FRC – Department of Interior


Read the entire report in PDF format with charts and tables
DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR – NEW

“Guided by these principles, Secretary Salazar has swiftly begun to implement President Obama’s vision for building a clean energy economy, reducing our dependence on foreign oil by building a comprehensive energy plan, protecting America’s treasured landscapes, engaging America’s youth in the outdoors, honoring our trust responsibilities to American Indians and Alaska Natives, serving island communities, and tackling the water challenges facing our country.
From establishing renewable energy as a priority for the Department of the Interior to helping our economy stand up again through the Recovery Act, President Obama and Secretary Salazar have quickly begun to change how the Department of the Interior does business.”
– Department of Interior Progress Report: 4/29/2009

“As a people, American’s need protected open spaces. The Department of the Interior does not require staff with the knowledge that is already in the Department of Energy. The Department of Interior should focus on the treasured landscapes and outdoor activities, not energy and dependence on oil.”
– Bryant Delaney, DOI2.com

This is a summary (yes a long page summary) of the thousands of pages the Department of Interior provides to the public as a review and report card of their performance. The details can be found in a soon to be published book – “FAKE THE NATION” – The Peoples Last Stand.

The federal government reports 80% of federal program are performing when the data represents only 7% of the programs have reported current data and 60% of all programs haven’t reported any results in at least 3 years.

Every agency creates their own programs and provides an annual report of the results of each program. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) sets the parameters for these reports and claims 80% of all government programs are on target. If a private business only reported 7% accurate data, their leaders would be in jail. What about the leaders of the biggest business in America? Shouldn’t they be held accountable to the same rules and principles as private business?’“Fake the Nation” developed out of the frustration of seeing taxes increase year after year with no end in sight. The turning point for writing this book was when the federal government started running private businesses.

For the past 200 years, government has passed more and more rules on business creating a monster with 3 heads that affects every American. First, compliance with the rules and regulations is a cost that businesses pass on to the purchasers of their products. Second, the balance of international trade has regulated many businesses out of business. Third, the laws of Government have created a false sense of security creating the mentality that the Government is watching for bad business practices protecting American’s from corrupt business executives.
We define these basic principles in detail. But unlike most essays on the failure of government, Fake the Nation goes the extra mile to demonstrate proven business practices that will make the government operate efficiently.

To support American we do not need bigger government. We need leadership. It’s been said that “experience equals knowledge, the application of knowledge equals wisdom”. It is impossible to attain wisdom in a vacuum. If our leaders to not have the breadth and depth of experience they cannot apply their experiences to become wise.

The two party political system perpetuates the waste of American tax payer dollars. Fake the Nation tracks of $111 TRILLION of waste created because the federal government leadership doesn’t understand business – yet they now run the financial and automotive industries in America.

Fake the Nation provides proof of the problems and solutions to control the expenses of the federal government through 3 simple principles:

  1. The federal government has no obligation to provide any service that can be provided by private business and/or state and local government. The federal government’s responsibility is only applied where the services would be duplicated by the majority of the states or where the services are for the protection on one state from the actions of another state.
  2. State responsibilities only apply when the services offered by the State benefit all local level governments. State governments will not regulate any aspect of private business except to protect the rights of all citizens within the state.
  3. Local governments shall have the responsibility to set the rules and laws for the citizens of their community. No state or federal law, rule or regulation shall dictate to the local governments except where the rules, laws or regulations adversely affect the lives of citizens within other local governments. This is not to be extended to include civil rights, only criminal activities

This can only be accomplished when the American people stop adopting the platforms of political parties and mandate politicians adopt the Peoples Platform. We the People decide the agenda politicians enact the vision of the American people.
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DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR– CURRENT
Mission

The U.S. Department of the Interior protects and manages the Nation’s natural resources and cultural heritage; provides scientific and other information about those resources; and honors its trust responsibilities or special commitments to American Indians, Alaska Natives, and affiliated Island Communities.

Before
• $109B Budget
• 70,000+ Employees
Score
• 9%
Score Summary

Table and Charts in PDF File

Score Details
Table and Charts in PDF File

Strategic Goal 1: – $4.5B
Resource Protection
Interior is the Nation’s principal conservation agency. We manage over 500 million acres of public lands and 56 million acres of Indian trust lands. These assets are valued for their environmental resources, recreational and scenic merits, and vast open spaces. Our responsibilities also extend to monitoring and repairing damage done by past land use practices. The well-being of our land and water is critical to the ecology of our Nation. Successful conservation works best in partnership with the American people. Our strategy is to empower Americans to become citizen conservationists.

