U.S. Department of the Interior - Radio News Service

The Cherry Blossom Web Camera is one of several webcams available on www.doi.gov.

Interior Radio Department News Service - 2005 Stories

The Interior Department Radio News/Podcast Service features stories and event actualities about land, water, and resources for download to your newscasts or just informative listening to find out what's happening in the BLM, FWS, NPS, USGS, BOR, MMS, OSM and the BIA. This is a free service of the U.S. Department of the Interior. Feedback on usage is welcome at Interior_News@ios.doi.gov

Audio News Release PSAs Press Release Podcasts

12/15/2005	Programmatic EIS a Major Step Forward in Promoting Wind Energy Production on Public Lands
11/15/2005	Interior Announces Proposal to Delist Yellowstone Grizzly Bears
10/31/2005	ANWR Equals Jobs and Economic Security
10/06/2005	Secretary of the Interior Reports Economic Impact of National Wildlife Refuges
10/05/2005	Secretary Norton Reports on Gulf of Mexico Energy Status
10/04/2005	Secretary Norton Awards 2005 National Take Pride In America® Award Winners At Department of Interior Ceremony
09/27/2005	Norton Commends Resources Committee on Passage of "The Threatened And Endangered Species Recovery Act of 2005"
09/14/2005	Assistant Secretary Watson Discusses Efforts to Meet America's Natural Gas Demand
09/09/2005	Minerals Management Service Fully Operational but Shut-in Continues
09/07/2005	Department of Interior Gives Offshore Status to Senate Subcommittee
09/02/2005	Minerals Management Begins to Assess Damage, Give Aid
08/19/2005	White House Selects Outstanding Examples of Cooperative Conservation
08/15/2005	White House Selects Outstanding Examples of Cooperative Conservation
08/12/2005	Interior Department Awards $32 Million in Conservation Grants
07/28/2005	No Fraud Found as Interior Reforms Indian Trusts
07/25/2005	Drought Easing for Most Western States but It's Not over Yet
07/18/2005	The Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act; Improving on a Good Idea
07/06/2005	New Grazing Rule Underscores Proper Use of Public Lands
07/06/2005	Wild Horse and Burro Adoption Program Alive and Well
06/22/2005	Environmental Impact Statement Supports Wind Energy Development on Public Lands
06/03/2005	Secretary Norton Adds 37 New National Trails
06/01/2005	BLM Reveals Discovery of New Cave on New Mexico Public Lands
05/27/2005	Fire potential for much of the West is expected to be above norm
05/18/2005	Secretary Norton Addresses American Wildlife Conservation Partners
05/04/2005	Norton Decides to Maintain Level of Colorado River Water Releases at Lake Powell
04/29/2005	Secretary Norton Announces New Owners for Lighthouses Refuge
04/28/2005	Once-thought Extinct Ivory-Billed Woodpecker Rediscovered in Arkansas Refuge
04/21/2005	Interior Secretary Norton Celebrates Cooperative Conservation at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge
03/07/2005	Fish Wildlife Service Announces $62 Million in Grants to States
03/04/2005	Interior Secretary Gale Norton Goes to ANWR to See Oil Drilling Technology
03/03/2005	U.S. Coral Reef Task Force; Partnerships in Protecting Imperiled Coral Reef Ecosystem
02/25/2005	DOI and MMS to Help Dedicate World’s Largest Floating Offshore Oil Platform
02/16/2005	Gulf of Mexico Oil Production at 93 Percent after Ivan
02/10/2005	FY 2006 Interior Budget Emphasizes Commitments and Cooperation
01/10/2005	Greater Sage Grouse Not Warranted for Listing Under ESA
01/06/2005	New U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Regulation Allows Maximum Management of Gray Wolves For the States of Montana and Idaho

1/6/2005: New U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Regulation Allows Maximum Management of Gray Wolves For the States of Montana and Idaho
Audio	Summary	Length
	STORY: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has unveiled a new regulation expanding the authority of States and Native American Tribes with Service-approved wolf management plans to manage gray wolves in the Northern Rocky Mountains population. Only two States, Montana and Idaho, where there are about 550 wolves, presently fit that category. While the wolves have recovered from near extinction, detailed management plans must be in place before they can be taken off the Endangered Species list. (text)	:55
	SOUNDBITE: The new rule give ranchers, Indians and biologist management options on private, public and reservation lands. It's an emotional issue from both sides according to Ed Bangs, the Wolf Recovery Coordinator for the Northwest United States. The proposed rule stimulated more than 23,000 comments after it was published in March 2004. (text)	:35
	SOUNDBITE: Gray wolves were reintroduced in the Northern Rockies as nonessential experimental populations under the Endangered Species Act in 1995 and 1996. The return of the wolf to the top of the food chain has had a ripple effect throughout the ecology of the region. (text)	:36
	SOUNDBITE: According to the Fish and Wildlife Service, giving more management options to states and reservations is good practice for when the gray wolf is eventually de-listed. (text)	:19

1/10/2005: Greater Sage Grouse Not Warranted for Listing Under ESA
Audio	Summary	Length
	STORY: The U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service has completed its status review of the greater sage-grouse throughout its range and determined that the species does not warrant protection under the Endangered Species Act at this time. The decision follows a recommendation made by agency senior regional scientists and managers that the sage-grouse does not warrant listing under the ESA. (text)	:55
	SOUNDBITE: 92 percent of the known active leks (traditional sites where males and females congregate for courtship) occur in 10 core populations across eight western states. Director of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Steve Williams, says that five of these populations are large and expansive and were important factors in the Service's decision. In addition, approximately 160 million acres of sagebrush, a necessary habitat for sage-grouse, currently exists across the western landscape. (text)	:27
	SOUNDBITE: FWS Director Williams's points out that the ESA only allows for a scientific judgment that does not consider what the impact of listing a species may have on other uses of the land or habitat. (text)	:25
	SOUNDBITE: The conservation efforts of federal agencies, state agencies and private landowners, their efforts to improve Sage brush habitat for Sage Grouse is something that really did make an impact on the status of the species across its entire range according to Mr. Williams. (text)	:20

2/10/2005: FY 2006 Interior Budget Emphasizes Commitments and Cooperation
Audio	Summary	Length
	STORY: President Bush's proposed fiscal year 2006 budget of $10.8 million for the Department of the Interior continues to meet his commitments to Interior's strategic goals and uses the power of cooperative conservation to help Interior work more efficiently. (text)	:55
	SOUNDBITE: The budget includes $381.3 million for Interior's cooperative conservation programs, which leverage limited federal funds, typically requiring a nonfederal match of 50 percent or more. Assistant Secretary for Policy, Management and Budget, Lynn Scarlett, says these partnerships provide a foundation for cooperative efforts to protect endangered and at-risk species; engage local communities and organizations in conservation and achieve conservation goals while maintaining working landscapes. (text)	:27
	SOUNDBITE: The success of Water 2025 was confirmed with a request for a $10.5 million increase over 2005's funding for a total of $30 million. Water 2025 is a challenge-grant matching program that funds innovative water supply projects in areas where conflict among water users either exists or is likely to occur in the years ahead. (text)	:20
	SOUNDBITE: The budget proposal calls for $313 million in forest and range health programs as part of the President's Healthy Forests Initiative. Fuels treatment projects have removed hazardous fuels from 11 million acres as of last year, mostly in the wildland urban interface. (text)	:20
	SOUNDBITE: The Wildland Fire Rural Fire Assistance program has been terminated. Partnerships with local fire departments will be addressed through FEMA with plenty of input from the Interior Department. However, Interior will still be training with local firefighters out of its preparedness funds. (text)	:26

