Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne announces the release of Climate Change Task Force reports and creation of a Climate Change Coordinator and Advisory Council to help review the plans and prepare adaptation and mitigation responses for Interior agencies.
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Secretary Creates Climate Change
Advisory Council and Coordinator
Climate Change Task Force Reports Now Online
Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne announced that three draft reports
from the Department’s Climate Change Task Force are available for public
review and directed that a Climate Change Coordinator and Advisory Council
be established in the Office of Environmental Policy and Compliance to help
Interior review those plans and prepare adaptation and mitigation responses
for land, water and wildlife managers. The Council would be made up of assistant
secretaries and bureau directors and meet monthly to discuss the impact and
response to climate change across the Department and to exchange ideas and
suggestions for how best to deal with a changing landscape.
More than 100 Interior employees, including biologists, hydrologists, engineers, lawyers and land managers, worked on the reports, which include more than 80 options on how the Department could prepare and respond to climatic changes on the land it manages. "Through this Task Force, we are illuminating our biggest challenges, prioritizing our actions, and coordinating with the U.S. Geological Survey and the broader scientific community to identify prudent response strategies," Kempthorne said. more
SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT
Bureau of Land Management
Utah Oil and Gas Lease Sale
There has been controversy over the Bureau of Land Management's upcoming sale of oil and gas leases in Utah. The parcels to be sold on Dec.19, 2008, have been carefully screened for environmental impacts. The attached Myth Versus Reality fact sheet is aimed at clearing up some of the misconceptions and misinformation about the sale, which is being carried out by the BLM as part of its multiple-use management of the nation's public lands.
Myth
Versus RealIty
Secretary Kempthorne said fiscal year 2008 revenues from onshore and offshore energy production on federal and American Indian lands generated $23.4 billion for state, American Indian and federal accounts, a record disbursement for the Department of the Interior.Hi-Res
Interior’s Minerals Management Service
Disburses Record $23.4 Billion in FY 2008
State share from energy production hits
new high of $2.59 billion
Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne announced that
Interior’s Minerals Management Service had distributed a record $23.4
billion to state, American Indian and federal accounts from onshore and offshore
energy production during Fiscal Year 2008. The record disbursements from royalties,
rents, and bonuses shattered the 2007 total of $11.6 billion, far surpassing
the previous record of $12.8 billion disbursed in FY 2006. “These funds
provide a critical source of revenues that are so important to today’s
federal and state budgets as well as to American Indian communities across
the country,” Kempthorne said. “Particularly in today’s
economic environment, these revenues represent an increasingly important source
of funding for many federal, state and tribal budgets,” Kempthorne noted,
adding that funds disbursed to individual states and tribes support a range
of projects from infrastructure improvements and capital works to funding for
education. more
Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne joined California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, U.S. Geological Survey Director Mark Myers and more than 5 million Californians in The Great Southern California Shakeout, the largest earthquake preparedness drill in U.S. history.Hi-Res
Interior Secretary Kempthorne
Helps Lead
Great Southern California Shakeout Earthquake Drill
Calling it one of the most impressive and effective earthquake
preparedness exercises in U.S. history, Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne
joined California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, U.S. Geological Survey Director
Mark Myers and more than 5 million Californians in the The Great Southern California
Shakeout earthquake drill on Nov. 13, 2008."Scientists would tell you
it is not a question of 'if', it is a question of 'when' a major earthquake
will hit this area," Kempthorne said at the
Holy Cross Triage Center in Mission Hills. When
the fictional 'earthquake' started at 10 a.m., the Secretary was in a classroom
with students at Stevenson Elementary School in Burbank. He participated in the “Drop,
Cover, and Hold On,” evacuation and triage. The USGS led a multi-disciplinary
team of more than 300 experts from academia and industry, public and private
sectors to develop the ShakeOut Scenario for a mock magnitude 7.8 earthquake
striking the Southern San Andreas Fault and communicate it to emergency managers
and the public. more
Oil shale is a fine-grained sedimentary rock containing organic matter from which oil may be produced.Hi-Res
Bureau of Land Management Publishes Final Rules
That Could Add Billions of Barrels of Oil to U.S. Supply
As part of its ongoing effort to increase and diversify America's
energy supply, the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land Management published
final regulations on Nov. 17, 2008 to establish a commercial oil shale program
that could result in the addition of up to 800 billion barrels of recoverable
oil from lands in the Western United States. In keeping with the Energy Policy
Act of 2005 and the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920, the BLM final regulations
provide the critical “rules of the road” on which private investors
will rely in determining whether to make future financial commitments to prospective
oil shale projects. The regulations provide for a thoughtful, phased approach
to oil shale development on public lands in the West. more
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Bureau of Reclamation
The Water for America Challenge Grant Program offers FY 09 grants for system optimization reviews that analyze system-wide efficiency with a view to improve the operations of water delivery systems, water districts, or water basins. more
National Park Service
A much-needed makeover of Yosemite's historic Tunnel View Overlook is the first completed project of the National Park Service Centennial Initiative. more
Bureau of Land Management
A plan to make more than 190 million acres of federal land in 12 western states available for development of geothermal energy resources could could increase electric generation capacity from geothermal resources tenfold. more
U.S. Geological Survey
USGS research has found genetic evidence for the movement of Asian forms of avian influenza
to Alaska by northern pintail ducks, suggesting wild migratory birds may be more important carriers
of avian influenza viruses from continent to continent than previously thought. more
Minerals Management Service
The sale of 76 billion cubic feet of natural gas
could generate $384 million in gross revenues
to be shared between U.S. and Wyoming.
more
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Applying a newly developed, ecosystem-based approach to species conservation, the Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing to add 48 species found only on the island of Kauai to the federal endangered species list and designate critical habitat. more
Bureau of Indian Affairs
Bureau of Indian Affairs Director Jerold L. "Jerry" Gidner announced that he has named Michael S. Black as Regional Director of the BIA's Great Plains Regional Office in Aberdeen, S.D.
more
Office of Surface Mining
Nearly 15,000 scientists, researchers, business leaders and government officials gathered for an international geographic information systems conference watched as OSM was recognized for its vision and leadership in using technology to make the Nation's coal mines safer for the public and to protect the environment. more
DOI Information on Avian Influenza
Visit Pandemic & Avian Flu.gov for all related federal information.
PandemicFlu.gov en Español
Readers of People, Land & Water, the U.S. Department of the Interior's news magazine, will now be able to access the publication on the Web. more
No FEAR Act Data
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