<p>The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/environment" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Endangered Species Act</a> (ESA), which turned 50 years old on Thursday, has largely failed to restore populations of endangered species, according to government data analyzed by researchers at the Property and Environment Research Center (PERC).</p>
<p>The ESA, overseen and enforced by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), is the backbone of the federal government’s efforts to conserve endangered or threatened species. The act has two primary goals: save species from extinction, then help them recover.</p>
<p>But USFWS data show a massive gap between the ESA’s impact on the rate of extinction versus its ability to help species recover, according to USFWS data <a href="https://www.perc.org/2023/07/26/missing-the-mark/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">analyzed</a> by PERC vice president of research Shawn Regan and PERC research fellow Katherine Wright.</p>
<p>Over the ESA’s lifetime, just 3% of species listed under the act as protected species have ever recovered. In a social media post marking the ESA’s 50th anniversary, Regan noted that the act has a 99% rate at keeping species from extinction. But the act has failed in its “ultimate goal,” he said.</p>
<p>“The act’s ultimate goal, however, is not to prevent extinction; it&#8217;s to recover species to the point that the act’s protections are no longer needed,” Regan wrote. “But of the 1,732 domestic species listed under the act, just 57 (3%) have recovered. This is not good news!”</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">The act&#39;s ultimate goal, however, is not to prevent extinction; it&#39;s to recover species to the point that the act&#39;s protections are no longer needed.</p>
<p>But of the 1,732 domestic species listed under the act, just 57 (3%) have recovered. This is not good news! <a href="https://t.co/RL7SdnGHqs">pic.twitter.com/RL7SdnGHqs</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Shawn Regan (@Shawn_Regan) <a href="https://twitter.com/Shawn_Regan/status/1740449479441224065?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 28, 2023</a></p></blockquote>
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<p>In addition to low rate of recovery, the USFWS has missed a large majority of its projections for recovery as well.</p>
<p>Regan and Wright “compared the number of recovered species to the number the agency projected should be recovered by [2023]. The results weren’t great,” Regan said. “We find that most of the species projected to recover by now have not. The [USFWS] projected to recover 300 species by 2023, but only 13 of those species have recovered. (The other 44 recovered species did not have projected recovery dates.)”</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">We find that most of the species projected to recover by now have not. The <a href="https://twitter.com/USFWS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@USFWS</a> projected to recover 300 species by 2023, but only 13 of those species have recovered. (The other 44 recovered species did not have projected recovery dates.) <a href="https://t.co/AHZqodASLd">pic.twitter.com/AHZqodASLd</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Shawn Regan (@Shawn_Regan) <a href="https://twitter.com/Shawn_Regan/status/1740450272403657010?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 28, 2023</a></p></blockquote>
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<p>The USFWS has also struggled to make meaningful progress on recovery objectives for threatened or endangered species.</p>
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<p>“According to the [USFWS’s] own assessment of its progress implementing recovery plans, 85% of species have completed or partially completed less than a quarter of their recovery actions,” Regan noted. “At the current rate of recovery, it would take the [USFWS] another 70 years to recover the just the remaining 287 species it projected to recover by now.”</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Many species remain listed decades longer than anticipated. At the current rate of recovery, it would take the <a href="https://twitter.com/USFWS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@USFWS</a> another 70 years to recover the just the remaining 287 species it projected to recover by now. <a href="https://t.co/3cQA6tFqKE">pic.twitter.com/3cQA6tFqKE</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Shawn Regan (@Shawn_Regan) <a href="https://twitter.com/Shawn_Regan/status/1740451578753286312?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 28, 2023</a></p></blockquote>
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Desert bighorn rams

After 50 Years Of Endangered Species Act Conservation, The Results ‘Weren’t Great,’ Expert Says

Animals

Department of the Interior

Environment

General

U.S.

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/biden-administration" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Biden administration</a> announced on Wednesday that it would be canceling oil and gas leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Preserve and move to ban drilling in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/alaska" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Alaska&#8217;s</a> National Petroleum Reserve. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The <a href="https://doi.gov/pressreleases/biden-harris-administration-takes-major-steps-protect-arctic-lands-and-wildlife-alaska" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announcement</a> from the Department of the Interior means that seven leases for drilling given during the Trump administration will be rescinded and that 13 million acres in the National Petroleum Reserve will be off limits for drilling if the proposed rule is approved. The leases <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/biden-admin-axe-alaska-oil-gas-leases-backed-state-lawmakers-native-americans" target="_blank" rel="noopener">were held</a> by the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA) and encompassed 365,775 acres. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Alaska is home to many of America’s most breathtaking natural wonders and culturally significant areas. As the climate crisis warms the Arctic more than twice as fast as the rest of the world, we have a responsibility to protect this treasured region for all ages,” President Joe Biden said in a statement. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The announcement was opposed by top Alaskan officials, including Governor Mike Dunleavy and Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Today the Biden Administration announced that it is cancelling legally-issued oil and gas leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge section designated for oil and gas development. The leases AIDEA holds in ANWR were properly acquired in a sale mandated by Congress,” Dunleavy <a href="https://twitter.com/GovDunleavy/status/1699520164356927930" target="_blank" rel="noopener">posted</a> on X. “It’s clear that President Biden needs a refresher on the Constitution’s separation of powers doctrine. Federal agencies don’t get to rewrite laws, and that is exactly what the Department of the Interior is trying to do here.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The governor added that Alaska would turn to the courts to challenge the Biden administration&#8217;s moves to cut down on oil production. Sullivan said Biden’s actions endangered the energy security of the U.S.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“This war on Alaska is devastating for not only Alaska but also the energy security of the nation. This unlawful cancellation of leases brings us to 55 executive orders and actions specifically targeting Alaska since President Biden assumed office,” Sullivan said. </span></p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">This war on Alaska is devastating for not only Alaska but also the energy security of the nation. This unlawful cancellation of leases brings us to 55 executive orders and actions specifically targeting Alaska since President Biden assumed office. (1/2)<a href="https://t.co/FAEd6i6T9m">https://t.co/FAEd6i6T9m</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Sen. Dan Sullivan (@SenDanSullivan) <a href="https://twitter.com/SenDanSullivan/status/1699500517574009053?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 6, 2023</a></p></blockquote>
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<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Secretary of Interior Deb Haaland <a href="https://doi.gov/pressreleases/biden-harris-administration-takes-major-steps-protect-arctic-lands-and-wildlife-alaska" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> that the decision was made to protect the environment.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“With climate change warming the Arctic more than twice as fast as the rest of the planet, we must do everything within our control to meet the highest standards of care to protect this fragile ecosystem,” Haaland said in a statement. “President Biden is delivering on the most ambitious climate and conservation agenda in history. The steps we are taking today further that commitment, based on the best available science and in recognition of the Indigenous Knowledge of the original stewards of this area, to safeguard our public lands for future generations.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Despite the fact that Biden <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/death-by-a-thousand-cuts-oil-executive-details-how-biden-is-a-drag-on-the-industry" target="_blank" rel="noopener">canceled</a> the Keystone XL pipeline expansion and aggressively pushed green energy, climate activists are still angry at Biden after he <a href="https://apnews.com/article/alaska-arctic-refuge-oil-gas-leases-interior-318dcc3f2d5b104a800bf3ba48e764b7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">allowed</a> the Willow oil project in Alaska’s North Slope to go forward, which could end up yielding 180,000 gallons of oil per day. The decision to end the leases and block drilling comes as gas prices across the country remain high. </span></p>


