Ken Salazar

Funding recipients include states, American Indians, and eligible counties

November 17, 2009 -- DENVER, CO – The Department of the Interior’s Minerals Management Service (MMS) today announced that it disbursed more than $10.68 billion in Fiscal Year 2009 from revenues collected from energy and mineral production on Federal and American Indian lands, including energy and mineral production on the Federal Outer Continental Shelf.    » read more »

WASHINGTON, Nov. 16, 2009 – Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that their agencies would acquire seven parcels of high value conservation land, totaling 5,026 acres in Colorado, Montana and Nevada for $11.7 million. The largest is a 4,573-acre property within the Canyons of the Ancients National Monument in Colorado.    » read more »

36 Million Acres for Oil and Gas Development; March 17 Sale Could Produce up to 1.3 Billion Barrels of Oil

November 13, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today announced the Department will hold an oil and natural gas lease sale for the Central Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf that will offer nearly 36 million acres and could produce up to 1.3 billion barrels of oil and 5.4 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.    » read more »

Salazar: Brown Pelican Recovery is “an Amazing Success Story”

November 11, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks Tom Strickland and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Sam Hamilton today announced that the brown pelican, a species once decimated by the pesticide DDT, has recovered and is being removed from the list of threatened and endangered species under the Endangered Species Act.

“At a time when so many species of wildlife are threatened, we once in a while have an opportunity to celebrate an amazing success story,” Salazar said. “Today is such a day. The brown pelican is back!”    » read more »

November 9, 2009 -- BISMARCK, N.D. – Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar told energy executives today that the President’s comprehensive energy strategy seeks to responsibly develop all fronts and that North Dakota offers significant conventional and renewable resources that can help to reduce America’s dependence on foreign energy while creating new jobs.    » read more »

November 9, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar released the following statement on the Obama Administration’s actions to deal with the California Water Crisis:

“Today, Governor Schwarzenegger is signing milestone water legislation in Fresno County, one of the counties hardest hit by California's water crisis – a crisis caused by the brutal combination of a three-year drought, the collapse of native fisheries in the Bay Delta, and the fact that California's investments in water conservation and infrastructure have not kept up with its growth.    » read more »

November 7, 2009 -- SHANKSVILLE, Pa. – Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today joined Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, Senator Bob Casey and the families of the Flight 93 heroes to break ground on the Flight 93 National Memorial. Senator Arlen Specter and Congressmen John Murtha and Bill Shuster had representatives there on their behalf.

“On behalf of a grateful nation, we say to the men and women of Flight 93 who gave their lives on September 11, 2001 to prevent terrorists from attacking our nation’s capital ‘We will never forget you,’” Salazar said. “This national memorial will always stand to honor you and to remind future generations that you fought and were victorious over the forces of evil.”    » read more »

Nov. 05, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Citing what he called America’s urgent need for a diverse energy supply, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today detailed several renewable energy projects that are on a fast track, including a 400-megawatt solar tower development available for public review and five others that are poised to begin environmental impact studies. Five of these are solar projects and one is a wind farm; all are located in California.    » read more »

November 2, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, DC – Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today hosted a Clean Energy Economy Forum with stakeholders from 39 states across the country at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.

Deputy Secretary David Hayes and other top Department of the Interior officials spoke about the importance of renewable energy and job creation, climate impact and adaptation, and efforts to support and maintain the treasured landscapes of America in the emerging clean energy economy.    » read more »

Lauds Houston Utilities’ Smart Grid Leadership; Local Companies Awarded Over $250 Million in Smart Grid Grants

October 28, 2009 -- HOUSTON, Texas – Visiting the Energy Capital of the World, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today lauded the advanced power transmission and distribution technology adopted by CenterPoint Energy Houston, a regional utility that received a $200 million federal grant to spur its deployment of a Smart Grid that will improve efficiency and help area consumers manage and control their electricity usage.

Other Texas electric utilities shared about $58 million in Smart Grid grants, including Reliant Energy Retail Services, LLC (Houston); Golden Spread Electric Cooperative (Amarillo); Denton County Electric Cooperative; and El Pasco Electric.    » read more »

Finds Insufficient Evidence to Acknowledge the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Montana

October 27, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – There is not enough evidence to meet the legal requirements for federal recognition of the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Montana, Acting Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs George T. Skibine said today. The Department of then Interior, therefore, has issued a final determination not to acknowledge the petitioner group as a federally-recognized Indian tribe.

“Though the Little Shell cannot meet the mandatory criteria for federal acknowledgment through Interior’s administrative process, the U.S. Congress has the authority to recognize the Little Shell under pending legislation,” Skibine said.    » read more »

Offers New RD&D Leases; Asks IG to Investigate 11th Hour Lease Addenda

October 20, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today took steps to help the country develop technologies that could potentially unlock the nation’s oil shale reserves while protecting taxpayers, water resources, the environment, and local communities.    » read more »

Underscores Commitment to Green Jobs, Clean Energy Economy

October 16, 2009 -- CARY, North Carolina -- Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Secretary of Energy Steven Chu and U.S. Senator Kay Hagan (D-NC) met today with employees of Southern Energy Management, a home-grown sustainable energy company, and toured the firm’s signature project -- one of the largest solar array energy systems in the Southeast.    » read more »

October 14, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, D.C.- Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced today that the Bureau of Reclamation has awarded American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding to additional tribes to help improve infrastructure and water supplies while bringing jobs to Indian country.

Today’s announcements apply to five tribes that will receive a total of $47 million-the Three Affiliated Tribes of North Dakota; the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, and the Oglala Sioux Tribe in South Dakota; and the Navajo Nation in New Mexico. Reclamation previously has awarded $97 million and will award a total of $157 million in recovery funding to tribes for their water systems.    » read more »

October 14, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, DC – Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today launched a Fiscal Year 2010 work plan for Bureau of Land Management (BLM) forests in western Oregon that will add economic certainty for local communities while protecting endangered species.

In addition to a proposed schedule of 62 timber sales under the Northwest Forest Plan, Salazar announced that federal field teams will identify future proposed timber sales with high likelihood of being sold and harvested and a special task force will take a fresh look at forest management issues in Oregon.    » read more »