Thousands of different cooperative projects are on-going today across our bureaus, based on collaborations with other Federal, State, and local agencies, public and private organizations, and private landowners. Interior can offer landowners, land-user groups, environmental organizations, communities, tribes, and companies the resources and technical support needed to undertake conservation projects that advance the health of the land, benefiting all of us.

1.1 Knotty Weeds
Japanese knotweed (Polygonum cuspidatum) is native to eastern Asia. It was first introduced as an ornamental into Europe in the early 1800s and spread to the United States by the late 1800s. Knotweed is found in over 40 states, including Alaska. It is challenging to control because it easily resprouts from even the smallest remnants of stems and roots. Knotweed is often found in moist and streamside locations forming dense stands. It can reach over ten feet in height, overshadowing and replacing native plants.

Status: Challenged Performance, due to the total amount of acreage Interior manages, 500 million acres, compared to the 385 million acres that have been assessed. Also, Interior bureaus continue to assess more acreage annually to determine the known condition—41 million more acres from 2007 to 2008. Increased maintenance expenses also challenge performance.

1.2 Wetland Restoration Work

Upper Halstead Meadow, Sequoia National Park Halstead Meadow is a 25-acre wet meadow—a rare and highly visible wetland habitat that developed severe erosion gullies 12–15 feet deep. Th e gullies caused a lowered water table, drying of wetland soils, dieback of wetland vegetation, and sent tremendous amounts of sediment downstream.

Status: Sustained Performance.

1.3 Reforestation of Mined Lands

Before and after planting 1,000 backcross American chestnut seedlings and 1,000 American chestnut seeds in Ohio. Most of the land mined for coal within the eastern United States and Pacific Northwest was once forested. The coal fields of the eastern United States lie within the largest and oldest deciduous forests on Earth. Increases in surface coal mining have led to substantial forest fragmentation, loss of wildlife habitat, and increased flooding due to higher peak runoff from reclaimed areas. OSM, in cooperation with several States, initiated the Appalachian Regional Reforestation Initiative (ARRI). ARRI is a team of State, Federal, and university employees that have partnered together to plant more high-value hardwood trees on reclaimed coal mined lands in Appalachia. Land reclamation over the past 30 years has emphasized creating smoothly graded slopes with heavy ground cover to protect against erosion. Reestablishing trees had little success. Through ARRI, OSM promotes reforestation of mined land using the scientific 5-step Forestry Reclamation Approach.

Status: Challenged Performance, due to uncertainties about the effects that increased funding will have on program performance, as large, unanticipated changes to the natural environment can play a significant role in achieving success.

1.4 Tracking Timberdoodles
Woodcock management relies on reliable annual population estimates, but woodcock are tough to find and count because of their coloration, small size, and preference for areas with dense vegetation. However, they’re easy to hear. The American Woodcock Singing Ground Survey (SGS), initiated in 1968, was developed to track these reclusive birds.
Woodcock, also called timberdoodles, mudsuckers and mud bats, are best known for their spectacular spring courtship flights at dusk. Sitting in his territory—his singing ground— the m ale sings a nasal “peent” every five seconds. After about 20 peents, he bursts into flight, spiraling high into the sky. He sings to waiting females, returning to the same spot after each flight, and repeats this several times.

Status: Challenged Performance, due to the time it takes for corrective actions to be implemented and take effect.

1.5 A Wonderful Bird is the Pelican…
Initially, efforts to protect the brown pelican led to the birth of the National Wildlife Refuge System more than a century ago in central Florida, when a German immigrant, Pa ul Kroegel, was appalled by the indiscriminate slaughter of pelicans for their feathers for use in women’s fashion, especially hats. He convinced President Theodore Roosevelt to sign an Executive Order protecting the birds on Pelican Island in 1903—thefirst unit of what eventually became the National Wildlife Refuge System.

Status: Positive Performance.