2/16/2005: Gulf of Mexico Oil Production at 93 Percent after Ivan
Audio	Summary	Length
	STORY: Last September's Hurricane Ivan may be a distant memory for some but the effects are still being felt by the oil and gas industry in the Gulf of Mexico. Thirteen pipelines were damaged by mudslides and remain shut-in and another four pipelines with a diameter of 10 inches or more were damaged by other forces. All remain off production. MMS recently gave notice to the industry to complete repairs by June 1 2005, the beginning of the next hurricane season. (text)	:55
	SOUNDBITE: MMS estimates that, of the approximately 4,000 structures and 33,000 miles of pipelines in the gulf, 150 platforms and 10,000 miles of pipeline were in the direct path of Hurricane Ivan. This path brought Hurricane Ivan across the shelf and through the waters of the Mississippi River delta, the area most susceptible to underwater mudslides in the gulf. (text)	:17
	SOUNDBITE: Deep water platforms account for 60 percent of the remaining shut-in oil. MMS says underwater structural damage assessments are still ongoing but updated projections tentatively have all remaining deep water facilities being back online by April 2005. MMS regional spokesman Joe Trahan says time is of the essence.(text)	:25
	SOUNDBITE: The cumulative delay of oil production since the shut-in comes to 43,841,245 billion barrels, equivalent to 7.246% of the yearly production of oil in the Gulf of Mexico, which is approximately 605 million barrels. The cumulative shut-in gas is 172.259 billion cubic feet, equivalent to 3.871% of the yearly production of gas in the Gulf, which is approximately 4.45 trillion cubic feet. (text)	:22

2/25/2005: DOI and MMS to Help Dedicate World’s Largest Floating Offshore Oil Platform
Audio	Summary	Length
	STORY:The world’s largest and most advanced semi-submersible oil platform, which will soon be used to tap into a huge reserve of oil and gas deep under the Gulf of Mexico. The Thunder Horse platform is about 50 percent larger than the next largest floating semi-submersible rig in the world. It will enable it to process 250,000 barrels of oil and 200,000 million cubic feet of natural gas per day – enough energy to provide daily energy needs for 6.5 million American homes. (text)	:55
	SOUNDBITE::21 Long safety records go unnoticed but according to the National Academy of Sciences, Gulf of Mexico production platforms have a remarkable winning streak. Johnnie Burton, Director of the Minerals Management Service says it’s due in part to regulation by the MMS. (text)	:21
	SOUNDBITE: Thunder Horse has the potential to produce approximately 1 billion barrels of oil equivalent over the life of the field. At its peak, the facility is designed to process 200,000 million cubic feet of natural gas, and 250,000 barrels of oil per day. That oil can be refined into 125,000 barrels of gasoline, or about 5 million gallons. With the 5 million gallons of gasoline, you could drive an SUV 8 million miles — to the moon and back more than 16 times. .(text)	:17
	SOUNDBITE: Under the President’s National Energy Plan, the Interior Department has been providing incentives to energy companies to take the financial risk of exploring in deep-water and deep-shelf areas of the gulf. These incentives, which take the form of royalty relief, ensure taxpayers a fair return while making it worth the risk for companies to explore hard-to-reach reserves. (text)	:22
	SOUNDBITE: 19 Minerals Management Service’s Regional Director for Gulf of Mexico, Chris Oynes, says MMS inspectors are very involved with the launch of the Gulf’s largest submersible platform. (text)	:17
	SOUNDBITE:The Thunder Horse area, which is 150 miles offshore of Texas in the Gulf of Mexico, has the potential to produce approximately 1 billion barrels of oil equivalent over the life of the field, making it the largest discovery in the gulf to date. (text)	:16

3/3/2005: U.S. Coral Reef Task Force; Partnerships in Protecting Imperiled Coral Reef Ecosystem
Audio	Summary	Length
	STORY: The Coral Reef Task Force was established by Executive Order in 1998 to develop and implement a comprehensive program of research and mapping to inventory, monitor, and identify the major causes and consequences of degradation of reefs. Interior Secretary Gale Norton directs the active participation of five bureaus within the Department of the Interior in the activities of the task force. (text)	:55
	SOUNDBITE: The Coral Reef Task Force actively encourages states and territories to implement Local Action Strategies for conserving the coral resources off their shores. In each jurisdiction, decisions on what actions to undertake are based on community input, generally through extensive public meetings. The result is a locally-driven set of priorities. Elements from the coral reef plan were also made part of the President's Ocean Action Plan(text)	:21
	SOUNDBITE: Since 1994, Fish and Wildlife Service has protected more than one million acres and restored another 100,000 acresof wetlands and coastal areas. Thursday Secretary Norton announced that Fish and Wildlife Service would be opening a new office Puerto Rico to build on that success. (text)	:19
	SOUNDBITE: Since 1994, Fish and Wildlife Service has protected more than one million acres and restored another 100,000 acresof wetlands and coastal areas. Thursday Secretary Norton announced that Fish and Wildlife Service would be opening a new office Puerto Rico to build on that success. (text)	:19

3/4/2005: Interior Secretary Gale Norton Goes to ANWR to See Oil Drilling Technology
Audio	Summary	Length
	SOUNDBITE: Interior Secretary Gale Norton is on Alaska's North Slope this weekend along with a delegation of U.S. Senators, Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman and Council on Environmental Quality Chairman James Connaughton (Con'-uh-ton). The group will visit the 10-02 Area of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. In a press conference Thursday, Secretary Norton emphasized that any oil and gas exploration in the small portion of the refuge will be meeting the highest standards ever set for environmentally responsible energy production. (text)	:19
	SOUNDBITE: The 10-02 Area is the 1.5-million-acre portion of the 19-million-acre and was set aside in 1980 by President Carter and a Democratic-controlled Congress for potential future oil and gas development. The US Geological Survey's mean estimate is that the area contains 10.4 billion barrels of oil.(text)	:31
	SOUNDBITE: This weekend's trip to ANWR is Secretary Norton's third since becoming Interior Secretary in January 2001. She says she's eager to make another winter trip -- despite the wind chills of 70 below zero. (text)	:34
	SOUNDBITE: Secretary Norton intends to use the trip to highlight the potentially vast resource potential of the 1002 Area. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the 1.5 million acre 10-02 area represents America's greatest onshore prospect for future oil. (text)	:20

3/7/2005: Fish Wildlife Service Announces $62 Million in Grants to States
Audio	Summary	Length
	STORY: The State Wildlife Grants are designed to assist State-specific programs that benefit declining wildlife and their habitat. The Grants are funded under the 2005 Interior Department Appropriations Act. (text)	:55
	SOUNDBITE: The Service is works closely with State planners to develop comprehensive wildlife conservation strategies. The main goal is to keep species from reaching the level of needing to be listed as endangered according to Matt Hogan, the Deputy Director of the Fish and Wildlife Service. (text)	:11
	SOUNDBITE: Some examples of ongoing projects the grants will be used for include restoring 90 acres of tallgrass prairie and 70 acres of wheatgrass playa. These plant communities provide important habitat for an array of sensitive prairie species according to Mr. Hogan. (text)	:16
	SOUNDBITE: In the Midwest the Illinois Department of Natural Resources is partnering with the City of Chicago to purchase 102 acres at Hegewisch marsh. The new purchase provides optimum nesting for the little blue heron, yellow-headed blackbird, pie-billed grebe and the common moorhen. (text)	:13
	SOUNDBITE: The state of Maryland will use its grant money to gather wild Atlantic sturgeon and analyze their genetic profiles in an effort to restore their species. (text)	:21
	SOUNDBITE: The need for cooperative conservation grows as the nation grows. Mr. Hogan points out traditional conservationists such as hunters and anglers aren't enough to keep species going. (text)	:16
	SOUNDBITE: Working landscapes are often habitat also. Hogan says grant programs often help farmers to stay on the land and share it wildlife. (text)	:29

4/21/2005: Interior Secretary Norton Celebrates Cooperative Conservation at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge
Audio	Summary	Length
	STORY: The results of President Bush's Cooperative Conservation and Healthy Forest Initiatives are not unique to the Western United States. In advance of Earth Day 2005, Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton experienced nearly the entire spectrum of those efforts at the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in Cambridge, Maryland. (text)	1:01
	SOUNDBITE: Secretary Norton spent a morning planting Loblolly Pine trees and marsh grass and also toured part of a 900-acre hazardous fuels reduction project at the refuge. The project is the largest project of its kind in the Fish and Wildlife Service's Northeast Region. The Secretary also visited a volunteer fire department where federal money has beefed up first responders in Dorchester County. (text)	:17

