This Week at Interior March 28, 2025

This Week at Interior President Trump's cabinet met this week at the White House to discuss savings garnered by the cancellation of contracts, part of the effort to eliminate wasteful federal government spending through the Department of Government Efficiency. Secretary Burgum outlined savings to the tune of 830 million dollars gained with the cancellation of a contract to perform surveys, the product of which he compared to the work of a child. And then the surveys came back and it was a survey was like an eight and a half by eleven sheet of paper with 10 questions that anyone's child in junior high could have put together or AI could have done for free. 830 million dollars, so that's one that we've stopped. Secretary Burgum was a guest this week on CNBC's Squawk Box, talking about a range of issues from critical minerals to affordable housing on underutilized federal land suitable for residential development. He also addressed last week's move to unlock Alaska's vast energy potential and renewed efforts to tap huge reserves of oil and natural gas in America's largest state. This is an important project for national security and President Trump has opened all that up again in the last week. And of course, a lot of that is on interior land. We've been supporting President Trump's direction in that direction. And in meeting with the mayor of the North Slope, I mean, this is an area that's one and a half times almost the size of Montana, but there's 11,000 Alaska natives that live up there. They want to have the development. Their lifespan went up 15 years increase once we had the first road that came into that area after the original Alaska oil development. And so there's just an intermittent resource there that we need to use for national security purposes and for the benefit and the economic development of the people that live there that want it. Secretary Burgum says under President Trump's leadership, interior is driving historic growth in offshore oil and gas production, reinforcing the United States' position as a global energy leader. He says industry projections indicate offshore production could surpass two million barrels per day by 2025-2026, marking an all-time high for the U.S., and that the energy dominance strategy unleashed unprecedented investment in American energy by cutting red tape, streamlining permitting, and ensuring regulatory certainty, we are unlocking the full potential of our offshore resources while maintaining the highest safety standards. These efforts continue to deliver affordable energy for American families and businesses. Interior this week announced the department generated over $39 million in total receipts from oil and gas lease sales held in the first quarter of 2025, underscoring Interior's continued commitment to responsible energy development on public lands and American energy dominance. These revenues reflect an ongoing focus on unleashing domestic energy production in line with Trump administration policies, which include job growth and reducing reliance on foreign resources through efficient, streamlined permitting and leasing processes. Interior this week announced the disbursement of nearly $354 million in energy revenues to the four Gulf of America oil and gas producing states, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. The Gulf of America is a critical resource in ensuring that America can become energy dominant and meet demands through domestic sources. On average, 58% of oil production on federal lands and waters comes from the Gulf of America. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is reopening the public comment period for a proposed rule to list the monarch butterfly as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. Monarchs in the Americas range from Canada to Mexico, but scientists say their numbers have fallen by 80% in the eastern United States and by as much as 95% in the west. The comment period will be reopened until May 19th to give all interested parties an additional opportunity to comment on the proposed rule. It's been a long road back for areas devastated nearly eight years ago by Hurricane Irma, but thanks to President Trump's Great American Outdoors Act, or GOA, an iconic building at Virgin Islands National Park is well on its way. The centuries-old Cinnamon Bay Danish Warehouse once lay in ruins after the storm. With GOA funding, crews from the Historic Preservation Training Center have set about stabilizing the structure's foundation and restoring its 17th century character. Just one example of the National Park Service's mission to ensure the continued preservation of our national heritage for generations to come. And our social media picture of the week, a little motherly love at Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge in Hawaii, where this Hawaiian goose, or neinei, keeps its little chick close. Once on the brink of extinction due to overhunting, habitat destruction, and non-native predators, the stunning neinei has made a remarkable comeback. Thanks to successful reintroduction efforts in the 1980s and 1990s, small populations were re-established on Kauai. Now that statewide population has steadily grown. The neinei, while still threatened, is no longer listed as endangered. Make sure you follow us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and X. That's This Week, at Interior.