1.6 Dunes Restored

Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge in California is in the midst of a 5-ye ar, $600,000 restoration of the Ma-le’l Dunes Unit. The restoration expands work already carried out at the adjacent Lanphere Dunes Unit— recognized as the most pristine dune ecosystem in the Pacific Northwest.
Status: Challenged Performance, due to lack of a complete inventory of structure conditions and competing bureau priorities.

1.7 Restoration of Old State House

The Old State House was the center of Boston’s civic life in the 18th century and the scene of some of the most dramatic chapters leading up to the American Revolution. Within the se walls, Samuel Adams, James Otis, John Hancock, and John Adams debated the future of the British colonies. Just outside the building, five men were among the first casualties of the battle for independence, in what would later be known as the Boston Massacre. The Declaration of Independence was proclaimed from the balcony to the citizens of Boston in 1776. After the American Revolution, the building served as the first statehouse for the newly formed Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Status: Sustained Performance.

1.8 Polar Bear Survival

With changes in sea ice recently observed in Alaska, many are concerned that U.S. polar bear populations will be adversely affected. USGS scientists have already documented one change in polar bear behavior—a shift in maternal dens from pack ice to land.

Strategic Objective 2: – $3.9B

Resource Use
Striking a balance between meeting our country’s energy needs while ensuring responsible use of the land that contains these valuable resources is a worthy goal, especially in this time of heightened environmental consciousness. Our mission to manage America’s natural resources includes promoting responsible development and use of energy, grazing land, forest products, and non energy mineral deposits. The quality of life that Americans enjoy today depends largely upon a stable and abundant supply of affordable energy. Energy heats and cools our homes. It fuels our ambulances, fire trucks, ships, and airplanes. It powers the companies that create jobs and the agricultural economy that feed our Nation and the world.

2.1 Environmentally-Friendly Wooden Roads

In the Jonah Field of Wyoming, operators lay down temporary wooden oak mats on well sites and access routes instead of stripping off native vegetation and topsoil to build permanent roads and well pads. This practice protects the ground, reduces erosion, and reduces the loss of wildlife habitat. The native vegetation root systems remain intact and recover much quicker compared to conventional methods of revegetation. In some cases, pretreatment takes place before laying the mats. Fertilizer, water, seed, or aeration may be used to augment vegetation after the mats are removed.

Status: Sustained Performance.

2.2 Uncovering Possibilities in the Chukchi Sea

The Chukchi sale, held in February 2008, offered 29.4 million acres for lease, of which approximately 2.8 million acres were considered by bidders to be economically viable and were leased by oil and gas companies. The sale was the most successful in Alaska’s history based on the number of bids received and the number of blocks receiving bids. Although industry has shown great interest a nd commercial exploration can now officially begin within this Alaskan frontier, there is still much to consider beyond leasing the area. MMS Director Randall Luthi notes that “Leasing is just a first step in the energy development process. Actual production in the Chukchi Sea realistically is 10 to 15 years in the future—and will not occur without many environmental reviews, public commentary, and application of environmental protections.”

Status: Sustained Performance.

2.3 Mineral Revenues for Recreation

One of the recipients of revenues received by MMS from oil and gas companies drilling offshore is the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF). MMS transfers nearly $900 million annually to LWCF, enacted in 1964 to create and maintain a nationwide legacy of high quality recreation areas for the benefit and use of all. The Fund provides opportunities for millions of American families to reconnect with the outdoors by funding Federal land acquisition, State grants and other conservation programs with funds made available through appropriations.
Status: Challenged Performance, due to costs increasing coupled with level performance.

2.4 High Flow Into the Grand Canyon

On March 5, 2008, Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne opened the jet bypass tubes at Glen Canyon Dam to release about 41,500 cubic feet per second of Colorado River water into the Grand Canyon. The water for the experiment was released at a rate that would fill the Empire State Building within twenty minutes and transport enough sediment to cover a football field 100 feet deep with silt and sand.

Status: Challenged performance, due to increasing costs while performance has decreased.

