Doug Burgum officially began his tenure as the 55th Secretary of the Interior, marking the start of a new era focused on advancing American energy independence.
On his first day in office, Secretary Burgum met with Department leadership, outlined his key priorities, took immediate steps to streamline processes that will advance President Trump’s agenda by signing six Secretary’s Orders to make America Energy Dominant.
“Today marks the beginning of an exciting chapter for the Department of the Interior,” said Secretary Doug Burgum. “We are committed to working collaboratively to unlock America’s full potential in energy dominance and economic development to make life more affordable for every American family while showing the world the power of America’s natural resources and innovation. Together, we will ensure that our policies reflect the needs of our communities, respect tribal sovereignty, and drive innovation that will keep the U.S. at the forefront of energy and environmental leadership.”
The order “Unleashing American Energy” includes instructions to suspend, revise or rescind, as appropriate, a myriad of Biden-Haaland actions. In particular it identifies the Rock Springs and Buffalo Resource Management Plans in Wyoming; the proposed Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Greater Sage-Grouse Plan; and Conservation and Landscape Health regulation. Overall, Secretary Burgum ordered a thorough review, and where appropriate to revise all Biden Administration agency actions that potentially burden the development of domestic energy resources.
The Conservation and Landscape Health rule, more commonly known as the “Public Lands Rule” that seeks to place conservation on par with energy development, grazing and other uses of BLM lands.
Because the rule was finalized, the BLM cannot simply revoke it. But it can restart the rulemaking process by opening the rule up for new public comment and an in-depth analysis that ultimately results in a revised rule.
Critics have argued the rule violates BLM’s multiple-use mandate, while the bureau has argued it’s needed to protect rangelands under increasing stress from climate warming.
Burgum also wants the action plans to include steps the agency would take to potentially “revise all relevant draft and finalized resource management plans” involving the greater sage grouse.
BLM had been working for nearly three years to finalize updates to the plans to incorporate new science, and better identify and protect core grouse habitat.
But the agency last month, in the final days of the Biden administration, issued records of decision approving updated sage grouse management plans for only Colorado and Oregon, and not for the eight other states covered by the planning process. That leaves the fate of the plans up to the Trump administration.
Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon praised the Secretarial Order saying, “Secretary Burgum’s Order is a refreshing change of direction. It recognizes the state’s priorities, encourages responsible development of our domestic energy resources, and reduces the unilateral regulatory burdens placed on Wyoming’s oil, gas, and coal industries by the previous administration. The Secretary and I talked about this order before it was issued and I am pleased that he included my recommendations.
These actions will impact a wide range of industries in Wyoming, from coal, oil, and gas to uranium and rare earth minerals. I look forward to the actions that emerge from this review, and Wyoming pledges to work with the Trump Administration to provide the reliable, dispatchable, and affordable energy our country needs.”
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Politco/Gov. Mark Gordon
Remember to provide plenty of land for the Wild Horses. Rounding them up is cruel, inhumane and a waste of effort. They should not be kept in corrals all their lives! Wind and Solar are perfect energy sources out on the wild lands. I want to only buy my extra energy needs from Solar and Wind, when my solar panels don’t provide enough energy carried-over from the summer. Protect the rights of our animals, lands, Native Americans and other humans, who are environmentalists! Thank you! Cherry Miloe