General Views Of The Trans-Alaska Pipeline System

‘War On Alaska’: Biden Admin Cancels Alaskan Oil And Gas Leases, Bans Drilling On Millions Of Acres

Biden Admin Cancels Alaskan Oil And Gas Leases, Bans Drilling On Millions Of Acres

Alaska

Biden Administration

Oil and Gas

<p>A nonprofit watchdog group is suing the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/department-of-the-interior" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Department of the Interior</a> over communications between Secretary <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/deb-haaland" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Deb Haaland</a>, her activist daughter, and department officials.</p>
<p>Protect the Public&#8217;s Trust (PPT) filed two lawsuits against the Biden administration on Monday; one against the Interior Department and another against one of its agencies, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Both lawsuits are over an open records request PPT filed with Interior for communications between Haaland’s daughter Somah and the secretary and other department officials, according to <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/biden-admin-hit-lawsuits-hiding-communications-involving-cabinet-secretarys-daughter" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fox News</a>.</p>
<p>Somah is a media organizer for the Pueblo Action Alliance (PAA), a New Mexico environmental group <a href="https://www.puebloactionalliance.org/protectgreaterchaco" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pushing</a> for a moratorium on oil and gas drilling within a 10-mile radius of the Chaco Culture National Historical Park. The ban, which has been picked up and proposed by BLM, has <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/biden-cabinet-members-daughter-lobbying-congress-issue-her-mom-final-say-conflict-interest" target="_blank" rel="noopener">drawn</a> fire from industry and Native American interests.</p>
<p>PAA’s lobbying is part of a broader effort by the Greater Chaco Coalition, a group of environmental organizations working together to lobby D.C. officials to ban fossil fuel development in the Chaco Canyon area. As part of that effort, Somah and other coalition representatives <a href="https://wildearthguardians.org/press-releases/greater-chaco-advocates-travel-dc/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">traveled</a> to Washington, D.C., in December to show a film on the dangers of development near the Chaco Culture National Historical Park.</p>
<p>Lawmakers and Interior officials attended the screening and watched a panel of coalition representatives, including Somah, speak on the film.</p>
<p>Somah’s position as an activist and the daughter of the official ultimately in charge of the department she is lobbying is a red flag for an ethical breach, according to PPT Director Michael Chamberlain. PPT has filed open record requests for any communications concerning the film sent between Somah and her secretary mother and other department officials.</p>
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<p>“Her daughter’s activism and lobbying efforts certainly have the potential to create the perception in the minds of the public that Secretary Haaland could be conflicted on issues under her authority,” Chamberlain told Fox News. “Further complicating matters is the participation of an organization that claims Somah Haaland among its leadership in the protest that turned into a riot at the Interior headquarters.”</p>
<p>“Each of these items alone would point to the need for DOI to provide more transparency into any relationships and interactions between Somah Haaland and senior Department officials,” added Chamberlain. “Taken together, this need is magnified.”</p>


Deb Haaland

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland’s Relationship With Activist Daughter Under Spotlight In New Lawsuits

Washington D.C.

