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

02/25/2004: Secretary Norton Announces $25.8 Million in Grants Landowner Incentive Grants

Audio Clip	Summary	Length
	Interior Secretary Gale Norton briefed President Bush on the progress of the Cooperative Conservation Initiative which empowers Americans to conserve wildlife and its habitat. The Secretary also announced $25.8 million in cost-share grants to help private landowners conserve and restore the habitat of endangered species and other at-risk plants and animals. Ron Tull has the story. (text)	1:05
	Steve Williams, Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says the program is a way to get federal money onto private lands to help endangered and at risk species. (text)	:13
	The Bush Administration's Cooperative Conservation Initiative emphasizes the importance of individuals as citizen stewards in preserving habitats and protecting species. (text)	:13

02/20/2004: Interior Secretary Norton tours AML sites in southeast Ohio

Audio Clip	Summary	Length
	Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton toured abandoned coal mine sites in Shortcreek and Colerain Townships to highlight the Bush Administration's plan to accelerate reclamation of abandoned mine lands in Ohio and across the nation. (text)	1:05
	The President's plan would change the way money for reclamation is distributed when the Office of Surface Mining's fee collection authority comes up for renewal in September. (text)	:14
	Currently, states receive AML money in proportion to their production, leaving projects in eastern states under funded.(text)	:20

02/17/2004: Mineral Revenues Add Over $1 Billion to State Budgets

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	Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton announced Tuesday that in 2003, 36 states shared more than $1 billion in revenues from energy production of federal lands within their borders and shores.(text)	1:05
	The state of Wyoming ranked first in revenues as the nation's number one energy producer.(text)	:12
	New Mexico is the second highest energy producing state from federal lands. (text)	:10
	The state of Colorado earned more than $62 million.(text)	:08
	Utah is the fourth highest producing state with receipts of more than $54 million. (text)	:08
	Louisiana moved up in the rankings and moved from the sixth highest energy producing state to fifth in part due to offshore energy production.(text)	:11
	Montana, with consistently had high productions of coal, will be receiving almost $27 million this year.(text)	:14

02/12/2004: Assistant Secretary of the Interior Craig Manson formally dedicates the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge in southern Virginia as a station on the historic Underground Railroad

Audio Clip	Summary	Length
	Assistant Secretary of the Interior Craig Manson formally dedicated the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge in southern Virginia as a station on the historic Underground Railroad. At the same time the Dismal Swamp Canal, North Carolina's Dismal Swamp State Park, Dismal Swamp Canal Welcome Center and Elizabeth State University's Dismal Swamp Boardwalk, were also recognized included in the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Program administered by the National Park Service. (text)	1:20
	According to Craig Manson, the Assistant Secretary for Fish, Wildlife and Parks, identifying the stations along the route of the Underground Railroad reminds Americans of an important part of the nation's history. (text)	:30
	Recognizing the Dismal Swamp has special meaning to Assistant Secretary Manson who not only oversees both the refuge and park system, but has traced his ancestry back to slaves held in North Carolina and Virginia.(text)	:21

02/09/2004: Public Comment on Proposed BLM Grazing Rules to Close March 2nd

Audio Clip	Summary	Length
	The Bureau of Land Management recently held the last of six public meetings on a grazing-related Draft Environmental Impact Statement, which analyzes the Bureau's proposed new grazing regulations. Thecomment period for both the draft impact statement and proposed rule closes on March 2nd. (text)	1:00
	The proposed grazing rules are the most significant changes since 1995 and are meant to enhance rangeland health by improving working relationships with ranchers and by requiring monitoring of resource conditions.(text)	:14
	Some comments have suggested that the consultation requirements of the grazing rules would mean less communication with interested public, referring to the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA. This is not so according to BLM rangeland expert Bud Cribley.(text)	:20

02/02/2004: Secretary Norton Highlights the 2005 Budget

Audio Clip	Summary	Length
	The $11 billion '05 budget request is the largest ever, reflecting the President's commitment to cooperative conservation and citizen stewardship. In her budget announcement Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton highlighted the Landowner Incentive Plan which helps to protect endangered species. (text)	:13
	The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service budget request is $1.3 billion total with an emphasis on the nations refuge system. (text)	:20
	The President is requesting a $53 million increase for the Abandoned Mine Land Program. More importantly, the proposed reauthorization of the program would direct funding to where it is needed most. (text)	:18
	The total budget for the National Park Service is $2.4 billion and takes significant steps to address the maintenance backlog. (text)	:17
	For the first time, the NPS has a comprehensive inventory of its regular assets and has conducted a facility condition survey. Secretary Norton says better management means better use of tax dollars. (text)	:18