4/28/2005: Once-thought Extinct Ivory-Billed Woodpecker Rediscovered in Arkansas
Audio	Summary	Length
	STORY: Responding to the dramatic rediscovery of the Ivory-billed woodpecker at the Cache River National Wildlife Refuge in Arkansas, Interior Secretary Gale Norton and Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns announced Thursday a proposal to commit more than $10 million in federal funds to protect the bird. (text)	:55
	SOUNDBITE: The money will create what Secretary Norton calls "The Corridor of Hope Cooperative Conservation Plan" throughout a huge swath of an area known as the Big Woods of east Arkansas where the bird was spotted. (text)	:28
	SOUNDBITE: A major detail of the plan will be to beef up law enforcement in the area. The Ivory Billed Woodpecker is said to be the "Holy Grail" of bird watching, but the Secretary cautioned that the species will need time for habitat protection to be put in place as well as further study. (text)	:35
	SOUNDBITE:Since February 2004 there have been only seven confirmed sightings and just a few frames of video and moments of audio of the Ivory Bill's distinctive double knock pecking. Millions of dollars have already been committed to research and habitat protection efforts by private sector groups and citizens, an amount expected to grow once news of the rediscovery spreads. Secretary Norton says cooperative conservation will be emphasized throughout the recovery effort (text)	:20

4/29/2005: Secretary Norton Announces New Owners for Lighthouses
Audio	Summary	Length
	STORY: Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton has announced her selection of four more candidates to receive ownership of four lighthouses under the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act and announced that applications are being accepted for ownership of nine others. (text)	:55
	SOUNDBITE: 23 Recipients of lighthouses must meet the program's requirements. According to Jon Jarvis is the Regional Director for the Pacific West Region of the National Park Service, the program emphasizes stewardship of the lighthouses for public parks and recreation and for cultural, educational and historic preservation purposes rather than for private use. (text)	:23
	SOUNDBITE: The Coast Guard determines if the lighthouses are needed, while the General Services Administration acts as the nation's real estate agent. The National Park Service represents the Secretary of the Interior because most of the lighthouses are in the Registry of Historic Places or soon will be. Groups must prove that they can financially afford to preserve the structures. (text)	:29
	SOUNDBITE:So far 18 of 50 lighthouses have been transferred. It all adds up to another example of partnerships making a difference according to Jarvis. (text)	:32

5/4/2005: Norton Decides to Maintain Level of Colorado River Water Releases at Lake Powell
Audio	Summary	Length
	STORY: Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton announced Monday that water releases from Lake Powell will go on at their scheduled level for the next five months because drought conditions in the Colorado River Basin have eased during the 2005 water year. Assistant Secretary for Water and Science, Tom Weimer said the decision has four parts that add up to a path toward stability and certainty in the basin states (text)	:49
	SOUNDBITE: Norton's decision followed a mid-year review, a first of its kind, of the Annual Operating Plan for the Colorado River Reservoirs to determine if levels at Lake Powell and Lake Mead. The National Weather Service's April 15, 2005 forecast indicates that the most probable April-July snowmelt runoff will be 106 percent of average. Weimer says that means roughly a third more water in storage this year. (text)	:35
	SOUNDBITE: The Secretary's decision means that by Sept. 30 - the end of the 2005 water year -- about 8.23 million acre feet of water will have been released from Glen Canyon Dam. A mid year review will take place in next years plan also. Weimer says that one good run-off year does not mean the drought is over. (text)	:09

5/18/2005: Secretary Norton Addresses American Wildlife Conservation Partners
Audio	Summary	Length
	SOUNDBITE: The American Wildlife Conservation Partners, a consortium of 40 organizations representing more than six million individual hunters and conservationist, held a one-day meeting in Washington D.C. to discuss recommendations and ongoing cooperation with the Bush Administration on conservation issues. Interior Secretary Gale Norton called hunters the "backbone" of conservation in the U.S. (text)	:24
	SOUNDBITE: In 2001, the AWCP presented a report to the Bush Administration entitled "Wildlife for the 21st Century." Their follow-up report for Bush's second term acknowledged the Administration's implementation of the Healthy Forest Restoration Act and the announcement of no net losses to wetlands. Secretary Norton says cooperative conservation works, pointing to the re-discovery ofthe Ivory Billed Woodpecker. (text)	:25
	SOUNDBITE: President Bush signed an executive order on Cooperative Conservation last August. In it, he encouraged federal agencies to reach out and work with local governments, communities and groups like the AWCP. Secretary Norton says in doing so, it multiplies conservation efforts. (text)	:14
	SOUNDBITE: Norton pointed out that the agencies of the Department of the Interior make every effort to work with private and public partners to protect at risk species and prevent them from becoming endangered species, saying more is accomplished on the ground than in a courtroom.(text)	:33

5/27/2005: Fire potential for much of the West is expected to be above norm
Audio	Summary	Length
	SOUNDBITE: The combination of very low snowpacks, some at record low levels, from the Pacific Northwest to the Dakotas and the continuing drought has escalated the risk of wildfires this summer according to Jim Hubbard, Director, office of Wildland Fire Coordination. (text)	:16
	SOUNDBITE: In past fire seasons aviation has been an area of focus due to tragic accidents. The primary mission of aviation is initial attack to slow the spread of fire so that ground forces can put it out. Hubbard says this year's season will be fought with a combination of aircraft and that will get the job done (text)	:25
	SOUNDBITE: Fire knows no boundaries and it is often local firefighters that respond to fires on public lands. Hubbard notes they are heavily relied local firefighters as well as another important fire fighting component, Indian fire fighting crews. (text)	:19
	SOUNDBITE: The Department of the Interior comes together with several land management and other types of agencies across government to form the National Interagency Fire Center. For example, constant updates from the National Weather Center provide input to the NIFC predictive service. While Mr. Hubbard doesn't expect fire season to begin early, he says resources are moved around constantly to counter possible problems.(text)	:11

6/1/2005: BLM Reveals Discovery of New Cave on New Mexico Public Lands
Audio	Summary	Length
	SOUNDBITE: A small team of BLM volunteers found a cave near Fort Stanton, New Mexico in 2001 and have been researching it ever since, so far, mapping two miles of ariver frozen in time. The formation is made of white calcite and said to be the largest known formation of its kind in the world according to Jessie Juen, BLM New Mexico's Associate Director. (text)	:12
	SOUNDBITE: The site is being called Snowy River for the continuous white formation along the caves bottom. While Fort Stanton has multi-use recreation areas with some caves open to the public, the location of this cave is not going to be revealed for both safety and science reasons. (text)	:19
	SOUNDBITE: New Mexico Senator, Pete Domenici is already at work on legislation to preserve the cave for scientific and educational purposes. The cave has already yielded never-before-seen bacteria. (text)	:20
	SOUNDBITE: Cave explorers discovered the Snowy River portion of the Fort Stanton cave system after following airflows and breaking through an area that had fallen in. Evidence so far tells them it is a young cave. (text)	:12

6/3/2005: Secretary Norton Adds 37 New National Trails
Audio	Summary	Length
	STORY: Secretary of the Interior Gale A. Norton announced the designation of 37 new National Recreation Trails in 23 states, as part of the National Trails System, in celebration of National Trails Day on Saturday, June 4th. The announcement adds about 580 miles to a system of more than 900 trails totaling more than 10,000 miles.	1:00
	SOUNDBITE: National Trails Day events are being held across the country to promote physical fitness and awareness of what a great resource our nation's trails are. National Park Service Director Fran Mainella says the National Park Foundation and corporate sponsor Unilever are helping promote the concurrent themes of "Trails Forever" and "Healthy Parks - Healthy Living."	:28
	STORY: One of the first events to kick off National Trails Day was in Washington D.C., a region with more than 717 miles of trails that often cover history and recreation at the same time. Covering nearly a fifth of Washington is Rock Creek Park.	:50
	SOUNDBITE: Rock Creek Park Superintendent Adrianne Coleman says that urban borders of the park mean a lot of community involvement.	:22

6/22/2005: Environmental Impact Statement Supports Wind Energy Development on Public Lands
Audio	Summary	Length
	SOUNDBITE: In remarks Tuesday before the Congressional Renewable Energy EXPO in Washington, D.C., Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Land and Minerals Management Rebecca Watson announced the completion of an Environmental Impact Statement that could clear the way for wind energy to become an important part of America's energy portfolio. (text)	:16
	SOUNDBITE: The Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement on Wind Energy Development on BLM-Administered Lands in the Western United States,provides the environmental groundwork to speed up the permitting of wind energy and should pave the way for development of more than 3200 megawatts of wind energy on public lands in 11 western states. (text)	:25
	SOUNDBITE: Currently, wind energy provides only two percent of the nation's power with seven percent of that figure coming from projects on public lands. Assistant Secretary Watson says development of renewable energy sources, part of the President's National Energy Policy, is a matter of economic security. (text)	:19
	SOUNDBITE: 52 land-use plans will be amended to facilitate preparation and consideration of potential wind energy development right-of-way applications on BLM-administered lands, but will not eliminate the need for site-specific analysis of individual development proposals. Watson says the process addresses environmental concerns through best management practices. (text) The Final Programmatic EIS is posted on the Web at [http://windeis.anl.gov] and will be published in the Federal Register on June 24, 2005.	:27