<p>The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/white-house" target="_blank" rel="noopener">White House</a> proposed cuts to the water allotments for a group of states that draw from the Colorado River after negotiations between the states stalemated.</p>
<p>The Colorado River <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/over-40-million-people-rely-on-water-from-the-colorado-river-its-dangerously-close-to-drying-up" target="_blank" rel="noopener">provides</a> water for 40 million Americans across seven states for business, agriculture, and drinking. A two-decades-long drought has strained the river near its breaking point, and officials in the seven states have negotiated for months to cut water allotments to avoid a worst-case scenario.</p>
<p>The negotiations have come to naught so far and the river’s two reservoirs, Lake Powell and Lake Mead, are at risk of dead pooling, the level at which the river will stop flowing and cause millions of Americans to lose water. Before that happens, millions of Americans that rely on hydropower from the Glen Canyon and Hoover dams could be cut off if the water level dips below the benchmark at which the dams’ hydropower plants can run.</p>
<p>The Department of the Interior on Tuesday proposed even cuts of the water allotments of each state, which would override the legal precedent set under a framework of laws known as the “law of the river” that has governed Colorado River usage for about a century, according to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/11/climate/colorado-river-water-cuts-drought.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The New York Times</a>.</p>
<p>Tommy Beaudreau, the deputy secretary for the Interior Department, said the departure from legal precedent, which in the past has given seniority water rights priority, is warranted considering the changing science around climate. He said the impact of climate change on the river was not considered when the allotments were originally portioned out.</p>
<p>The government’s authority only allowed it to impose cuts on the so-called lower basin states of Arizona, California, and Nevada because of their position downriver. The upper-basin states of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming draw their water before it is stored in lakes Powell and Mead.</p>
<p>The lower-basin states use the greater share of the water from the Colorado River. The upper-basin states have already cut their usage along with the river’s decreasing flow.</p>
<p>Negotiators from Arizona and Nevada have signaled approval of the government’s plan, though Nevada specified that an agreement worked out between the states would be best. California has not yet made a statement on the government’s plan. California holds the majority of seniority water rights under the current legal framework, and negotiators have pushed for a plan that takes that into account.</p>
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<p>The cuts that the Colorado River states must make, any way they come out, will be unprecedented. The Colorado River is a major source of water for several major cities. Los Angeles gets about half of its water from the Colorado; Las Vegas draws about 90% of its water from the river. The Bureau of Reclamation has asked the states to work out an agreement that would reduce Colorado River usage by about one-third.</p>


U.S.-ARIZONA-NEVADA BORDER-WATER LEVELS-RISE

Biden Admin Proposes Drastic Cuts To Colorado River’s Water Usage Before It Runs Dry

Biden Admin Proposes Drastic Cuts To Colorado River's Water Usage Before It Runs Dry

Arizona

California

Nevada

<p>Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo blasted President <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/joe-biden" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Joe Biden</a>’s creation of national monuments in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/nevada" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nevada</a> on Tuesday.</p>
<p>Biden used authority granted to the president under the Antiquities Act of 1906 on Tuesday to create two national monuments — one in Nevada and one in Texas — and he directed resources toward studying a possible marine national monument southwest of Hawaii. The two national monuments together impose strict regulations on roughly 510,000 acres of land.</p>
<p>The national monument declared in Nevada is by far the bigger of the two, itself covering over half a million acres. The Avi Kwa Ame National Monument was designated over a region known as Spirit Mountain in southern Nevada. Lombardo said that the designation, made without his input, locks up land long planned for mineral development and other projects.</p>
<p>“Since I took office, the Biden White House has not consulted with my administration about any of the details of the proposed Avi Kwa Ame national monument which, given the size of the proposal, seems badly out of step,&#8221; the Republican governor told <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/nevada-governor-blasts-biden-locking-up-mineral-rich-land-historic-mistake" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fox News</a> in a statement.</p>
<p>“Upon learning that the President was considering unilateral action, I reached out to the White House to raise several concerns, citing the potential for terminal disruption of rare earth mineral mining projects and long-planned, bipartisan economic development efforts,” he continued. “While I’m still waiting for a response, I’m not surprised.”</p>
<p>The region of Avi Kwa Ame is rich in minerals. The state of Nevada has large reserves of lithium in particular, a key ingredient in green technology such as batteries. The designation potentially killed at least one green energy project, the 400-megawatt Angora Solar Project by Avantus, a California-based renewable energy company. The company had requested the Biden administration carve 2,000 acres for the solar farm, which Biden did not accommodate, according to <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2023/03/21/biden-creates-national-monuments-nevada-texas-00088011" target="_blank" rel="noopener">POLITICO</a>.</p>
<p>“It’s one of our most beautiful landscapes that ties together one of the largest contiguous wildlife corridors in the United States: 500,000 acres. It’s breathtaking,” Biden <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2023/03/21/remarks-by-president-biden-at-the-white-house-conservation-in-action-summit/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. “Rich in biodiversity; sacred lands that are central to the creation story of so many tribes who have been here since time immemorial.”</p>
<p>“It’s a place of reverence. It’s a place of spirituality. And it’s a place of healing. And now it’ll be recognized for the significance it holds and be preserved forever,” he added.</p>
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<p>The Biden administration claimed while designating the national monument that it would not “slow the positive momentum of clean energy development in the State of Nevada.”</p>
<p>Lombardo disagreed, saying that the national monument would cost his state jobs and raise the price of land for Nevada residents.</p>
<p>“This kind of ‘Washington Knows Best’ policy might win plaudits from unaccountable special interests, but it’s going to cost our state jobs and economic opportunity — all while making land more expensive and more difficult to develop for affordable housing and critical infrastructure projects,” the governor said. “The federal confiscation of 506,814 acres of Nevada land is a historic mistake that will cost Nevadans for generations to come.”</p>
<p>Biden also designated nearly 7,000 acres near El Paso, Texas, as the Castner Range National Monument.</p>
<p>“The people of El Paso have fought to protect this for 50 years. Their work has finally paid off,” Biden said. “And now we’ll clear the area of old munitions, create access to the outdoors for communities and parks, and we’re going to — green spaces that — they’re harder and harder to find. And importantly, Castner Range will be preserved for future generations.”</p>


Joe Lombardo

Nevada Governor Rips Biden For ‘Federal Confiscation’ Of Over 500,000 Acres: ‘Historic Mistake’