01/28/2004: Secretary Norton Announces $14 Million in Grants to Tribes to Help Fund Fish and Wildlife Conservation Projects

Audio Clip	Summary	Length
	The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is awarding 79 grants to 60 federally recognized Indian tribes to help them conserve and recover endangered, threatened and at-risk species and other wildlife on tribal lands. (text)	1:15
	Fish and Wildlife Deputy Director, Marshall Jones contrasts the difference between the Tribal Land Owner Incentive Program and the Tribal Wildlife Grant Program. (text)	:25
	The grants mean that tribes will play an important role in conserving endangered and threatened species like the Sage Grouse. (text)	:16
	The Wildlife Grant Program doesn't require matching funds which allows more tribes to submit their projects for consideration. Another round of grant requests will take place in March. (text)	:18

01/23/2004: Secretary Norton Unveils New Incentives to Boost Domestic Natural Gas Production, Save Americans $570 Million a Year

Audio Clip	Summary	Length
	Americans use 22 trillion cubic feet of natural gas per year. To help meet demand, Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton has announced royalty incentives to encourage companies to explore Deep Gas. (text)	1:05
	Recent deep gas discoveries have been made in the gulf at Anadarko's Hickory platform, El Paso's ST 204 unit, and Shell's Alex Discoveries. The MMS estimates that undiscovered gas resources of up to 55 trillion cubic feet may exist in this "frontier" area.(text)	:16
	Farmers are paying more to run irrigation pumps, heat greenhouses and to buy fertilizer made with natural gas. (text)	:16
	If converted into electricity, 55 TCF could provide nearly a 5-year supply of energy for every home in America. (text)	:14

01/16/2004: Draft Environmental Impact Statement on Proposed Grazing Rule Available for Public Comment

Audio Clip	Summary	Length
	The Draft Environmental Impact Statement prepared in connection with a proposed grazing rule that the BLM published last month is now available for public comment. The Bureau of Land Management also announced a series of public meetings on the impact statement that it will hold in the West and in Washington, D.C. (text)	1:00
	The DEIS documents the ecological, cultural, social, and economic effects of the proposed grazing rule. Jim Hughes, BLM Deputy Director, says that ranching is good for the rangeland if managed properly and he encourages public participation on the matter. (text)	:18
	The BLM is looking for ways to work more efficiently with ranchers but emphasizes that the environment comes first. (text)	:16

01/14/2004: Department of the Interior to Co-Host Conference on Bioenergy and Wood Products

Audio Clip	Summary	Length
	Woody biomass and small diameter trees are a bi-product of successful fuels reduction in our nation's forest. At a conference to be held in Denver, Colo. policy and technical experts will come together to identify barriers to sustainable biomass usage. (text)	1:05
	Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals, Rebecca Watson says utilizing biomass will keep potential energy from "going up in smoke." (text)	:13
	In certain situations, biomass energy can help the economy of small communities according to Watson. (text)	:17
	The conference will cover technology for getting the most out of biomass, including research for using biomass on a small scale, Watson said. (text)	:13

01/08/2004: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Seeks Proposals for Conservation Projects Under its Stewardship Grant Program

Audio Clip	Summary	Length
	Cooperative Conservation is an initiative that envisions private citizens engaging in conservation efforts to benefit imperiled and endangered species. The Stewardship Grant Program promotes that effort on private lands, because these species know no boundaries.(text)	1:00
	Nearly $7.1 million dollars will be available from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Stewardship Grant Program. Lynn Scarlett, the Assistant Secretary for Policy, Management and Budget explains that it is a cost-share program.(text)	:19
	There are many different types of grant programs within the Department of the Interior, but Assistant Secretary Lynn Scarlett points out that this one is truly unique because of its focus on private land and more importantly, endangered species.(text)	:13
	Lynn Scarlett says partnerships are important because "nature knows no boundaries." (text)	:10