Confederate artillery officer would be renamed under the latest batch of proposals under consideration by the federal officials scouring the landscape for offensive or inappropriate language. While the proposed changing of Lake Pelham to Lake Culpeper has stirred conflicting opinions in the rural area, it’s part of a place-by-place renaming campaign that could keep the Board on Geographic Names occupied for a long time to come. ‘I personally believe that it is important to change place names and other public representations that are offensive and to work together to find more inclusive alternatives. However, not everyone agrees on what this alternative should be,’ said Aimee Villarreal, an assistant professor of anthropology at Texas State University. A member of the Interior Department’s Advisory Committee on Reconciliation in Place Names, Villarreal added that, in her view, ‘Confederate symbolism conjures a version of history that erases the horrors of slavery and reconstitutes it as fantasy’ and that ‘in order to promote and build multiracial democracy, we need to confront racism and anti-Blackness in all its forms.’” [E&E News, 2/10/23 (=)]

 

Department of the Interior (DOI)

 

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland Visits Pittsburgh-Area Home To Tout Biden Abandoned Well Money — “Department of the Interior Secretary Deb Haaland was in Western Pennsylvania Thursday touting new funding available to clean up abandoned oil and gas wells. President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, passed in 2021, allocated a record $4.7 billion for plugging oil and gas wells, with Pennsylvania expected to receive $330 million over the next decade. Standing above an abandoned gas well at a private home in Allegheny County’s Ohio Township, Haaland said millions of people around the country live within a mile of these legacy sites, many abandoned decades ago. An abandoned gas well at the Ohio township, Allegheny County property of Ed and Mary Vojtas. ‘They litter the landscape with rusted and dangerous equipment, posing safety hazards and threats to wildlife,’ Haaland said. ‘Many of these wells have been left behind in backyards and recreation areas, nearby schools and community spaces.’ The homeowners, Ed and Mary Vojtas, have a well behind their house that will be sealed later this month with funding from the infrastructure law.” [StateImpact Pennsylvania, 2/9/23 (=)]

 

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM)

 

Biden’s Offshore Energy Boss Says Climate Crisis Is Opportunity — “The US government is moving urgently to nurture new offshore wind and carbon storage industries despite some economic hurdles, according to the nation’s newly minted ocean energy regulator. The tasks of overseeing the buildout of those nascent industries falls to Liz Klein, an environmental lawyer and clean energy champion just appointed director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. Klein takes over at a critical time, as her agency makes decisions about where to install ocean wind farms, how to safely store carbon dioxide under the sea floor and the future of oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. ‘The president has been clear that we are in a climate crisis, we have a responsibility as the federal government to do something about that and we can turn that into an opportunity to transition to cleaner sources of energy,’ Klein told Bloomberg in her first interview in the new role. At the same time, the focus will be on doing it in a ‘way that really supports communities’ while tapping American smarts and innovation, she added. Those opportunities converge in the Gulf of Mexico. The bureau is on track to sell the first-ever offshore wind development rights in the Gulf later this year. And it’s writing rules that will govern the storage of carbon dioxide under the sea floor — including how the government makes the area available to companies eager to take advantage of newly expanded tax credits to pump captured emissions underground.” [Bloomberg, 2/13/23 (+)]

 

Bureau of Reclamation

 

Reclamation Considers Overhaul For 60-Year-Old Glen Canyon Dam —  “The Bureau of Reclamation is weighing major changes to the Glen Canyon Dam — including building new power plants or even drilling through the structure — as it looks to adapt to record-low water levels in Lake Powell. In a presentation shared with stakeholder groups in recent days, Reclamation officials outlined how it could continue to generate hydropower, even if Lake Powell dips below the minimum level required, or 3,490 feet. That mark is 33 feet below the reservoir’s current level of about 3,523 feet, according to Reclamation data. But some observers worry that the bureau’s efforts — which could take a decade or more to implement and likely carry a massive price tag —are too late to save hydropower operations or to ensure water continues to flow downstream. ‘We’re going to stop generating hydropower well before this happens,’ said Eric Balken, who serves as executive director of the Glen Canyon Institute and participated in the event. ‘People should be ready for this dam to go offline.’ The Interior Department declined to provide a recording of the presentation and offered no details about Reclamation’s ongoing review. ‘The Interior Department continues to pursue a collaborative, consensus-based approach to both deploy resources that conserve water and increase the efficiency of water use in the Colorado River Basin, while preparing to use its authorities to protect the system’s reservoirs from falling to critically low elevations that would threaten water deliveries and power production,’ Interior spokesperson Tyler Cherry wrote in an email.” [E&E News, 2/10/23 (=)]