Strategic Objective 3: – $2.6B

Recreation
Recreation is a vitally important part of Interior’s mission. More than 22 million people live within 25 miles of Interior lands. Accessible and nearby, public land is quickly becoming America’s backyard. The land we manage contains multiple recreational opportunities for individual enrichment through interaction with nature. Recreation activities are diverse—from off-road vehicles to contemplative wilderness experiences; from edutainment to work/play volunteerism; from hunting and fishing to hiking the National Trails System. Outdoor recreation is an enjoyable and easy way for families to spend time together, and for children to have the kinds of experiences one can have only by connecting with the natural world. Interior’s Recreation Mission Area encompasses both recreation and tourism—primary factors in helping local and regional economies sustain themselves. Therefore, the availability of public land and water for recreation purposes is a critical economic factor.

3.1 Percent of visitors satisfied with the quality of their experience

Visitor satisfaction is measured through surveys handed out to visitors by three different bureaus with slightly different priorities. At the Department level performance remained at 91 percent.

Status: Challenged Performance, due to a reevaluation of how high to try to increase visitor satisfaction above 90 percent.

3.2 Centennial Initiative
Stewardship – The National Park Centennial Initiative was created to improve our national parks in time to celebrate the 100th birthday of the National Park Service in 2016. The first round of projects approved for FY 2008 were directed at parks nationwide—large and small, urban and rural, natural and historical—to enhance visitors’ park experiences. Padre Island National Seashore is the premier nesting grounds in the United States for the endangered Kemp’s ridley sea turtle, considered the smallest marine turtle in the world. This year the park has augmented reestablishment efforts that have been under way since 1978, in cooperation with Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and other partners in the United States and Mexico, to ensure that this species survives through the 21st century.

Strategic Objective 4: – $4.8B

Serving Communities

The American public is the direct beneficiary of the Department of the Interior’s (DOI’s) focus in serving communities.
• Wildland fire measures deal with the effect of fire and fuel treatments on communities that are located near or adjacent to DOI lands.
• The Office of Wildland Fire Coordination monitors initial attack effectiveness and how many acres of land can be treated through fuel reduction so catastrophic fires are less likely to occur. These efforts directly increase the safety of residents who live in those areas.
• The Department’s science bureau, USGS, offers technical assistance and advice to State and local communities that could be affected by natural hazards. The information they provide helps these localities at risk to develop emergency evacuation procedures, update city emergency plans, and look for ways disasters can be mitigated through advance planning.
• Indian tribes are benefited by Interior’s funding for Indian schools that serve 42,000 American Indian children.
• Law enforcement on tribal and public lands is important to better ensure the safety of Indian communities and those visiting Interior lands.
• The Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians has undertaken an update of century-old trust recordkeeping so that Indian beneficiaries have confidence in the accounting and are promptly and accurately paid.

4.1 Percent of unplanned and unwanted wildfires on DOI land controlled during initial attack

Firefighting in the United States is a cooperative and interagency effort. Under the National Fire Plan (NFP), Department of Agriculture Forest Service and DOI work collaboratively to provide seamless wildland fire protection. DOI fire management activities are performed by four bureaus: Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), National Park Service (NPS) and Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). Interior’s Office of Wildland Fire Coordination (OWFC) oversees
Status: Positive Performance.

4.2 Percent of acres which achieve fire management objectives as identified in applicable management plans

Long-term drought and the expansion of the WUI are heightening danger to populated communities from catastrophic wildland fires, so these acres are being given priority for fuel reduction treatments. The goal of treatments is to change fuel conditions by removing or modifying buildup of flammable underbrush in forests and woodlands and reducing threats from flammable invasive species on rangelands.

Status: Challenged Performance, dues to increasing costs and level performance.

4.3 Percent of communities/tribes using DOI science on hazard mitigation, preparedness and avoidance for each hazard management activity

USGS protects communities by providing information that can significantly reduce the vulnerability of millions of people most at risk from natural hazards. Performance is tracked by the average percent of at-risk communities which use USGS science products to mitigate, prepare for, or avoid volcano eruptions, earthquakes, landslide, or geomagnetic storm activity. Communities adopt mitigation strategies—building codes for new construction and retrofitting; land-use plan s; design and location of critical infrastructure, such as highways, bridges, subways, water, sewer, gas, electric, and petroleum-distribution networks— based on information supplied by USGS.

Status: Sustained Performance.

4.4 Percent of financial information accurately processed in trust beneficiary accounts

Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians (OST) manages approximately $3.4 billion held in trust for federally recognized Indian tribes, and individual Indian and Alaska Native beneficiaries. Trust income is generated from the sale or rental of Indian-owned land and/or natural resources for timber harvests, grazing, and royalties received from oil and natural gas exploration and production, to name a few revenue sources. Income is also derived from.

