This Week at Interior February 14, 2025

En route to this week's Super Bowl in New Orleans, between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles, President Trump signed the executive order officially renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America. Secretary Burgum was on board Air Force One as the President signed the order in flight over the Gulf of America. The change was made immediately in the Geographic Names Information System, with Apple and Google following suit with name changes to their maps. The Bureau of Land Management says the federal grazing fee for 2025 will remain at $1.35 per animal unit month for public lands administered by the BLM, as well as lands managed by the U.S. Forest Service. The fee will apply to nearly 18-thousand grazing permits and leases administered by BLM, and more than 6-thousand permits administered by the Forest Service. Both agencies are committed to strong relationships with the ranching community and work closely with permittees to ensure public rangelands remain healthy, productive, working landscapes. Cold temperatures off the coast of Florida sent U.S. Geological Survey scientists into rescue mode late last month. Together with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, USGS biologists and volunteers pulled more than a thousand cold-stunned sea turtles out of the water and off the beaches at St. Joseph Bay, transporting them to Gulf World Marine Institute for rehabilitation. Cold sea turtles can't swim, which makes them susceptible to drowning or easy prey for predators. The turtles were released back into the Gulf of America once the water warmed up again. It was this week back in 1871 that Congress first established the U.S. Fish Commission to study why the nation's food fishes were decreasing, and recommend ways to reverse that decline. Over the 154 years since, that agency has continuously evolved, finally becoming what is today the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the nation's oldest agency dedicated to species and habitat conservation. This Monday, February 17th is Presidents Day, not just a federal holiday, but a fee-free day at more than 2,000 federal recreation sites and public lands. That means admittance fees are waived Monday at all national parks, as well as lands managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Bureau of Land Management. Check out your favorite public lands online, and mark your calendars for fee-free days throughout the rest of the year. And our social media Picture of the Week on this Valentine's Day, this adorable bear cub at Grand Teton National Park, reminding us to not only cherish our human relationships, but also embrace love and appreciation for the incredible wildlife that live on our public lands, by providing them space, driving slowly, and not feeding them. Make sure you follow us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and X. That's This Week, at Interior.