Executive

Joe Biden

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A decades-long drought and population growth has left the Colorado River over-leveraged and in dire need of a new management plan before the water runs out for millions of Americans.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Negotiations between seven states to reapportion the river’s water have been deadlocked for months, and the federal government is threatening to break the deadlock with its own management plan — whether the states like it or not.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Department of the Interior has given Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming a deadline to reach an agreement twice, and each time the states blew past it without reaching consensus.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The federal government’s request is unprecedented in U.S. history. The Colorado River supplies water for roughly 40 million Americans. The Bureau of Reclamation has asked the Basin states to cut water usage by about one-third.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The latest deadline passed on Wednesday with six of the seven states agreeing on a plan to cut water usage, with only California dissenting. The Golden State put forward its own plan emphasizing its priority rights over the Colorado River that have been a part of the legal framework governing the basin for a century.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The lack of consensus increases the chance that the Bureau of Reclamation will devise its own plan and force the basin states to follow it whether they like it or not. The bureau needs a plan soon in order to model the water level of the river and its reservoirs and complete an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on the basin. The EIS will inform the Department of the Interior’s long-term water management strategy.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Colorado River has been governed under the same rough legal framework of water apportionment for the past 100 years, though it has been updated as new infrastructure has been added and court cases have been settled. The body of law that governs the basin is collectively known as “</span><a href="https://www.usbr.gov/lc/region/g1000/lawofrvr.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Law of the River</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The cornerstone of that legal framework was set in 1922 in an agreement called the Colorado River Compact. The agreement divided the basin into upper and lower halves and guaranteed each 7.5 million acre-feet of water from the river. The Mexican Water Treaty of 1944 allotted 1.5 million acre-feet of the Colorado River to Mexico. One acre-foot is about the amount of water two or three households use in a year.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The upper basin, where the Colorado River originates, consists of parts of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming and is above the river’s two reservoirs: Lake Powell, behind Glen Canyon Dam, and Lake Mead, behind Hoover Dam. The lower basin states – Arizona, California, and Nevada – are located roughly below the reservoirs and can pull from them, whereas the upper basin must rely on the river’s natural flow.</span></p>
<div id="attachment_497819" style="width: 569px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-497819" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-497819" src="https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Colo-River-Basin-states-3-559x576.webp" alt="" width="559" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/02/Colo-River-Basin-states-3-559x576.webp 559w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/02/Colo-River-Basin-states-3-291x300.webp 291w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/02/Colo-River-Basin-states-3-768x791.webp 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/02/Colo-River-Basin-states-3.webp 1000w" sizes="(max-width: 559px) 100vw, 559px" /><p id="caption-attachment-497819" class="wp-caption-text">Colorado Foundation for Water Education</p></div>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The 1922 agreement that set out the apportionment for the upper and lower basins may always have been too optimistic. The compact </span><a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/magazine/2022/07/11/running-dry-in-the-american-west/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">estimated</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> the Colorado River’s annual flows at 17 million acre-feet. In the century since, the river has averaged about 12 million acre-feet annually. The compact, we now know, was drawn up during the river’s wettest season in the past 500 years, according to Shawn Regan, vice president of research at the Property and Environment Research Center.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In addition to poor planning and population growth, the river is under stress from an extended drought that has beat down on the American West for over two decades. A study </span><a href="https://apnews.com/article/climate-science-west-megadrought-f02449c2db4f0ebeb1557bb39504c62d" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">published</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> last year suggests that the West is the driest it’s been in 1,200 years.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“In the Colorado River Basin, the period from 2000 through 2021 has been the driest 22-year period recorded in more than 100 years of record-keeping,” Tanya Trujillo, an experienced water lawyer and Interior’s assistant secretary for Water and Science, </span><a href="https://www.doi.gov/ocl/colorado-river-drought-conditions" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">told</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Congress in 2021. “The reservoir system was 95 percent full in 2000, but as of September 28th, Colorado River system reservoirs sit at just 39 percent, the lowest levels since they began to fill.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The water level has continued to drop since Trujillo’s testimony. The strain is evident in the Colorado River basin’s two major reservoirs. Lakes Powell and Mead are both at all-time lows. Lake Mead, in particular, has made a number of ghastly headlines over the past year as its water level has dropped, </span><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/sixth-set-of-skeletal-remains-found-in-lake-mead" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">revealing</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> sunken ships and bodies weighted and sunk to its lake bed.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Officials across the seven states fear what could happen as each reservoir approaches two low-water </span><a href="https://www.nevadacurrent.com/2022/05/16/what-is-dead-pool-a-water-expert-explains/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">benchmarks</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, each of which would have severe consequences.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The first and highest benchmark is known as the minimum power pool elevation: the level at which the lakes need to sit in order for their dams to produce hydropower.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Glen Canyon and Hoover dams produce power for millions of Americans. Should that power be cut off, the worst effects could be mitigated by siphoning power from other parts of the U.S. electrical grid.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The scenario officials are seeking to avoid at all costs, which would likely have catastrophic effects, takes place at the lower benchmark, a condition known as “dead pool.” If the reservoirs reach dead pool status, no more water can flow downriver from the lakes. The effects would be disastrous for cities such as Los Angeles, which </span><a href="https://viterbi.usc.edu/water/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">gets</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> half its water from the Colorado River, and Las Vegas, which </span><a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/31/us/california-water-proposal-colorado-river-climate/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">gets</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> 90% of its water from the Colorado.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Despite the urgency, officials across the seven states have not been able to agree on a way to collectively cut down water usage from the Colorado by two to four million acre-feet as the Interior Department has requested. The brunt of the responsibility to cut has fallen on the lower basin states. The upper basin states are only </span><a href="https://www.coloradoriverdistrict.org/imbalances-in-the-colorado-river-basin/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">pulling</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> about half their legal allotment of water because the drought has crippled the river upstream.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The lower basin states cannot agree on how to implement the cuts. The two sides on Wednesday clashed to a large extent on California’s insistence that priority water rights, a feature of the current legal framework that give priority to claims to the Colorado River’s water made earlier, still apply.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“[D]espite big disagreements about how to approach this, we have unanimity among all seven states that very deep cuts in Lower Basin water use are needed,” University of New Mexico professor and Colorado River expert John Fleck </span><a href="https://www.inkstain.net/2023/02/deadpool-diaries-the-numbers-in-the-states-two-proposals/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">wrote</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Wednesday. The two sides both presented plans based on cuts that scale up as the water level in Lake Mead falls.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“The difference is in timing,” Fleck wrote. “California’s cuts don’t kick in until later – essentially a gamble on good hydrology once again helping us avoid conflict by letting us use more water in the short term.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Officials in Arizona, which has the second-largest water usage in the lower basin behind California, recognized California’s legal claim, but said the approach simply is not realistic.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“If you want to model cutting off most or all of the water supply of 27 million Americans, you can go through the exercise but implementing that on the ground would have the direst consequence for almost 10% of the country,” Southern Nevada Water Authority general manager John Enstminger told </span><a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/31/us/california-water-proposal-colorado-river-climate/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">CNN</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p>


Lake Mead near Hoover Dam

Over 40 Million People Rely On Water From The Colorado River. It’s Dangerously Close To Drying Up.