7/6/2005: Wild Horse and Burro Adoption Program Alive and Well
Audio	Summary	Length
	SOUNDBITE: Bureau of Land Management Director Kathleen Clarke wants the country to know that the Wild Horse and Burro adoption program is ongoing. Nearly 32,000 wild horses roam rangeland in 10 Western states. Range management determines how many horses must be gathered each year. Clarke is concerned that the public may confuse changes in the BLM's sale authority with the adoption program which has not seen any changes (text)	:38
	SOUNDBITE: The BLM hopes to adopt out 7,000 horses duringthis fiscal year. Wild horse populations can double every five years and compete for grazing against other species and a continuing drought. Horses that are not adopted go into long-term pastures to live out their lives where the cost of care and feeding each animal is about $465 per animal per year. Director Clarke noted that Ford Motor Company and Take Pride in America, a national partnership program, have teamed to support the Bureau in its efforts to place in good homes the animals that must be sold and hopes others will step up also. (text)	:27
	SOUNDBITE: The BLM was able to resume its sales authority after revising its bill of sale and pre-sale negotiation procedures. A temporary suspension of sales occurred in response to two incidents involving the commercial processing of horses that had been re-sold or traded after being bought from the BLM. (text)	:18

7/7/2005: New Grazing Rule Underscores Proper Use of Public Lands
Audio	Summary	Length
	SOUNDBITE: A process that began in March 2003 aimed at improving the management and long-term health of America's public rangelands will finally be in place later this month. The final Environmental Impact Statement supports BLM proposals that will help improve working relationships with Grazing Permit Holders according to BLM Director Kathleen Clarke. (text)	:24
	SOUNDBITE: The regulations, which combine to be called a rule, will advance the bureau's efforts in assessing and protecting rangelands and allow the grazing permittee or lessee to share title to range improvements. Tom Dyer is the BLM's Deputy Assistant Director for Renewable Resources and Planning and says the affects of the new rule won't be realized immediately. (text)	:14
	SOUNDBITE: The regulations will continue the role of BLM's Resource Advisory Councils, composed of citizens across the West who advise and make recommendations to the agency on public-land issues. According to Dyer, more than 18,000 comments were received on the draft version of the impact study. (text)	:25
	SOUNDBITE: BLM Director Clarke says the rule recognizes the ranchers as stewards of the land and that grazing benefits the land and other wildlife. (text)	:27

7/18/2005: The Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act; Improving on a Good Idea
Audio	Summary	Length
	SOUNDBITE: Fees for use of recreational facilities on federal lands have always existed, but in the past those fees went into the federal treasury until the Recreation Fee Demonstration program began in 1996. It meant the fees would be applied to improve the facility where they were collected. The success of that program led Congress to pass the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act, signed by President Bush last December. According to Assistant Secretary for Policy, Management and Budget, Lynn Scarlet, the measure has strong public support (text)	:21
	SOUNDBITE: The Act permits federal land management agencies to continue charging modest fees at campgrounds, rental cabins, high-impact recreation areas and at day-use sites that have certain facilities but it also states when fees will not be charged. For example, in areas where there are no improvements or infrastructure. (text)	:32
	SOUNDBITE: Another important part of the act is public involvement. Changes in fees or adding fees will be posted in the Federal Registry for comment and the act will establish Recreation Resource Advisory Committees in states and regions (text)	:30
	SOUNDBITE: Recreation fees provide crucial resources that allow the federal agencies to respond to increased demand on federal lands. The goal is to provide visitors with a quality recreation experience through enhanced facilities and service (text)	:28

7/25/2005: Drought Easing for Most Western States but It's Not over Yet
Audio	Summary	Length
	STORY: The July forecast for spring snowmelt runoff into Lake Powell shows users of the Colorado River getting a reprieve from the drought that has gripped the West for five years. However, Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner John Keys says it's still too early to say the drought is over. (text)	:42
	SOUNDBITE:Some areas in the Pacific Northwest, while receiving much needed spring rain, began the year with very little water in storage. The Yakima basin is one of those hardest hit. (text)	:14
	SOUNDBITE: The area is the first to benefit from Interagency Drought Action Teams. Interior Department and Agriculture officials are working with those in Washington State to bypass red tape and focus a range of assistance programs. (text)	:17
	SOUNDBITE:The Drought Action Team initiative is a as part of Interior Secretary Gale Norton's Water 2025: Preventing Crises and Conflict in the West Program. The Challenge Grant Program invested $14.9 million toward 62 projects in 2004 and 2005. The investment grew to $57 million with matching non-federal contributions. (text)	:17

7/28/2005: No Fraud Found as Interior Reforms Indian Trusts
Audio	Summary	Length
	SOUNDBITE: Department of the Interior Associate Deputy Secretary Jim Cason and Special Trustee for American Indians Ross Swimmer were key witnesses at this week's Senate Indian Affairs hearing, called by Committee Chairman John McCain in an effort to prompt a resolution to questions over Interior's role in the administration of the land-based trust assets of thousands of individual American Indians across the nation. Cason says the Department's preliminary historic accounting work has not revealed any evidence of systemic fraud or significant error. (text)	:26
	SOUNDBITE:The Department of the Interior has focused its work on reforming the management of Indian Trust assets. Old legacy computer systems for tracking the leasing and use of Indian lands have been converted to state-of-the art data systems. Individual trust records, once scattered at locations throughout Indian country, have been gathered, indexed, and stored by the Office of Historical Trust Accounting at the new American Indian Records Repository, in Lenexa, Kansas. "This has been no small effort" said Special Trustee for American Indians Ross Swimmer. (text)	:37
	SOUNDBITE: Swimmer says the opening of a toll-free Call Center for Indian Trust beneficiaries is yet another key management reform which has already been a proven success. (text)	:21
	SOUNDBITE:One of the most important reforms has been Interior's efforts in training people in fiduciary trust responsibility. The growing staff brings private sector experience to the Office of the Special Trustee. (text)	:24

8/12/2005: Interior Department Awards $32 Million in Conservation Grants
Audio	Summary	Length
	SOUNDBITE:The Department of the Interior announced Thursday more than $32 million in cost-share grants that will help fund on-the-ground conservation projects undertaken by states, tribes, and private landowners in 49 states, the Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico. Lynn Scarlett, Assistant Secretary for Policy, Management and Budget, said grants primarily protect endangered species and their habitats (text)	:24
	SOUNDBITE:The announcement of the grants comes as the White House prepares for its first Conference on Cooperative Conservation which President Bush called for as part of his Executive Order on Cooperative Conservation signed last year. The conference will be held in St. Louis August 29-31. (text)	:16
	SOUNDBITE:The grants, awarded by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service under four grant programs, are part of President Bush's commitment to empowering Americans to conserve wildlife and its habitat in their local communities and tribal areas. (text)	:17
	SOUNDBITE:In the past five years, the Interior Department has dedicated more than $2 billion to cooperative conservation grant programs. Working with private landowners is imperative because species don't recognize property boundaries. Specific information on the recently announced grants can be found at www.fws.gov. (text)	:24

8/15/2005: White House Selects Outstanding Examples of Cooperative Conservation

The White House Conference on Cooperative Conservation will be held August 29 through 31, 2005 in St. Louis, Missouri. The purpose of the Conference is to "Strengthen Shared Governance and Citizen Stewardship." Thirty organizations have been selected to share their stories with 1,200 invitees from across the US and together learn about cooperative conservation including state, tribal and local governments, communities, private for profit and non-profit organizations, and private citizens.

DOI Radio News Service interviewed some of the participants and compiled their stories below.

If you've seen the movie A River Runs Through It, you've experienced Montana's Blackfoot River. The area is a popular site for fishing, rafting and other outdoor activities. But land fragmentation from development was threatening the natural resources and rural lifestyle of its residents. In response, local landowners formed the Blackfoot Challenge, a 1.5-million-acre watershed organization. With 160 partner organizations and 500 private landowners, an 89,000 acre easement was formed across bureaucratic and property lines, uniting often diverse views into one landscape. Blackfoot director Tina Bernd-Cohen says trust is a main ingredient of building this kind of cooperation.