Status: Challenged Performance, due to increased funding while performance remains steady.

Strategic Objective 5:

Management Excellence

In FY 2008, Interior continued to make progress in areas targeted by the President’s Management Agenda (PMA). The PMA is a strategy for improving the management and, hence, the performance of the Federal Government. The focus is on performance and results. Quarterly reviews by Office of Management and Budget (OMB) examine six core areas: human capital, financial accountability, competitive sourcing, e-government, performance improvement, and real property. OMB uses an Executive Branch Management Scorecard to monitor agencies’ status and progress toward attaining PMA goals. Color-coded ratings are provided along with FY 2008 accomplishments for each initiative.

5.1 Human Capital Management

  • Technical competencies for key mission-critical bureau occupational groups were assessed in order to plan for training that will close competency gaps
  • New activities to increase the percentage of highly skilled, diverse candidates that are hired included:
  • Establishing a Leadership Group in partnership with the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities to identify strategies for improved recruiting of Hispanic students
  • Adopted the Department of Veterans Affairs Coming Home to Work initiative that provides potential employment opportunities to veterans
  • Developed desktop reference guides for managers and supervisors on how to provide reasonable accommodation to disabled employees and applicants and achieve a model Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) program

5.2 Competitive Sourcing

  • Against the Government Performance Results Act (GPRA) target of 3 percent compared to the General Services Administration’s Federal Supply Schedule, Interior realized 15.2 percent in hard cost savings
  • DOI has completed competitive sourcing competitions on 3,011 full-time equivalents (FTEs) and directly converted 1,773 FTEs, resulting in a cumulative annualized savings of over $7 million

5.3 Improve Financial Management

  • Interior achieved a clean audit opinion
  • Implementation of a new integrated financial management system (FBMS) is under way—three bureaus have made to transition to date
  • Full implementation of FBMS will result in a more accurate, timely, and useful system of financial information

Program Evaluation Summary

Table and Charts in PDF File

Recreation and Concessions Summary

Table and Charts in PDF File

Budget
Table and Charts in PDF File

Budget by Program

Table and Charts in PDF File
Agencies:
Fish and Wildlife Service

  • Manages the 96 million-acre national wildlife refuge system primarily for the benefit of fish and wildlife
  • Protects and conserves:
  • Migratory birds
  • Threatened and endangered species
  • Certain marine mammals
  • Fish
  • Hosts about 38 million visitors annually at 548 refuges and 37 wetland management districts

Indian Affairs

  • Fulfills Indian trust responsibilities
  • Promotes self-determination on behalf of more than 562 Federally recognized Indian tribes
  • Bureau of Indian Education provides quality education opportunities in Indian country

U.S. Geological Survey

  • Provides reliable scientific information in geography, geology, hydrology, and biology to inform effective decision-making and planning
  • Brings a range of earth and life science disciplines to bear on problems
  • Produces information to increase understanding of natural hazards such as earthquakes, volcanoes, and landslides
  • Conducts research on oil, gas and alternative energy potential, production, consumption, and environmental effects

Bureau of Land Management

  • Manages and conserves resources for multiple use and sustained yield on approximately 256 million acres of public land, including the following:
  • Energy and mineral exploration and production
  • Timber production
  • Domestic livestock grazing
  • Outdoor recreation
  • Rights-of-way
  • Fish and wildlife conservation
  • Resource protection at sites of natural scenic, scientific, and historical value

Minerals Management Service

  • Manages access to the energy resources of the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) to help meet our country’s energy needs
  • Administers over 8,300 active mineral leases on approximately 44 million OCS acres
  • Oversees 15 percent of the natural gas and 27 percent of oil produced domestically
  • Collects, accounts for, substantiates, and disburses revenues, which totaled approximately $26 billion in FY 2008, with an additional estimated $1.6 billion worth of oil taken in kind and delivered to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve
  • Oversees offshore renewable energy permitting

Bureau of Reclamation

  • Largest supplier and manager of water in the seventeen Western States
  • Maintains 479 dams and 348 reservoirs
  • Delivers water to one in every five western farmers and over 31 million people
  • America’s second largest producer of hydroelectric power