Colorado

Drinking Water

drought

Lake Mead

New Mexico

Readers Pass

<p>The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/department-of-the-interior">Department of the Interior</a> (DOI) announced Friday that its Derogatory Geographic Names Task Force is in the final steps of removing the word squaw from certain <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/federal-government">federally owned lands</a> across the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/united-states">United States</a>.</p>
<p>The Derogatory Geographic Names Task Force was <a href="https://www.doi.gov/pressreleases/secretary-haaland-takes-action-remove-derogatory-names-federal-lands">created</a> under the Biden administration in November 2021. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland also declared &#8220;squaw&#8221; to be derogatory and ordered the task force to review the term across 660 locations throughout the country. On Friday, DOI announced that the task force had concluded its review of those locations.</p>
<p>&#8220;I am grateful to the Derogatory Geographic Names Task Force for their work to ensure that racist names like sq___ no longer have a place on our federal lands. I look forward to the results of the U.S. Board on Geographic Names vote, and to implement changes as soon as is reasonable,&#8221; Haaland <a href="https://www.doi.gov/pressreleases/interior-department-moves-toward-final-steps-remove-sq-federal-lands">said</a> in a press release. <em>(original censorship included) </em></p>
<p>The press release also noted, &#8220;The Task Force this week provided replacement name recommendations to the U.S. Board on Geographic Names (BGN). The BGN is expected to vote on the Task Force recommendations in September, at which point a final list will be published.&#8221;</p>
<p>The word squaw is thought to have originated in part from the Algonquian language and was used by early European settlers to refer to Native American women. Since that time, the word squaw  has been used in a racist manner to belittle Native American women down to female anatomy, some argue.</p>
<p>&#8220;Racist terms have no place in our vernacular or on our federal lands,&#8221; Haaland <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/11/19/1057367325/interior-secretary-deb-haaland-moves-to-ban-the-word-squaw-from-federal-lands">said</a> in November 2021. &#8220;Our nation&#8217;s lands and waters should be places to celebrate the outdoors and our shared cultural heritage — not to perpetuate the legacies of oppression.&#8221;</p>
<p>Abenaki scholar Marge Bruchac has argued that squaw is not offensive in and of itself unless it is intended to be so.</p>
<p>&#8220;&#8230;When I hear it spoken by Native peoples, in its proper context, I hear the voices of the ancestors. I am reminded of powerful grandmothers who nurtured our people and fed the strangers, of proud women chiefs who stood up against them, and of mothers and daughters and sisters who still stand here today,&#8221; she <a href="http://nativenortheastportal.com/editorial-note-use-word-squaw">wrote</a> in 1999. &#8220;In their honor I demand that our language, and our women, and our history, be treated with respect.&#8221;</p>
<p>The Interior Department also noted that the agency has undergone steps to remove offensive language in the past.</p>
<p>&#8220;Derogatory names have previously been identified by the Secretary of the Interior or the Board on Geographic Names and have been comprehensively replaced,&#8221; the agency <a href="https://www.doi.gov/pressreleases/secretary-haaland-takes-action-remove-derogatory-names-federal-lands">said</a> in a press release. &#8220;In 1962, Secretary Stewart Udall identified the N-word as derogatory, and directed that the BGN develop a policy to eliminate its use. In 1974, the Board on Geographic Names identified a pejorative term for &#8216;Japanese&#8217; as derogatory and eliminated its use.&#8221;</p>


Joe Biden, Deb Haaland

Biden’s Derogatory Geographic Names Task Force Working To Remove The Word ‘Squaw’ From Federal Lands

Biden's Derogatory Geographic Names Task Force Working To Remove The Word 'Squaw' From Federal Lands