"It's building respect and trust for the diverse perspectives, they share a common vision that they want to conserve the natural resources and rural lifestyle. They don't want to be urbanized. So we work from the 80 percent we can agree on and with respect and trust and they have a lot of fun too (laughs) they're a fun group. People want to be in the Blackfoot."

Accomplishments include restoration of 32 miles of in-stream and 51 miles of riparian area and 2,100 acres of wetlands. No less than 37 tributaries have been, or are currently being, restored. Nearly 300 miles of fish passage barriers have been removed in the watershed and across the landscape satellite mapping helps manage thousands of acres for weeds control and grazing.

In Northeastern Maine, rising land values and forest land ownership changes are bringing hundreds of thousands of acres of land to the real estate market. Amos Enos Executive Director of the New England Forestry Foundation says the trend was aimed at waterfront property.

"For a number of congruent reasons the real estate market has been marching inland along rivers and lakes and had we not put in place these conservation easements the alternative would've been massive development of the lake frontage."

But when the Pingree family sold development rights to the New England Forestry Foundation, the largest privately held conservation easement in the United States was born. Bigger than the state of Rhode Island, the Pingree Forest Partnership meets the needs of fish and wildlife along with local economies that rely on working forests. The success of the Pingree has been joined by another similar project, the Downeast Lakes Forestry Partnership. According to Amos Enos, both landscapes are supported by fundraising and grants.

"The nice thing about our two projects, for Pingree and Down East, you have 1.1 million acres in prime conservation and there's not a dollar carrying cost to the federal government or the state government. It's all private stewardship."

The resulting conservation equals a landscape that sustains livelihoods and wildlife and is accessible to the public.

In the early '90s the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) acquired desert lands close to the Mexican border in a real estate exchange and filed an Environmental Impact Statement to extend grazing leases. When the process became litigious, the BLM drew together a large group of stakeholders, including federal, state, and local agencies, organized groups, and individuals. Jeff Williams of the Arizona Zoological Society says what remained afterward was the Sonoita Valley Planning Partnership.

"I think that the BLM literally did an artful job of enrolling all of this public/special interest and making them feel as if there was room at the table for them and that their contribution was going to be valued, and in fact it was. Once they realized that they weren't coming in after the fact and shooting holes in everything, they exchanged perspectives, opinions and interests in ways that sort of celebrated other people's perspectives."

Sonoita Valley, just 50 miles southeast of Tucson, is a vast, high desert basin of oak-studded hills, rolling grasslands, and the lush riparian corridor along Cienega Creek. It is an important wildlife corridor, connecting the Sonoran desert of the Southwest and northern Mexico.

For the first time in 100 years, the Walla Walla River flows year- round, thanks to a settlement among three irrigation districts, Tribes, and federal agencies. These flows supplement earlier Tribal, state, and landowner partnerships to improve fish passage and habitat, enabling reintroduced Chinook salmon to return to the river. Kevin Scribner, member of the Walla Walla Basin Watershed Council, says irrigators reached out to the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation and pledged to "help bring back their fish."

"The cultural component of it is when we take the lead from the tribes is that foods are a key part of tribal culture, their spirituality, their religion. With that depth of connection with salmon, a source of wild food, it then helps the rest of us think about well 'how does the land and water also figure into our sense of ourselves, our sense of being, our sense of meaning."

Seasonal fish rescues are now a memory. Improvements in irrigation from more efficient sprinklers to replacing ditches with pipes have helped to keep more water in the bi-state river. 195,000 upland farm acres have been placed in conservation tillage to retain soil.

8/19/2005: White House Selects Outstanding Examples of Cooperative Conservation

DOI Radio News Service interviewed some of the participants and compiled their stories below.

The Nisqually River Task Force was created in 1985 as a vehicle for implementing a locally based approach to the protection and betterment of this unique area. Over nearly two decades, the Council and its many partners have addressed timber harvest and land use issues, species recovery and allocations of water for people and fish throughout the watershed. David Troutt, Chair of the Nisqually River Council, says this unique partnership takes the approach that a healthy watershed equals a healthy economy.

"We want to preserve not only our natural landscape in this region, but also the local based economies that have grown up here alongside the salmon and the deer and the elk. And respect our agricultural and timber communities and the small cities that are located within the watershed and help them develop in a way that's consistent with our vision of a healthy sustainable watershed."

One of the many successes has been the Nisqually River Education Program. The curriculum for grades K-12 created in 1990 exposes thousands of students to watershed-based conservation.

"So we've raised the level of citizenry in the watershed to the point where a vast majority of the folks that live in our watershed, and there's over 40,000 people total that live, play and enjoy this watershed, have a pretty good understanding of what it is and what we're trying to accomplish."

The Nisqually Indian Tribe plays an important roll in the council. They created a Chinook salmon recovery plan after the fish was listed under the ESA. Troutt says they bring a great sense of stability to the council.

"The tribe has been here for so long and their perspective is out in the distant six generations down the line as they think about things. And that brings a calming influence to the table, that we're not looking for quick fixes now, we're in this for the long haul, how do we make this work for everybody. And I think the tribe has been very successful in providing that stability and that sense of calmness to the table that allows us to get through some real difficult issues."

The Nisqually River is one of the state's most pristine. It flows 78 miles from its origin atop Mt Rainier to its confluence with Puget Sound.

U.S. Army training is often affected by endangered species on their lands. At bases in the southeast United States, the army formed an important alliance with the Environmental Defense Fund, the Nature Conservancy and private landowners to apply their resources outside the base to ease habitat pressure on the base. Scott Farley, an attorney with the U.S. Army Environmental Center says the Army realized that the future of its training was directly linked to the red-cockaded woodpecker.

"and once we made that recognition that our destiny was so tied, then it was just natural that cooperative conservation with other stakeholders in the region was going to be necessary to get at those other landscaped elements to provide for their conservation so that the natural system that the species was relying on as a whole over the landscape could be addressed. Every one of those organizations may have had a different mission to achieve, but we had one common goal, and that was to maintain and conserve the eco-system and the natural systems."

Safe Harbor Agreements and compatible use buffers used on and off Army bases has contributed to the recovery of the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker. It has also created buffer zones around army installations as the Army works with states and/or conservation groups, enabling those partners to purchase land or easements from willing landowners. Farley says this kind of cooperation is a culture shift for the Army.

"We've recognized that by establishing buffers around our military installations through conserving sensitive habitat, we had the ability to do two great things. And that is again provide for soldier training and sustainability and provide for species conservation at the same time. And this notion that endangered species could be our best neighbors was a complete, complete culture shift."

Army buffers have protected 44,751 acres in five states.

9/2/2005: Minerals Management Begins to Assess Damage, Give Aid

The Minerals Management Service which manages the Gulf of Mexico oil and gas production is working with energy companies to restore that production. But in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina MMS Director Johnnie Burton says humanitarian concerns must be attended to first. The MMS has provided 10 helicopters for search and rescue missions.

"If you have what it takes to help somebody else you just do it. We contract regularly 14 or 15 helicopters that our inspectors use everyday to go out and do inspection off shore. Well when this disaster hit, we released ten of those helicopters and they have been used for search and rescue. So everybody help each other in this case."

Humanitarian concerns hit very close to home for the MMS because they have nearly 600 employees in their New Orleans district office and many of them are yet unaccounted for.

"At this point, as of this morning, I think we may have about a hundred that are unaccounted for. I don't panic yet because I think, I think that what it is is people have left and they've gone to family, they've gone to relatives. And we have told people if they can't report to work, we're putting them on administrative leave. This is I think what is happening. But we are going to look for everybody."

According to the MMS Director, offshore facilities were secured and successfully evacuated before the storm. With nearly half of the platforms surveyed, Director Burton says those procedures prevented environmental disaster.

"So far we have seen no spillage, no damage to the environment. Before the storm, when we get the warning and the companies get the warning and they all start evacuating they shut down. They tighten up all the valves, they purge part of their pipelines and they leave. So the platform can be damaged as we have seen, but the valves hold and there's no spillage."

Some companies are already boarding their platforms to get a close up look at the damages, most of which occurred on smaller, older platforms close into shore, Burton said.