Office of Surface Mining

  • Protects the environment during coal mining
  • Ensures the land is reclaimed afterwards
  • Mitigates the effects of past mining by pursuing reclamation of abandoned coal mine lands

Accomplishments:

Across the four Mission Areas of Interior’s Strategic Plan, Interior’s employees have achieved significant results for the Nation.
Resource Protection

  • Approximately 53,000 more stream/shoreline miles achieved the desired conditions over our 2007 performance, bringing the total miles to almost 250,000 for FY 2008
  • Recovery plans are in place for 80 percent of the species currently on the Endangered Species List, a significant step toward Interior’s goal of Sustaining Biological Communities
  • e proposed the removal of the brown pelican from Endangered Species status. The brown pelican had nearly disappeared and its recovery is due in large measure to the Federal ban on the general use of DDT, inspired by former FWS biologist, Rachel Carson, in Silent Spring. FWS estimates the global population of brown pelicans is at 650,000 due to the extraordinary efforts of State wildlife agencies partnering with FWS
  • Interior announced that the USGS 35-year Landsat satellite image archive will be available for free over the Internet. Scientists, government officials, and land managers will be able to see the changes in the Earth’s landscape at any point in the past three and a half decades
  • The Centennial Initiative, launched last year to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service in 2016, got under way in 2008 with proposals for 110 national park improvement projects and programs. The Centennial Initiative is a 10-year effort to prepare national parks for another century of conservation, preservation, and enjoyment. The Initiative proposes a Federal Centennial Challenge fund to match philanthropic contributions for the benefit of our national parks.
  • Interior adopted the new 2008–2012 National Invasive Species Management Plan, developed collaboratively by 13 Federal departments, agencies, and their partners. It will be the primary roadmap for Federal efforts to control invasive species. Invasive species damage the Nation’s environment, economy, and human health— harming fisheries, forests, croplands and natural areas; impairing recreation; and endangering public health through threats like the West Nile virus. More than 40 percent of threatened and endangered species are listed primarily because of the impacts of invasive species.
  • We inaugurated the Birds Forever Initiative, a joint effort of the FWS and the USGS. Last year, annual surveys conducted by the Audubon Society documented the alarming decline in populations of common birds, which have plummeted 70 percent on average since 1967. I am reminded again of Rachel Carson and her warning of “…a spring without voices.” We must ensure that we will never have a silent spring without the songs of wild birds. The initiative will expand and improve the health of wild bird habitat, strengthen educational outreach programs, and support partnerships with States, local communities, conservation organizations, and others to reverse the precipitous decline in wild bird populations and improve the status of five bird species over the next 5 years.

Resource Use

  • Interior contributed to America’s energy security through providing access to energy and minerals, and collected the second-largest source of Federal revenues.
  • Minerals Management Service held the first Chukchi Sea lease sale since 1991 off the Northern shore of Alaska. Approximately 2.8 million acres were leased, generating more than $2.6 billion.
  • Overall, 11.7 million acres were leased in the Outer Continental Shelf as a result of the five FY 2008 lease sales, contributing to America’s energy security goals and bringing $9.5 billion to the Treasury.
  • Onshore, the BLM processed an additional 7,846 Applications for Permits to Drill (APDs) on already existing oil and gas leases, up from 3,636 in 2001.
  • Reclamation’s 58 hydroelectric power plants generated 40 million megawatt hours of hydroelectricity, enough to meet the needs of over 5 million households. Reclamation continues to be a reliable and low-cost hydropower producer. Its hydroelectric generating units were available 91 percent of the time to the interconnected Western electrical system during daily peak summer demand periods, comparing favorably to private-sector performance.
  • Since the Nation’s energy situation changed dramatically in the past year, I jump-started the development of a new oil and natural gas leasing program for the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf 2 years ahead of schedule. When our current program was launched in July 2007, oil was selling for $64 a barrel. This past summer, that cost skyrocketed to over $140 per barrel. We have begun the initial steps to develop a new 5-year program. This initiative could offer the Nation energy development options it would not otherwise have had until 2012 or beyond.