Native Americans

<p>A group of environmentalist organizations is suing the Biden administration to vacate more than 3,500 oil and gas drilling permits already approved in two states, even amidst the continuing energy crisis.</p>
<p>In a <a href="https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/public_lands/energy/dirty_energy_development/oil_and_gas/pdfs/Multistate-Complaint-on-Applications-for-Permits-to-Drill.pdf">lawsuit</a> filed Wednesday in the Washington, D.C., District Court, two wildlife conservation activist groups, the Center for Biological Diversity and WildEarth Guardians, as well as the environmental activist law firm Western Environmental Law Center, sued the Department of the Interior, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Director Tracy Stone-Manning, seeking to halt the approval of more than 3,500 permits in the Permian Basin in New Mexico and the Powder River Basin in Wyoming, saying the permits violate environmental laws. Those permits constitute nearly all of the permits approved in those two states.</p>
<p>&#8220;Climate change is driven primarily by the burning of fossil fuels for energy and transportation activities,&#8221; the groups write in the 62-page legal filing, which includes a 192-page appendix listing all of the targeted oil and gas wells.</p>
<p>&#8220;In the United States, almost one quarter of all annual emissions are from fossil fuel resources extracted from public lands,&#8221; the groups claim. &#8220;The drilling of these oil and gas wells will likely emit 490-600 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent greenhouse gas pollution over the course of their lifespans, equivalent to the annual emissions of between 131-161 coal fired power plants. This is both a nationally and globally significant quantity of emissions.&#8221;</p>
<p>In the suit, the groups claim that the permits were approved in violation of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Endangered Species Act (ESA), and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA), along with the relevant federal regulations. The groups allege that the BLM failed to consult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service, in violation of the ESA; failed &#8220;to consider or take action to prevent the unnecessary and undue degradation of public lands resulting from ongoing oil and gas permitting,&#8221; in violation of the FLPMA; failed &#8220;to take a hard look at cumulative [greenhouse gas] emissions and climate impacts&#8221; under the NEPA; and failed to &#8220;take a hard look at environmental justice&#8221; under NEPA, specifically as it relates to the &#8220;disproportionate and adverse effects from climate change&#8221; felt by communities in Wyoming, New Mexico, and nationwide.</p>
<p>The groups are seeking an injunction that would vacate the targeted leases. Those leases would amount to nearly all the leases approved in those two states since Joe Biden took office. According to data from the <a href="https://reports.blm.gov/report/AFMSS/81/Approved-APDs-Report-Federal">BLM website</a>, more than 3,800 permits were approved in Wyoming and New Mexico between January 21, 2021, and May 31, 2022. Those leases also constitute a large share of the permits issued nationwide in that time.</p>
<p>The suit comes even as the Biden administration itself continues to undermine new oil and gas leasing and drilling. In November, the Interior Department released a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-admin-recommends-tighter-constraints-on-new-oil-and-gas-drilling-amid-energy-crisis">report</a> recommending BLM crack down on the lands available for new drilling leases, and imposing higher costs on oil companies. Then in May, the Department canceled a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/while-gas-hits-record-high-biden-administration-cancels-enormous-alaska-oil-and-gas-lease-sale">massive lease sale</a> of more than 1 million acres in the Cook Inlet and Alaska, and two other leases in the Gulf of Mexico. Separately, a group of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/unacceptable-cruz-gop-senators-demand-end-to-oil-and-gas-lease-permit-delays">Republican Senators</a>, led by Texas Senator Ted Cruz, sent a letter to the Department of Commerce demanding the National Marine Fisheries Service put an end to delays in advancing new permits.</p>


Plunging Energy Prices Put Strain On Texas Economy

Amid Continuing Energy Crisis, Environmentalist Groups Sue Biden Admin To Block More Than 3,500 Oil And Gas Permits

Environmentalist Groups Sue Biden Admin To Block More Than 3,500 Oil And Gas Permits

Environmentalism

Lawsuit

<p>Despite the record high price of gas in the U.S., the Biden administration has announced it is canceling the sale of a massive oil and gas lease location in Alaska that was pending before the Department of the Interior (DOI).</p>
<p>Biden’s DOI also canceled two leases under consideration in the Gulf of Mexico area.</p>
<p>On Wednesday, <a href="https://gasprices.aaa.com/">AAA</a> reported the national average price of regular gas had reached a record high of $4.40.</p>
<p>At the end of March, the White House, while blaming Russian President Vladimir Putin for the rise in gas prices, <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/03/31/fact-sheet-president-bidens-plan-to-respond-to-putins-price-hike-at-the-pump/">bragged</a> of Biden, “The first part of the President’s plan is to immediately increase supply by doing everything we can to encourage domestic production now.”</p>
<p>Yet on Wednesday, the DOI  killed the potential to drill for oil in over 1 million acres in the Cook Inlet in Alaska, informing <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/alaska-oil-and-gas-lease-sale-canceled-biden-administration/">CBS News</a> that the cancellation stemmed from a &#8220;lack of industry interest in leasing in the area&#8221; for the decision to &#8220;not move forward.” The DOI killed the two leases under consideration in the Gulf of Mexico area because of &#8220;conflicting court rulings that impacted work on these proposed lease sales.&#8221;</p>
<p>“The Biden administration is poised to let the nationwide offshore drilling program expire next month without a new plan in place,” <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/05/11/gulf-of-mexico-leasing-canceled/">The Washington Post</a> noted, adding, “Barring unexpected action, the current five-year offshore drilling program will lapse at the end of June. Interior cannot hold any new oil and gas lease sales until it has completed a replacement plan.”</p>
<p>Because the federal government can take months to create a new offshore drilling plan, energy companies will likely have to wait until at least 2023 before they can gain access to new leases.</p>
<p>American Petroleum Institute senior vice president Frank Macchiarola called the Alaska cancellation &#8220;another example of the administration&#8217;s lack of commitment to oil and gas development in the U.S.,” adding, “The President has spoken about the need for additional supplies in the market, but his administration has failed to take action to match that rhetoric.”</p>
<p>&#8220;Unfortunately, this is becoming a pattern &#8211; the administration talks about the need for more supply and acts to restrict it.  As geopolitical volatility and global energy prices continue to rise, we again urge the administration to end the uncertainty and immediately act on a new five-year program for federal offshore leasing,” he concluded.</p>
<p>In mid-March, <a href="https://dailywire.com/news/watch-manchin-criticizes-biden-administration-say-you-will-support-oil-and-gas-development-and-production/">speaking at a Senate hearing</a>, West Virginia senator Joe Manchin (D) criticized the Biden administration, saying the oil and gas industry industry “needs signals from the administration that they will support oil and gas development and production.”</p>
<p>“Industry also needs signals from the administration that they will support oil and gas development and production,” Manchin stated. “That includes taking concrete steps, like working on a new five-year plan for the Gulf of Mexico since we know that the current plan expires at the end of June. The Administration’s failure to act to on the five-year plan combined with the failure to appeal the vacated lease-sale means that we’re almost certainly looking at no offshore lease sales until sometime next year, to say nothing about the failure to hold onshore sales.”</p>
<p>He slammed the Department of the Interior: “The fact of the matter is Gulf oil is the heaviest we produce and our refineries are well calibrated for it. It makes no sense at all to me that the decision was made by Interior to not appeal a ruling throwing out the largest Gulf lease sale, particularly when that decision was made several days after Russia invaded Ukraine. We cannot take a shot-sighted approach that pretends two years with lease-sales will have no impact on our domestic oil and gas production just because the brunt of production impact from the lack of leasing hasn’t hit yet, doesn’t mean we can ignore them.”</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>