"What we've seen so far is the deep water platforms weathered the storm rather well. Which tells me that the standard of building that the industry is applying and that we regulate are working pretty well. The platforms that are close to shore and are old, those didn't fare very well. About 40 of them were destroyed."

MMS oversees 1.76 billion acres of the Outer Continental Shelf, managing offshore energy and minerals while protecting the human, marine, and coastal environments. Director Burton says the offshore industry learns new lessons with each hurricane season that make equipment safer and environmentally sound.

"Folks generally speaking are concerned about the environmental impact that offshore drilling can have. And I think that if you can have a storm of that strength and not have any environmental disaster, I think says a great deal for the safety of this industry."

The OCS provides 30 percent of oil and 21 percent of natural gas produced domestically, as well as sand used for coastal restoration. MMS collects, accounts for, and disburses mineral revenues from Federal and American Indian lands, and contributes to the Land and Water Conservation Fund and other special use funds, with Fiscal Year 2004 disbursements of about $8 billion and more than $143 billion since 1982.

9/7/2005: Department of Interior Gives Offshore Status to Senate Subcommittee

Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management Rebecca Watson testified Tuesday before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee regarding the status of offshore oil and natural gas production in the Gulf of Mexico. The meeting was scheduled prior to the Senate recess to explore high gas prices. Assistant Secretary Watson said the role of Minerals Management Service has an impact on oil and gas production in the Gulf.

"That is because our role at MMS in gasoline prices is to competitively make available federal offshore resources in an environmentally responsible manner. The oil and gas produced from the Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf plays a major role in supplying our daily energy needs, accounting for 29 percent of domestic oil production and 21 percent of domestic natural gas production."

The focus of MMS now is to bring offshore oil and gas operations on-line safely and as soon as possible. Inspections are still on-going but Watson says there have been no reports of significant spills and that 90 percent of Gulf production could be operational in a month.

"At the latest count the hurricane destroyed 37 of the roughly 4,000 OCS production platforms. However all of those 37 platforms were in shallow water and they were producing relatively small volumes of oil and gas. 15 platforms suffered extensive damage. Here again, these were in shallow and they were low production facilities. Four of these however were large deep water platforms which account for about 10 percent of the pre-storm federal offshore gulf oil production."

While facilities in the Gulf survived, land-based facilities and infrastructure took a heavy blow. Watson says their recovery will be a critical factor in making Gulf oil and gas available to consumers.

"Many of these facilities do not have electricity, they don't have communication capability and they're standing in water and suffered sustained wind damage. The availability of these vital facilities will be a critical factor in the recovery of OCS production."

This time last year Hurricane Ivan held up oil and gas production with significant damage to the undersurface pipelines that take the product to shore. Watson gave the panel an assessment of Katrina's pipeline damage.

"As was the case for offshore platforms, it appears that some pipelines suffered significant damage which could take several months to repair. Others have already been inspected, tested and appear ready to resume. And right now we're still doing underwater inspections. It's a little bit too early to give an estimate on the impacts to pipelines. But again, we're not seeing the type of damage we saw in hurricane Ivan where we had that mudslide and caused a lot of damage to pipelines."

Minerals Management Service is fully operational from their alternate site in Houston, Texas. Meanwhile, the service is very concerned about some it's own that are still missing from the hurricane.

"Right now unfortunately we're still trying to locate 67 of our people. We had almost over a hundred people we weren't able to locate immediately after the hurricane and they've been reporting in. We have some confidence and hope that they haven't been injured or killed in the hurricane but we right haven't been able to account for 67 folks that work for us at MMS."

9/9/2005: Minerals Management Service Fully Operational but Shut-in Continues

The Minerals Management Service is working mainly out of its Houston office and now all but 13 of its employees have been accounted for as of Friday afternoon. Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals, Rebecca Watson says things are starting to look better on the Outer Continental Shelf.

"60 percent of the oil that is produced in the Gulf is still shut in. And as far as natural gas is concerned, 38 percent is still shut as of September 9th at two o' clock."

A total of 37 platforms out of 4,000 were damaged, most in shallow waters. But damage to four platforms in deep water accounts for 10 percent of the shut-in production which Watson says proves the importance of deep water drilling."

"Deep water is really where we're looking for the future for natural gas production. The shallow area is where a lot of these older platforms are and that has been kind of the bread basket of offshore oil production, but that area is mature and the production is declining so our companies are going out into the deep and water and getting good success out there."

Oil gets a lot of attention because it fuels our cars, but Watson points out that the many uses of natural gas from the Gulf of Mexico makes it in many ways even more crucial.

"It's a source of electricity but also it's a very important source for our farmers in fertilizer and a very important source for our manufacturing sector, for the chemical industry and the plastics industry. We face some of the same issues as we're looking at natural gas. Bringing that production back on line, there's going to be some time, five weeks in some cases six weeks in others, to bring some of those facilities back up to carry the natural gas."

Minerals Management Service oversees 1.76 billion acres of the Outer Continental Shelf, managing offshore energy and minerals. MMS collects, accounts for, and disburses mineral revenues from Federal and American Indian lands with Fiscal Year 2004 disbursements of about $8 billion.

"We have the raw resource so to speak. We have the federally owned, the publicly owned oil and natural gas in the outer continental shelf and we manage that in a competitive lease system. We're the second highest producer of income for the federal treasury after the IRS. And we develop those resources and the energy is then put to good use in our economy and that's our role."

So far no major oil spills have been discovered in the gulf, a fact that Assistant Secretary Watson attributes to the close regulatory role of MMS.

"I think one of the things that both hurricane Ivan and hurricane Katrina have demonstrated is that we have good safeguards in place. There have been to date no discoveries of any major oil spills from the impact of this hurricane. So MMS is very proud of both its protection of the worker and of the environment."

Oil and gas companies have been inspecting their platforms all week, but the huge network of pipelines on the floor of the Gulf has yet to be looked at. Much of it however is brand new since last year's hurricane Ivan.

"Initial reports say that the pipelines have not been damaged in the same way that they were in hurricane Ivan. If you recall, that hurricane caused a rather large underwater mudslide that caused some severe damage to pipelines. We have not seen reports of that type of damage from this hurricane."

9/14/2005: Assistant Secretary Watson Discusses Efforts to Meet America's Natural Gas Demand

In testimony before the House Committee on Government Reform Subcommittee on Energy and Resources, Rebecca Watson, assistant secretary of the Interior for Land and Minerals Management, told members that off-shore oil and natural gas production is quickly recovering from hurricane Katrina, but on-shore infrastructure was hit hard.

"Gulf of Mexico production facilities accounting for 90 percent of gulf production escaped significant damage. However, it is important to note that critical on-shore support facilities and infrastructure sustained serious damage. The availability of these facilities will be a crucial factor in the recovery of the gulf's production."

Lands managed by the Interior Department produce about 30 percent of the nation's energy supply. In highlighting efforts to increase the development of clean-burning natural gas, Watson indicated that public lands managed by the Interior Department play a significant role in the development of America's natural gas.

"Five Rocky Mountain basins hold the second largest resource of natural gas after the Gulf of Mexico. Those on-shore basins contain about 139 TCF of natural gas, enough gas to heat 55 million homes for 30 years. More than half of those lands are on public lands managed by the federal government."

The President's National Energy Policy places a high value on health and conservation of wildlife and wildlife habitat in the land-use planning process for energy development while meeting America's energy needs. Domestic energy production has nearly doubled in the past 50 years but is still outstripped by demand.

"We've issued more than 17,000 permits which is a 74 percent increase from the last four years of the previous administration. Likewise, this issuance of permits has resulted in an increase in natural gas production of 17.4 percent during this same time period."

Assistant Secretary Watson is responsible for providing policy, priorities and oversight to the BLM, Minerals Management Service, and Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement. These three bureaus have responsibility for the production of our domestic oil, natural gas and coal used to heat and cool our homes, fuel our cars and trucks, and power our high-tech economy.

9/27/2005: Norton Commends Resources Committee on Passage of "The Threatened And Endangered Species Recovery Act of 2005"

Last week the House Resources Committee passed the Threatened and Endangered Species Recovery Act of 2005. The bill, which is on its way to a full House vote, reforms sections of the 30 year old Endangered Species Act. REPORT

(text)

The main affect of the bi-partisan bill would be changes to the critical habitat provisions of the Act that have generated huge amounts of litigation and according to Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks, very little conservation benefit for threatened and endangered species.