Recreation

  • Over 460 million visitors took part in recreational opportunities provided through Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, Fish & Wildlife Service, and National Park Service, with over 90 percent reporting satisfaction with their experience on Interior-managed lands and waters.
  • The National Trails System added more than 1,100 miles of National Recreation Trails—24 trails in 16 States—to mark its 40th Anniversary.

Serving Communities

  • Interior distributed $26.7 million to individual Indian trust account holders who were previously on the “Whereabouts Unknown” list.
  • The Office of Wildland Fire Coordination reports that the Bureau of Indian Affairs, BLM, FWS, and NPS treated 614,000 acres to directly reduce wildfire threats in wildland-urban interface areas that face risks to property and life from catastrophic wildland fire.

Challenges:
As the Nation’s largest land manager, the Department touches the lives of every American. We help secure energy that powers our Nation’s productivity and provides the foundation for a dynamic economy. We help Indian children fulfill their potential through the management of schools in Indian Country. The science we generate helps reduce risks from natural hazards and guides our land stewardship. Yet with these opportunities come challenges. One of our biggest challenges is time—the time it takes to reverse decades of damaging impacts on public lands. It can also take decades of collaborative efforts to restore the health of a species so that it can be removed from the threatened and endangered species list.

We know that climate change has implications for the vast land and water resources managed across the Department. Federal land and water resources are vulnerable to a wide range of impacts, some of which are already occurring. Last year, I created a 100-person task force to identify strategies for managing land and waters and protecting wildlife, as well as devising new management responses for adapting to changing landscapes. This task force, that includes scientists, park superintendents, BLM field managers, Reclamation engineers, and refuge managers from across the country, developed reports in three areas: land and water management, law and policy, and science. These reports will help Interior plan long-term adaptations that must be integrated with our day-to-day management of lands, habitats, and wildlife resources.

Another significant challenge is ensuring a balance among conservation, recreation, and resource use goals. As we seek greater energy security, we must also conserve wildlife—a balance that requires new ways of planning and resource management, continued inspections of oil and gas extraction facilities on land and in our coastal oceans, and reclamation of surface mines. Through our Healthy Lands Initiative, we allocated funds for science, planning, resource protection, and restoration in six geographic areas. Our initiative is laying the groundwork for a holistic, landscape-level management approach so that we can achieve environmental, economic, recreation, and other social goals through partnerships with States, the private sector, and nonprofit organizations.

I am concerned about the performance of students in our Bureau of Indian Education schools. We launched our Improving Indian Education Initiative in 2008 to increase Indian student academic achievement by supporting quality education environments and effective learning strategies. These efforts will take time to achieve their results. However, intensive educational assistance went to those schools that have yet to achieve their performance goals. We are providing additional funding for student transportation, education program management, and information technology.

History:
Established in 1849, the Department of the Interior is the Nation’s principal Federal conservation agency. It manages many of the Nation’s special natural, cultural, and historic places, conserves lands and waters, protects cultural legacies, and keeps the Nation’s history alive. Interior manages parks, refuges, public lands and recreation areas for public enjoyment, provides access to many of the Nation’s natural resources, increases scientific knowledge, and fulfills America’s trust and other responsibilities to native peoples. Interior also provides hydropower to the Western States. It delivers water to over 31 million citizens through management of 479 dams and 348 reservoirs.

A Department for Domestic Concern was initially considered by the First United States Congress in 1789, but those duties were placed in the Department of State. The proposal continued to percolate for a half-century. The 1846–1848 Mexican-American War gave the proposal new energy as the responsibilities of the Federal Government grew. President Polk’s Secretary of the Treasury Robert J. Walker, became a vocal champion for creating a new department.

In 1848, Walker stated in his annual report that several Federal offices were placed in Departments with which they had little in common: General Land Office in the Department of the Treasury, the Indian Affairs Office residing in the Department of War, and the Patent Office in the State Department. He proposed that all should be brought together in a new Department of the Interior. A bill authorizing Interior’s creation passed the House of Representatives on February 15, 1849, and was adopted by the Senate after just over 2 weeks. The Department was established on March 3, 1849, the eve of President Zachary Taylor’s inauguration, when the Senate voted 31 to 25 to create the Department.

Today, the Department manages about one-fifth of America’s land as shown in Figure 1-1 and is made up of Departmental Offices and nine Bureaus with a broad range of responsibilities.

Read the entire report in PDF format with charts and tables

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