US-POLITICS-BIDEN

While Gas Hits Record-High, Biden Administration Cancels Enormous Alaska Oil And Gas Lease Sale

Biden Administration cancels oil and gas lease in Cook Inlet in Alaska despite record high gas prices

Gulf of Mexico

<p>The National Park Service (NPS) and U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) commemorated Pride Month on Tuesday by posting photographs on Instagram of rainbows adorning picturesque national park landscapes.</p>
<p>&#8220;The National Park Service preserves a variety of places commemorating America&#8217;s multi-faceted history and is devoted to preserving, protecting, and telling the stories of ALL Americans,&#8221; the NPS wrote along with a picture of a rainbow over Lake Mead National Recreation Area in Arizona and Nevada. &#8220;Discover stories that tell the contributions of the LGBTQ+ community to the nation&#8217;s history in parks across the country.&#8221;</p>
<p>The post then links to the section of the NPS website that commemorates the &#8220;LGBTQ heritage&#8221; of NPS by attempting to link some of the national parks and historical sites to homosexuality or transgender behavior.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.nps.gov/subjects/tellingallamericansstories/lgbtqplaces.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Examples</a> include linking the Battle of Vicksburg site in Mississippi to a woman named Jennie Hodges, who pretended to be a male soldier and enlisted in the Union Army. The <a href="https://www.nps.gov/articles/jennie-hodgers-aka-private-albert-cashier.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">NPS entry</a> on Hodges uses both feminine and masculine pronouns to describe her. NPS also uses the Battle of Little Big Horn site in Montana to talk about transgender Native Americans, writing, &#8220;This area memorializes the U.S. Army&#8217;s 7th Cavalry and the Sioux and Cheyenne in one of the Indian&#8217;s last armed efforts to preserve their way of life. Here on June 25 and 26 of 1876, 263 soldiers, including Lt. Col. George A. Custer and attached personnel of the U.S. Army, died fighting several thousand Lakota, and Cheyenne warriors. Cheyenne male two spirits (he’emane’o), who dressed in women&#8217;s clothing, had important roles in the community in celebrating battle victories.&#8221;</p>
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<p>The DOI, of which the NPS is a part, also weighed in on Pride Month, posting a photo of a rainbow arching over Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho.</p>
<p>&#8220;Happy PRIDE!&#8221; the post read along with a rainbow emoji. &#8220;At Interior, we are devoted to preserving, protecting, and telling the stories of ALL Americans. We acknowledge the continuing efforts of all those who fight for equality, promote tolerance and acceptance, and embrace diversity. Happy LGBTQ+ #PrideMonth!&#8221; the DOI wrote.</p>
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<p>In 2014, the DOI announced a new heritage initiative to commemorate LGBT history. As NPS Director Jonathan Jarvis at the time wrote in part:</p>
<blockquote><p><em>The men and women who serve in the National Park Service joined our organization to be part of something special, and all of us, no matter what our role, help bring America&#8217;s stories to life for our visitors. One of my priorities as we look toward the Service&#8217;s centennial year in 2016 has been to ensure that the stories we tell represent the diversity of the American experience and share stories that are relevant to all Americans.</em></p>
<p><em>[&#8230;]</em></p>
<p><em>The National Park Service has a responsibility to protect, preserve and tell the stories of some of our nation&#8217;s most iconic places, and as part of that responsibility, it is our job to be sure that Americans never forget where we&#8217;ve been, where we are, and what we aspire to be as a nation. I am excited to see how the outcomes of the LGBT Heritage Initiative and theme study will allow us to share a more inclusive version of our uniquely American experience.</em></p></blockquote>
<p><strong>Related</strong>: <strong><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/sierra-club-apologizes-for-deeply-harmful-racist-stereotypes-of-founder-john-muir" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Sierra Club Apologizes For ‘Deeply Harmful Racist Stereotypes’ Of Founder John Muir</a></strong></p>


Majestic mountain waterfall, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA

National Park Service Celebrates Pride Month With Rainbows Over Parks, Attempts To Link Battlefield Sites To LGBT History

