A Top DOI Official Had at Least Six Meetings With the Mining Industry. She Then Helped Cancel a Study on the Public-Health Effects of Mining. “Katharine MacGregor, the principal deputy assistant secretary for land and minerals management, is another little-known but immensely influential official at the DOI. A former staffer for the House Natural Resources Committee, which is led by Representative Rob Bishop (R-Utah), MacGregor now helps oversee the Bureau of Land Management and other agencies responsible for regulating resource extraction on hundreds of millions of acres of public land and water. Like many second-tier political appointees, MacGregor both shapes government policy and serves as a key emissary to industries favored by the Trump administration. A review of MacGregor’s work calendar, which was obtained through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, shows a large number of meetings with fossil fuel firms, industry lobbyists, and other commercial interests during her first year in office. According to her calendar, MacGregor met well over 100 times with extractive industry groups or representatives between January of 2017 and January of 2018. At the same time she held a mere handful of meetings—fewer than 10, according to my tally—with conservation organizations like The Wilderness Society and Sportsmen for the Boundary Waters.” [Pacific Standard, 6/11/18 (+)]
Sage grousing: Senators charge Interior is holding up conservation grants. “Democratic senators are demanding to know why the Department of Interior has been delaying the disbursement of grants and cooperative-agreement funding for conservation projects. According to a letter to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, written by Democrats Tammy Duckworth of Illinois and Mazie K. Hirono of Hawaii and signed by 10 colleagues, a political appointee has been put in charge of vetting payments of more than $50,000. The senators charge that the resulting delays have created ‘the appearance of improper political interference in program decisions that should always be merit-based.’ Interior has not yet responded to the letter, which was obtained exclusively by Yahoo News.” [Yahoo News, 6/12/18 (=)]
Green group hits administration over staff cuts that hamper wildlife refuge visitor center. “An environmental group is criticizing the Trump administration for staff cuts that are causing a national wildlife refuge visitor center to close down two days a week during the busy summer months. The National Bison Range in Montana — the 10th most visited refuge in the National Wildlife Refuge System — announced its visitor center will no longer be open on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, despite the park still being open to guests. In a letter sent Monday to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) argued that recent steps taken by the overseeing U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service office to diminish staff at the park to 4.5 on-site staff hurt the integrity of the refuge.” [The Hill, 6/11/18 (=)]
Administration looks offshore for wind energy boom. “The Trump administration is ‘bullish’ about offshore wind, working with governors in the Northeast to transform what was once a fringe and costly investment into America’s newest energy-producing industry. ‘When the president said energy dominance, it was made without reference to a type of energy,’ Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke told the Washington Examiner in an interview. ‘It was making sure as a country we are American energy first and that includes offshore wind. There is enormous opportunity, especially off the East Coast, for wind. I am very bullish.’ On a recent tour of coastal states, Zinke found ‘magnitudes’ more interest in offshore wind than oil and natural gas drilling.” [Washington Examiner, 6/12/18 (=)]
Dems push for hearing on harassment at Interior. “House Natural Resources Committee Democrats want Chairman Rob Bishop (R-Utah) to hold a hearing as soon as possible on long-standing problems with harassment within the Interior Department. The entire Democratic committee caucus — 18 members — sent Bishop a letter today praising Interior for making some ‘initial progress’ on rooting out sexual harassment and other forms of workplace harassment over the past year but said proper congressional oversight is necessary to sufficiently address the decadeslong problem.” [E&E News, 6/11/18 (=)]
Official from outside BLM becomes its second in command. “The Bureau of Land Management continues to reshuffle its top leadership, replacing acting Deputy Director of Operations Mike Nedd with a senior Interior Department official who has never worked at BLM. Richard Cardinale, Interior’s director of the business operations division in the Office of the Chief Information Officer, has moved into BLM’s deputy director of operations position, according to multiple sources who asked not to be identified because they are not authorized to publicly discuss the moves. Cardinale’s reassignment is on an acting basis in an effort to see whether he’s a good fit. As deputy director of operations, Cardinale will be responsible for the day-to-day operations of the agency and its nearly 10,000 employees, who manage 245 million acres of federal lands spread across the West.” [E&E News, 6/11/18 (=)]
Feds Weigh Proposals To Ship Wild Horses Overseas. “The Bureau of Land Management is reviewing a pair of proposals to relocate wild horses from the western United States to Guyana and Russia, part of an ongoing effort to manage the growing population. British cowboy and philanthropist Stan Brock told HuffPost he has been working with the governments of the U.S. and Guyana for several years to develop a plan to transport mustangs to the South American country. Brock managed Guyana’s remote Dadanawa Ranch, one of the world’s largest cattle ranches, in the 1950s and ’60s. He later moved to the U.S. and in 1985 founded Remote Area Medical, a nonprofit that provides free medical and veterinary care. ” [HuffPost, 6/11/18 (=)]
Lawmakers, advocates press FWS on cormorant culls. “Lawmakers and advocates yesterday urged the Fish and Wildlife Service to take quick action to reinstate culling of double-crested cormorants that they say are threatening free-swimming fish in the Great Lakes. As a result of conservation efforts, the aquatic bird's numbers are well beyond historic levels, Randall Claramunt, the Lake Huron Basin coordinator for the Oden State Fish Hatchery, said at a House Natural Resources Committee field hearing in Alpena, Mich. He said one bird can eat up to 1.3 pounds of fish per day.” [E&E News, 6/12/18 (=)]