 

 

States & Local

 

Montana

 

Op-Ed: Rallying To Defend Montana's Public Lands — “As we all know too well, history repeats itself. And Montana state lawmakers are repeating their history of threatening public land access, funding for conservation programs, and our constitutional right to clean air, clean water, and healthy public lands. … Threats to Montana’s treasured constitution will be foremost in the minds of rallygoers. For over 50 years, the constitution has upheld our right to ‘a clean and healthful environment’, but already, legislators have proposed numerous constitutional amendments, including one specifically taking aim at the clause guaranteeing our right to clean air, clean water, and healthy public lands. Changing this provision isn’t just unnecessary, it’s careless, and we can’t sit idly while lawmakers jeopardize our clean and healthy environment. In Montana, our pristine public lands are fundamental to our high-quality way of life. Our outdoors fuel our recreation passions and provide habitat for fish, fowl, and four-legged creatures. They’re the foundation of our outdoor recreation economy, which supports tens of thousands of jobs across the state, contributing $1.2 billion in total compensation and 4.5% of our state’s gross domestic product. Our access to recreation and unspoiled wildlands are important elements of the recruitment toolbox for businesses that are thriving in Montana, attracting talent and allowing entrepreneurs to build strong, innovative, and hardworking teams across industries.” [Bozeman Daily Chronicle, 2/10/23 (+)]

 

New Mexico

 

A Win For Sacred Greater Chaco Region — “A Native American environmental group and other advocates just took a giant leap toward environmental justice. A federal appeals court recently ruled the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) failed to adequately analyze the consequences of permitting nearly 199 new oil and gas (O&G) wells in the northwestern Greater Chaco region. The defeat of O&G drilling permits marks an important victory for the health of frontline Diné communities located near the permitted sites. The Court’s judgment also establishes an important legal precedent that requires the federal government to consider the public health and climate effects of O&G drilling. The BLM’s decision to reaffirm the Trump administration’s issuance of O&G leases and approval of the drilling permits was challenged by Diné Citizens Against Ruining Our Environment, San Juan Citizens Alliance, Sierra Club, and WildEarth Guardians. The groups claimed BLM didn’t take a hard look at the environmental impacts on culturally and environmentally significant land sacred to the Navajo Nation. ‘Today’s 10th Circuit ruling shows that courage in the face of illegal exploitation can win victories for environmental justice. said Mario Atencio, Greater Chaco energy organizer, with Diné C.A.R.E.” [The Paper, 2/10/23 (+)]

 

Fossil Fuel Drilling Threatens Air And Wildlife In National Parks, Advocacy Group Finds — “A ‘massive’ methane cloud forming over Chaco Culture National Historical Park in New Mexico. Noxious air pollution fouling Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. Herds of mule deer and pronghorn at risk of decimation at Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. Environmental problems like these are already resulting from fossil fuel extraction near four federally protected lands — and could become even wider problems if the federal government doesn’t bolster protections, the Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks said in a recent report. Oil and gas development near parks could contaminate water and air, destroy habitat, hurt the visitor experience and exacerbate the impacts of climate change, Mike Murray, chairman of the coalition’s executive council, said in a Feb. 2 statement. ‘The Biden administration and Congress must take action to curb the adverse effects of energy extraction on parks, surrounding landscapes, gateway communities, park visitors, and national park resources,’ he said. Leasing of public lands to oil and gas developers grew significantly from 2016 through 2020, under the Trump administration, according to the report. During that time, the federal government leased 5.4 million acres to fossil fuel companies, according to a Wilderness Action report.” [Michigan Advance, 2/11/23 (+)]

 