LGBTQ

National Park Service

Pride Month

Transgender

<p>President Joe Biden on Tuesday suspended oil and gas leases in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge that were approved by the Trump administration.</p>
<p>&#8220;The Department of the Interior today suspended all activities related to the implementation of the Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing Program in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge pending completion of a comprehensive analysis under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA),&#8221; Interior Secretary Deb Haaland <a href="https://www.doi.gov/pressreleases/interior-department-suspends-oil-and-gas-leases-arctic-national-wildlife-refuge">said</a> in a statement. &#8220;The Department is notifying lessees that it is suspending oil and gas leases in the Arctic Refuge, pending the review, to determine whether the leases should be reaffirmed, voided, or subject to additional mitigation measures.&#8221;</p>
<p>The news comes as gas prices under the Biden administration have <a href="https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=pet&amp;s=emm_epmr_pte_nus_dpg&amp;f=m">risen</a> every month that he has been in office and are currently more than $.60 per gallon higher than in January.</p>
<p>Politico <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2021/06/01/biden-anwr-alaska-oil-491498">reports</a>:</p>
<blockquote><p><em>The Arctic Refuge’s coastal plain, a 1.6 million-acre stretch of tundra on Alaska’s North Slope, was opened to oil and gas development as part of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. The language included in the bill was drafted by Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and gave power and authority over the leasing program to the secretary of the Interior, acting through the Bureau of Land Management. The Fish and Wildlife Service, which manages the refuge, played only a marginal role in the environmental review process.</em></p></blockquote>
<p>The opening of the coastal plain to drilling followed a <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/biden-administration-to-suspend-oil-leases-in-arctic-refuge-11622575912">multi-decade</a> fight to be able to drill in the oil-rich region. The region is approximately the size of South Carolina and has few roads and residents.</p>
<p>Republican Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy <a href="https://www.murkowski.senate.gov/press/release/-alaska-delegation-governor-rebuke-biden-administration-for-cancelling-lawful-anwr-leases?peek=CCfPz9LXrlDDzUf2bfQHOx7aE8rD%2Bt7UtQcHqX0ABLXGjcQD">slammed</a> Biden in a statement following the news, writing:</p>
<blockquote><p><em>The Biden Administration’s suspension of leases in the ANWR 1002 Area is contrary to federal law. Section 20001 of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (2017) clearly says ‘The Secretary <b>shall </b>establish and administer a competitive oil and gas program for the leasing, development, production and transportation of oil and gas in and from the Coastal Plain.’ Neither the President nor the Secretary are given the discretion to decide otherwise. Our leases for oil and gas are valid and cannot be taken away by the federal government. I oppose this assault on Alaska’s economy and will use every means necessary to undo this egregious federal overreach. Alaska does responsible oil and gas development in the Arctic under stricter environmental standards than anywhere else in the world. Yet the federal government is focused on trying to stop our ability to produce oil and gas. Each action they take demonstrates a failure to comprehend the worldwide demand for oil and gas. If Alaska continues to be denied its constitutional right to safely develop resources, countries with much lower environmental standards will gladly fill that void with significant environmental impacts. Shutting down our lands was not what William Seward intended when Alaska was founded and we are not going to allow the Biden administration to turn Alaska into a giant national park.</em></p></blockquote>


President Biden Visits Arlington National Cemetery

Biden Suspends Oil Leases In Alaska’s Arctic Refuge As Gas Prices Continue To Rise

Energy

<p>Bald eagles have grown their ranks in recent years, recovering from low numbers and increasing their population to over 300,000 in the lower 48 states of the United States, according to a <a href="https://www.fws.gov/migratorybirds/pdf/management/bald-eagle-population-size-2020.pdf">report</a> released on Wednesday.</p>
<p>The United States Fish and Wildlife Service &#8220;estimated 316,700 bald eagles were present in the four EMUs in the 2019 breeding season, 4.4 times more eagles than in 2009.&#8221; In 2007, the birds were removed from the <a href="https://www.fws.gov/midwest/eagle/history/index.html">list</a> of Threatened and Endangered species after being at risk of extinction forty years ago.</p>
<p>The eagles had almost entirely disappeared from the nation years ago, but they are now spotted often, especially in the northern regions of the Midwest. &#8220;Bald and golden eagles are protected under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act,&#8221; according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service&#8217;s <a href="https://www.fws.gov/midwest/eagle/">website</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://apnews.com/article/bald-eagle-population-soars-united-states-70982fdda4b8f12ce7736ea5df0b9122">The Associated Press</a> reports that Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, in her first public event since being sworn in last week, said, “The strong return of this treasured bird reminds us of our nation’s shared resilience and the importance of being responsible stewards of our lands and waters that bind us together.&#8221;</p>
<p>“It is clear that the bald eagle population continues to thrive,” Haaland said, calling the bird’s revival a “success story” that “is a testament to the enduring importance of the work of the Interior Department scientists and conservationists. This work could not have been done without teams of people collecting and analyzing decades’ worth of science &#8230; accurately estimating the bald eagle population here in the United States.”</p>
<p>She said that it “is also a moment to reflect on the importance of the Endangered Species Act, a vital tool in the efforts to protect America’s wildlife &#8230;&#8221; Haaland noted that her team will look into moves made by the previous administration “to undermine key provisions” of the endangered species law, the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/bald-eagle-population-soars-united-states-70982fdda4b8f12ce7736ea5df0b9122">AP</a> notes, although she did not point to any specific actions.</p>
<p>“We will be taking a closer look at all of those revisions and considering what steps to take to ensure that all of us — states, Indian tribes, private landowners and federal agencies — have the tools we need to conserve America’s natural heritage and strengthen our economy,” Haaland said.</p>
<p>“We have an obligation to do so because future generations must also experience our beautiful outdoors, the way many of us have been blessed,” she added.</p>
<p>Martha Williams is the deputy director of the Fish and Wildlife Service. Williams named the recovery of the bird “one of the most remarkable conservation success stories of all time” and said she hopes all Americans get the opportunity to see one of them flying, adding,“They’re magnificent to see &#8230;”</p>
<p>Haaland was sworn in last week and is the country&#8217;s first Native American Cabinet Secretary, but her confirmation was met with some disapproval from Republicans.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/senate-confirms-americas-first-native-american-cabinet-secretary">The Daily Wire</a> reports, &#8220;Several Republicans have described Haaland’s personal views as &#8216;radical,&#8217; citing her support for the Green New Deal and opposition to resource development and fossil fuel extraction on public lands. During her two-day confirmation hearing in February, GOP leaders questioned Haaland on her environmental stances, which they said would negatively impact some states and could leave workers currently employed by extraction industries without jobs.&#8221;</p>
<p>Secretary Haaland took over the U.S. Department of the Interior, which, according to its <a href="https://www.doi.gov/whatwedo">website,</a> &#8220;uses sound science to manage and sustain America’s lands, water, wildlife, and energy resources, honors our nation’s responsibilities to tribal nations, and advocates for America’s island communities.&#8221;</p>


Alaska Photography

Bald Eagles Are Making A Comeback: Report

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