"We've long said that habitat is critical to species but critical habitat is not. By that we mean; habitat is necessary for species to thrive, but the existing law provides a legal construct called a critical habitat which does very little in terms of the actual conservation of species. Instead it creates lots of legal process which leads in turn to lots of litigation, lots of economic and social disruption, while at the same time adding virtually nothing to the conservation of species."

Millions of dollars and thousands of hours of staff time invested in mapping critical habitat areas without actually yielding any new habitat. Manson says the litigation diverts precious resources.

"Well we don't actually have anything set aside for litigation. We have for example this year in the listing budget which is where we do the critical habitat designations, about $17 million dollars for doing activities related to the conservation of species. And every time we get sued, that money that we expend on litigation comes right out things that we would do to directly benefit species."

Another improvement would be the establishment of clear definitions of scientific standards in deciding on habitat and listing of species.

"This for the first time says that we will define best available scientific data. It gives a definition and then requires us to further define it using specified criteria. For example, the best available data has to comply with something called the Data Quality Act, which ensures rigor in the scientific data that we use. And it requires that it be peer reviewed which is another check to ensure that it is indeed the best quality of science that we can find for a given action that we may take under the Endangered Species Act. That's very important."

The bill goes to the full house later this week, currently there are 1,268 domestic species listed in the United States

10/4/2005: Secretary Norton Awards 2005 National Take Pride In America® Award Winners At Department Of Interior Ceremony

The 2005 National Take Pride in America Award winners were honored Friday at a ceremony in Washington, D.C. Recipients representing 16 states were recognized for projects to maintain and enhance public lands by volunteering time and money to building trails, create habitat and much more. Categories include corporate sponsors, federal, state and local governments, private organizations and individuals. Take Pride executive director Marti Allbright says the program honors people performing their civic duty.

"It's an initiative sponsored by the Department of the Interior, but we're not a bureaucracy, we're a philosophy. And the philosophy is; the public lands belong to each of us but that carries with it the obligation to help take care of them."

One of the fastest growing categories is Take Pride Schools. Allbright says that working with children increases community involvement.

"Schools are the heart of the community. You know when you get kids involved in a community then you really get their parents involved and we're looking forward to really working with a lot of kids and really a lot of communities across the country this year."

Among the school programs recognized, the 11th and 12th graders in the Rock Springs High School Environmental Science Class in Green River, Wyoming were responsible for conducting and completing an inquiry-based environmental research study in the Jack Morrow Hills (JMH) of southwest Wyoming. Science teacher Lorraine Rudd says in addition to hands-on science, the kids learned it's important to give back to the community.

"We just think it's essential that that's incorporated into the public schools, is that giving back to the community. And the community needs to be involved, these kids are going to be voting one day, these kids are going to be managing our public lands one day. So they start to understand I think where they fit in, in their responsibilities on stewardship of our lands."

JMH contains the largest desert elk herd and the largest active sand dune in North America, as well as plentiful reserves of natural resources, such as coal, oil and natural gas. According to BLM Wildlife Biologist Lorraine Keith, the studies will provide baseline data to be used by state and Federal agencies in determining the environmental impact of further development in JMH.

"This is stuff that under our budgets we would not get this information without the help of the kids. We'll take that information and we'll use that in helping make decisions on what areas can handle surface disturbance and what areas we want to keep more pristine."

Tourism is how many people experience public lands. Tauck World Discovery, a tour company based in Norwalk Connecticut, was recognized for their concept of inviting tourists to roll up their sleeves and volunteer during their vacation.

"The Yellowstone tour, one of our most popular in the United States, we've had 5,000 volunteers give their time during a two-day stay in Yellowstone, give up to three hours of time. People from eight to 88 years old restoring many of about 30 different sites in Yellowstone."

Company spokesperson Robin Tauck says customers enjoy making a difference and take away great memories of their volunteer experience.

"We have surveyed them on-line afterwards and I think about 90 percent of them have said that it was the most meaningful part of their vacation. They really enjoy it, it makes them feel good and it totally enhances their experience in the national park."

Continental Divide Trail Alliance (CDTA) literally spreads volunteerism across the nation. In 2004, CDTA coordinated, trained and educated 754 nation wide volunteers to build and improve another 277 miles of the Continental Divide Trail that extends from Canada to Mexico. The alliance has been working on the trail since 1995. One of the project's coordinators, Paula Ward, says there is still much work to be done.

"We're about 55 percent complete. So we have about 1,500 miles yet to do. So we need thousands of more volunteers."

Building the trail has often meant backpacking into remote locations. Project coordinator Bruce Ward says that when the project is complete it will have something for everyone.

"We see that this trail will really be something that can be embraced by all Americans. You can go out on the trail for an hour or you can go out on the trail for six months and go from Canada to Mexico. So there's really something for everyone. Some of the new trail that's being constructed will be built to a handicapped accessible. And then some of the sections of the trail will obviously only be really suitable for those sort of endurance hardcore, back-country enthusiast. So we do feel that we've got something here for everyone."

In 2003, the City of Colorado Springs took the initiative to purchase Red Rock Canyon, a natural area covering 789 acres and in need of protection and preservation. City Official Jim McGannon said that the community banded together to add the land to its Trails, Open Space and Parks program.

"Well it was scheduled for potential development several years ago and organizations, including our city administration, found this to be an opportunity to take advantage of a very valuable open space that we wanted to add to our systems. So there was a lot of community activism on this and it became very rapidly a high priority purchase for our city."

In support of the city's original goals to enhance the natural, visual and cultural value of the property, 114 volunteers planted 2,800 seedlings trees and shrubs to re-vegetate part of the canyon. The new plants were carefully landscaped to restore the area to its most natural appearance. Many volunteers who helped with the project now assist in taking care of the property. McCannon says love of the land is typical of people in Colorado.

"It is the culture in our community absolutely. Tens of thousands of hours of volunteer service every year to get a lot of the jobs in our staff can't do. They supplement what we hope to get done, so it's a great relationship, pretty important to us."

Take Pride in America is a national partnership program established by the U.S. Department of the Interior that aims to engage, support and recognize volunteers who work to improve our public lands, including parks, forests, waterways, grasslands, wildlife refuges, cultural and historical sites, local playgrounds and other recreation areas.

Reintroduced in 2003 with more than 100 Charter Partners, Take Pride now engages Federal, state, and local governments; conservation, youth and recreation groups; and top national corporations and organizations. Together, we protect and enhance the special legacy all Americans share - our public lands that cover more than one in every three acres across the Nation. It's Your Land, Lend a Hand! For more information, visit www.TakePride.gov.

10/5/2005: Secretary Norton Reports on Gulf of Mexico Energy Status

Interior Secretary Gale Norton held a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington D.C. on Tuesday to give an update on recovery of energy production in the Gulf of Mexico in the wake of hurricanes Katrina and Rita. There's has been no loss of life and no significant spills. Secretary Norton credits design standards set out by the Minerals Management Service.

"Overall the platforms survived the kinds of things that we tend to regulate in terms of the strength of the platform and of moorings and so forth, seemed to have worked fairly well. And certainly again our primary concern in preventing oil spills seems to have worked quite well."

Preliminary assessments show 161 platforms damaged, 108 of those were older or "end of life" platforms responsible for only 1.7% of the Gulf's oil production and 0.9% of the Gulf's gas production. Reopening some platforms may take several months due in part to the human impact of the hurricanes.

"Unfortunately, the people who work on the offshore platforms were affected in much the same way as everyone else in these devastated areas. Many of them lost their homes. I talked to one company official who estimated that about 20 percent of his offshore workers had lost their homes."

Of the 4,000 platforms that the MMS administers, 3,050 platforms were in the path of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Secretary Norton pointed out that important energy resources are concentrated in the Gulf of Mexico.

"In the wake of these two devastating hurricanes, our nation has lost cumulative production of some 46 million barrels of oil and 220 billion cubic feet of natural gas. This is no insignificant amount. It's focused in one region of the country. Someone correctly observed last week, that when it came to our energy production in the Gulf, we have put so many of our eggs in one basket, and with the strong push from Katrina and Rita, we have now dropped the baskest.

The Minerals Management Service has taken a number of actions to facilitate the process of returning energy resources to America, consistent with the need for safety. These measures include expediting review of requests for temporary barging of oil or flaring of small amounts of natural gas; expediting approval process for pipeline repairs; waiving of cost recovery fees until January 2006; and maintaining continuous operations in the Gulf area despite evacuation and relocation of the MMS New Orleans office and damage to district offices.