House Dems press for whistleblower protections. “Amid the Trump administration's efforts to open more federal waters to energy development, three coastal lawmakers are calling on their committee leaders to bolster protections for whistleblowers working offshore. Reps. Mark DeSaulnier and Mark Takano of California and Bobby Scott of Virginia, all Democrats on the House Education and the Workforce Committee, penned a letter to panel Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) requesting a hearing and markup on H.R. 4304, the ‘Offshore Oil and Gas Worker Whistleblower Protection Act.’” [E&E News, 6/11/18 (=)]
Bill would shift 3% of state’s ANWR revenue to Native corporations. “At the request of Alaska Congressman Don Young, a bill pending in the U.S. House would reduce Alaska’s share of revenues from oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and give that money to Alaska Native corporations. Congress decided last year, when it opened the refuge to oil development, to split the revenues 50-50 between the federal and state governments. But last week Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., proposed to reduce the state’s share to 47 percent and direct 3 percent to Alaska Native corporations.” [Alaska Public Media, 6/11/18 (=)]
Top lawyer reopens N.D. mineral rights dispute. “The Interior Department solicitor’s office has temporarily withdrawn an Obama-era legal opinion involving the disputed ownership of minerals beneath the bed of the Missouri River in North Dakota. The withdrawal, quietly issued Friday, potentially gives the state another shot at minerals that an Obama-era opinion concluded belonged to Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation. About one-fifth of oil produced in North Dakota comes from lands overseen by the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation. ‘In order to ensure a thorough legal and factual basis for [the opinion], the underlying historical record should be reviewed and perhaps expanded upon by a professional historian, a task not performed prior to completion of [the opinion],’ the one-page withdrawal notice states.” [E&E News, 6/11/18 (=)]
Oil operator agrees to pay royalties owed to BLM. “Federal land managers will collect more than $130,000 in unpaid royalties from a Texas-based oil firm, according to a new government report. A joint investigation by the Bureau of Land Management's Special Investigations Group and the Interior Department's Office of Inspector General revealed that Sanco Operating Co. and Sanders Oil & Gas LLC had failed to report gas production between August 2010 and December 2016, according to a summary of their findings. Sanco reached a settlement in February with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Colorado to fulfill $130,752 in unmet royalty obligations.” [E&E News, 6/12/18 (=)]
Refuge head blasts Colo. official for Rocky Flats criticism. “A federal official last week blasted a Colorado health officer in an email for questioning the safety of Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge encircles the site of a former factory that manufactured plutonium triggers for nuclear warheads. Cleanup was completed in 2005, but critics worry that radiation lingers as the site is set to open to the public this summer. Mark Johnson, health director of Jefferson County, which includes the site, has said multiple times that he’s unsure whether the site is ready.” [E&E News, 6/11/18 (=)]
BLM aims to expand recreational use of Wyo. Land. “The Bureau of Land Management wants to expand hiking and biking trails in Wyoming while withdrawing over 4,000 acres of nearby land from mining. BLM announced the plans Thursday, to the delight of cyclists who have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on maintaining the trails near Lander, Wyo. ‘People now specifically travel to Lander for this area for mountain biking,’ said Mike Dicken, board member of the Lander Cycling Club. ‘We see a direct impact on the local economy, and we’re very thankful for what BLM has done to improve that.’ Jared Oakleaf, a BLM outdoor recreation planner, said the agency has been partnering with the local mountain bike and horseback riding communities on ways to use the area, called Johnny Behind the Rocks, which was designated as a recreation zone in 2014.” [E&E News, 6/11/18 (=)]
Is Washington gaining or losing forest? City, feds disagree. “The District of Columbia has found that a huge, long-term effort to bring back Washington’s urban forest is making progress, but a recent Forest Service study calls that into question. Looking at 2016 data, the district found that 38.7 percent of land area was forested, an increase from 35.1 percent 10 years earlier. However, research from two Forest Service scientists found that the district lost 850 acres of tree cover between 2010 and 2015. The study compared the district to states and found that the city’s loss was among the highest of any jurisdiction over the time period by percentage.” [E&E News, 6/11/18 (=)]
Op-Ed: Enjoying the great outdoors is the American way of life — but not for long. “In the coming months, Latinos, and Americans of all backgrounds are counting on Congress to make good on their commitment to the LWCF and guarantee our families are able enjoy America’s iconic landscapes and waterways for generations to come. Failure to do so will put at risk our nation’s legacy of ensuring that our children and families have the ability access and enjoy public lands and parks across the country. We are united in our call for our national leaders to do the right thing so that future generations of all Americans can enjoy the benefits of the Land and Water Conservation Fund. ” [The Hill, 6/11/18 (+)]
Editorial: We have too much to lose with Trump’s offshore oil drilling plan. “No one should be surprised that Trump is reviving that plan. He knows that he is not widely popular across the state, so what does he have to lose? What does he have to gain? The right question to ask is what does the environment and the economy have to lose? Far too much. That’s why the unfolding of the leasing process deserves sharp public focus from Huffman and state and county officials.” [Marin Independent Journal, 6/11/18 (+)]