Op-Ed: BLM Must Lead, Prioritize Meaningful Conservation — “The Journal’s (Dec. 30) editorial encouraging the Biden administration – and specifically Interior Secretary Deb Haaland’s Bureau of Land Management – to prioritize managing the West’s public lands ‘for resiliency and sustainability’ hit the nail right on the head. The time has certainly arrived and, in reality, is long overdue for BLM to put the protection of New Mexico’s and our nation’s wildest public lands, the health of its crucial rivers and streams, and the integrity of its irreplaceable sacred sites and cultural resources on even footing with extractive industry. As BLM director from 1993-94, I got a first-hand look at how the chickens rule the roost, with industry having an outsized voice in how public lands were managed. Fair and balanced it was not. In the intervening 30 years the BLM has suffered from underfunding, a significant brain drain as dedicated staff left or retired, and an aggressive attempt to leave it wounded beyond repair, all of which culminated in an aborted attempt to move BLM’s headquarters to Grand Junction, Colorado.” [Albuquerque Journal, 2/10/23 (+)]

 

North Dakota

 

Feds, Enviro Groups Defend North Dakota Oil Lease Sales Halt — “The Biden administration urged a North Dakota federal judge to reject the state’s request to force the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to hold oil and gas lease sales in the state, saying North Dakota is asking for too much too soon, with little to back up its argument. The Biden administration, backed by a coalition of environmental groups, said in a brief filed Thursday that U.S. District Judge Daniel M. Traynor should reject a preliminary injunction sought by North Dakota state officials seeking to undo a pause on federal oil and gas leasing, referring to the state’s request for ‘extraordinary relief’ as being ‘unprecedented’ and without merit. ‘The motion must be denied because it is per se improper; a plaintiff seeking a permanent injunction ... must obtain actual success on the merits of its claims,’ the Biden administration said. ‘But even if such relief on a motion for preliminary injunction were theoretically appropriate under some circumstances, no such circumstances exist here, where defendants are already leasing consistent with historic rates.’ The Biden administration’s brief, alongside a separate brief, also filed Thursday by environmental groups, including the Center for Biological Diversity and the Sierra Club, come in response to an early January motion for preliminary injunction filed by North Dakota seeking an order requiring canceled auctions for drilling rights to be rescheduled and for all future quarterly sales to be held.” [Law360, 2/10/23 (=)]

 

Wyoming

 

NPS Completes Largest Move Of Yellowstone Bison To Tribal Land — “The National Park Service earlier this year completed its largest transfer of bison from Yellowstone National Park to the Fort Peck Indian Reservation in Poplar, Mont. The 112 Yellowstone bison were moved onto tribal land the week of Jan. 10 by NPS and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, part of an effort to send fewer bison to slaughter each year and restore the animals on tribal land. According to the park service, bison are transferred as part of population control in Yellowstone National Park. Researchers estimate that the park can sustain up to approximately 10,000 bison, and in summer 2022 biologists counted roughly 6,000. Safety concerns sparked by too-close encounters between humans and bison, as well as concerns about property damage and disease transmission from bison to domestic cattle have led the park service to manage the animal’s numbers. In addition to transferring the bison through the Bison Conservation Transfer Program, the agency hosts tribal and public hunts outside of the park to cull populations. Bison are also sent to slaughter, at which point their meat and hides go to tribal groups. ‘It is important we continue to look for opportunities to build on the success of this program in order to move larger numbers of disease-free bison to Tribes across the country, while also achieving our future goal of eliminating shipments to slaughter,’ said NPS Superintendent Cam Sholly in a news release.” [E&E News, 2/10/23 (=)]

 

Op-Ed: Conservation And Access Priorities For Wyoming Sportspeople — “Most Wyoming lawmakers have made it clear that they support our Second Amendment rights and our right to hunt. We, the undersigned organizations, believe the following actions will help lawmakers go even further in supporting wildlife, hunting and angling in the Cowboy State: 1. Keep public lands and wildlife in the public’s hands Public lands, waters and wildlife are central to our way of life in Wyoming. Any proposal to transfer or privatize these resources is a nonstarter for sportsmen and sportswomen. 2. Commit to science-based management and the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation Science-based management, guided by the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation, has proven itself as the most effective approach for recovering and sustaining wildlife populations. Decision makers can build on our conservation legacy by supporting the state agencies and dedicated biologists who manage our shared wildlife resources. 3. Open access to inaccessible public land In Wyoming, 4 million acres of state and federal lands are surrounded by private holdings with no legal means of public access. Lawmakers should support cooperative solutions — including funding for voluntary access agreements — that respect private property rights and open access to these landlocked parcels.” [Wyoming Tribune Eagle, 2/11/23 (+)]

 

 

 

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