10/6/2005: Secretary of the Interior Reports Economic Impact of National Wildlife Refuges

Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton released a report Thursday called Banking on Nature 2004: The Economic Benefits to Local Communities of National Wildlife Refuge Visitation. With nearly 37 million visitors, Secretary Norton says the report shows that eco-tourism and recreation on national wildlife refuges make them an economic engine for the national economy.

"Nationwide, National Wildlife Refuges in the continental United States contribute $1.4 billion to our national economy and create nearly 24,000 jobs. They generate $151 million in tax revenue for local, state and federal government."

The report was compiled by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service economists based on a study of 93 refuges. It shows that the economic benefit is more than four times the $391 million invested by federal taxpayers in refuge operations and maintenance in 2004.

"In other words, for every taxpayer dollar that we spent on the refuge system in 2004, communities benefited from nearly $4 in economic activity."

Secretary Norton pointed out that the Bush administration has opened 17 new refuges since 2001 and increased the refuge budget by 30 percent. Those efforts are further enhanced through Cooperative Conservation Grants.

"As part of the administration's emphasis on Cooperative Conservation and partnerships with states, tribes and local communities and private citizens, we have provided $48 million in grants through the fish and wildlife service for cooperative conservation projects that benefit refuges and surrounding areas."

The recent hurricanes damaged 34 refuges and two National Fish Hatcheries. Of the hundreds of employees from different parts of the Department of the Interior, more than 200 volunteers were from the Fish and Wildlife Service.

"They took to the flooded streets and canals in New Orleans in airboats and johnboats rescuing people from rooftops. Service heavy equipment operators and chainsaw teams cleared a hospital, a school and a post office of hundreds of downed trees and debris. They cleared miles of roads and driveways in Lacombe and Slidell north of New Orleans after Katrina and in Hackberry, Louisiana after Rita allowing some families to get out of their homes for the first time in a week."

The National Wildlife Refuge System encompasses nearly 100 million acres and 545 national wildlife refuges. Priority uses of the National Wildlife Refuge System are hunting, fishing, photography, wildlife observation, environmental education, and interpretation.

For a copy of the report or to find more information on the National Wildlife Refuge System, visit http://www.fws.gov/refuges/.

10/31/2005: ANWR Equals Jobs and Economic Security

In a news conference on Capital Hill last week, Interior Secretary Gale Norton and Alaska Senators Ted Stevens and Lisa Murkowski told the press of a new Wharton Economics study that said ANWR could produce as many as 735,000 jobs impacting all 50 states.

Jobs are just one of many reasons to consider energy development in ANWR. For Secretary Norton, who is responsible for drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, recent events have proven the need is much more immediate.

"Today we are deprived of about a million barrels of oil production a day from the Gulf of Mexico. That is about the same amount that we are talking about seeing from the ANWR area"

The amount of oil that is still shut-in is about 67 percent of normal daily production. Natural gas is still 55 percent shut-in. Secretary Norton says more domestic production would mean less dependence on unstable sources and more money in our economy.

"If we are obtaining a million barrels a day, and let's say the price of oil is $50 a barrel, which seems conservative today, that would be a billion and a half dollars a month that does not have to go overseas that can provide for jobs here in the United States. When we look at the lifetime of ANWR, that would be half a trillion dollars that could stay in this country instead of going overseas."

The Interior Secretary has seen first-hand the technologies that would be used in any future exploration. She told the news conference that Federal law would require that these technologies be used.

"I've seen what can be done on the North Slope to protect the environment at the same time that we are producing energy. It is tremendous technology that we would require be applied in order to protect the resources of the North Slope at the same time our energy is being provided for the rest of the country."

At 19 million acres, ANWR is one of the largest refuges in the United States and is about the size of South Carolina. The "1002" area proposed for development along the coastal plain of ANWR is 1.5 million acres - roughly the size of Delaware.

The maximum surface area that would be required for production and support facilities could be less than 2,000 acres - about the size of Dulles airport and only .01% of the acreage in ANWR.

11/15/2005: Interior Announces Proposal to Delist Yellowstone Grizzly Bears

After three decades of successful conservation efforts involving federal and state agencies and many other partners, the greater Yellowstone population of grizzly bears has recovered and no longer needs the protection of the Endangered Species Act, Interior Secretary Gale Norton announced Tuesday.

"Today we celebrate an extraordinary accomplishment in the history of American conservation. The Greater Yellowstone population of grizzly bears, a population that was once plummeting toward extinction, is now recovered."

As a result, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing to remove the Yellowstone population from the list of threatened and endangered species. Thanks to the work of many partners, more than 600 grizzlies now inhabit the Yellowstone ecosystem. Cooperation, consultation and communication among numerous federal and state agencies, non-government organizations, local governments and citizens have reversed the trend.

"Working together we have been able to achieve what we could never have done by ourselves. We have dramatically increased the number of grizzly bears in the Yellowstone area. We have ensured that these bears will the habitat that they need. We have developed a comprehensive management plan that will ensure the long-term conservation of the species once it has been de-listed."

Officials in three states will now manage the grizzly bear population. All three have plans in place to monitor and protect the animals.

"The states of Wyoming and Montana hired full time grizzly bear management specialists and conducted outreach efforts to reduce human/bear conflicts. Wyoming established a comprehensive bear monitoring program costing a million dollars a year in direct and indirect costs. Meanwhile, Idaho developed community based information and education programs to minimize conflicts and involve the public in bear conservation. Idaho also increased law enforcement efforts to limit illegal killing of bears."

In addition to the efforts of federal, state and local officials, many private organizations are doing their part to help manage the grizzly bear population.

"Environmental organizations like the National Wildlife Federation that is represented here today and the Defenders of Wildlife have contributed significantly to grizzly recovery. For example they have contributed money to reimburse ranchers for livestock losses. They have also paid ranchers to move cattle off of allotments on public lands where there have been repeated livestock/grizzly conflicts."

A conservation strategy for future management of the Yellowstone population and its habitat incorporates the best available science and establishes an adaptive management framework that allows the Service and its partners to adjust management guidelines in response to new scientific information and/or environmental and population changes.

The proposal to de-list the Yellowstone population of grizzly bears will be published in the Federal Register on Thursday, November 17. The proposal and more information about today's announcement can be found at
http://mountain-prairie.fws.gov/species/mammals/grizzly/2yellowstone.htm

12/15/2005: Programmatic EIS a Major Step Forward in Promoting Wind Energy Production on Public Lands

Interior Secretary Gale Norton announced Thursday the completion of an environmental review that will allow the Bureau of Land Management to significantly expand its wind energy program on public lands, an important step in diversifying and expanding America's energy supply while conserving wildlife and its habitat.

"It's important that we have a balanced energy approach in this country. That was a key aspect of the presidents national energy plan that we released in 2001, and this fulfills a part of that. We know that wind energy can be a significant part of our energy picture for the future, it still has a long way to develop."

With the publication of the record of decision on a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement, BLM also is amending 52 land-use plans in nine western states. While changes in the land-use plans will speed development of wind energy, individual projects will still require site-specific analysis and permits. Nevertheless, BLM expects to be able to shorten the approval process for new wind energy projects from two or more years to less than a year.

"We would need to look at a specific number of turbines in a particular place, at the roads that might be constructed, at special environmental issues to be addressed in that spot. This program lets us move ahead with knowing on a broad scale basis what we need to do to protect the environment at the same time we construct renewable energy projects."

The Programmatic EIS establishes broad guidelines for BLM's Wind Energy Development Program ensuring that the best management practices are used to avoid impacts to at-risk species and migratory birds. In doing so, it makes investment in wind energy more attractive.

"People are not going to invest money if they are afraid that their permit, after they spend millions of dollars, might ultimately be denied. This allows the wind energy people to choose from a list of areas that have already been pre-cleared on some of the most significant hurdles. This will now allow them to move forward with more certainty that the project will ultimately be approved."

Work on the EIS began in October 2003 and included extensive community meetings in the West and opportunities for public comment. The document addresses wind-energy development on BLM-administered lands in Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. BLM is not amending the land-use plans for Arizona and California because those states already are addressing wind energy locally.

The Record of Decision and the Final Programmatic EIS are posted on the Web at http://windeis.anl.gov.