Obama to Nominate Rhea Suh as Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks

Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell today praised President Obama's intent to nominate Rhea S. Suh as Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks. If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Suh would oversee and coordinate policy decisions for the National Park Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Suh currently serves as Interior's Assistant Secretary for Policy, Management and Budget (PMB) - a position she has held since May 19, 2009. As Assistant Secretary, Suh oversees a broad portfolio of policy and administrative functions that support the Department and its workforce, including budget, law enforcement and security management, human resources, and procurement. Suh holds responsibility as the Department's Chief Financial Officer and Chief Human Capital Officer, and provides policy leadership on international affairs and initiatives on land conservation, sustainability, diversity, and youth engagement and employment...more

William Clark, defender of Reagan’s ‘sagebrush rebellion’

By William Perry Pendley

With the passing last week of William P. Clark came acknowledgments of his amazing accomplishments as President Reagan’s “top hand” in the White House, at the State Department, and as secretary of the Interior. Properly, much attention focuses on Mr. Clark’s role in formulating, developing and implementing Reagan’s plan regarding the Soviet Union (“We win, and they lose.”), which led to America’s victory in the Cold War.

What is not well known, however, is the degree to which Reagan was involved in energy, natural resources and environmental policy at the Interior Department, the reason Reagan selected Mr. Clark to replace James Watt when Mr. Watt resigned, and the importance Mr. Clark attributed to continuing Mr. Watt’s policies. In sum, analogous to Reagan’s plan to “transcend” communism, Reagan intended to transcend those partisan opponents he called “environmental extremists” and “modern-day Luddites.”

Reagan was the most knowledgeable president in history regarding energy, natural resources and environmental issues, given his experience as governor of California — half of which is owned by the federal government — and his years researching, writing and delivering radio addresses on those topics. During the 1980 presidential campaign, Reagan made clear his intention to develop the energy and minerals beneath the third of the country owned by the federal government and the billion acres off its shores. So insistent was Reagan that when Mr. Watt sought to back down regarding one controversial oil and gas lease in Wyoming, Reagan told him, “Jim, if you do not do it, who will? If not there, where will we drill?”

When Mr. Watt resigned as a result of what Reagan called “a 2-year lynching,” Reagan enlisted his top hand to take over at Interior. Those who believed in letting Reagan be Reagan were not surprised. Mr. Clark often called Mr. Watt at the president’s request after a nasty bit of media coverage to assure him he was on the right path. Environmental extremists knew nothing of this, but still they blasted Mr. Clark for his knowledge, intelligence and conservative views. After Mr. Clark’s confirmation, Reagan took to the radio praising Mr. Watt, promoting the Reagan record on the environment, and presenting Mr. Clark.

Mr. Clark did not disappoint.

READ ENTIRE COLUMN

Pendley is author of the recently released Sagebrush Rebel: Reagan's Battle with Environmental Extremists and Why It Matters Today

USDA does about-face, won’t jettison Forest Service’s shield logo

by Scott Sandsberry

A plan to drop a recognizable logo in this part of the country — the Forest Service’s iconic shield — generated so much outrage among the agency’s retirees that the idea has been dropped.

In early January, the U.S. Department of Agriculture quietly introduced a policy to phase out all of its sub-agencies’ logos, including the Forest Service’s, and replace them with the USDA symbol.

But that policy was kept so under wraps that not even Pacific Northwest forest supervisors were told. Some of them only heard about it in retrospect late last week — after the USDA had decided, in light of the virulent opposition from the Forest Service’s “Old Smokies” retiree group, to keep the service’s shield logo intact.

“We were all getting ready for a good fight,” said Jim Golden of Sonora, Calif., chairman of the retiree group...

The retirees, though, didn’t swing into action until barely two weeks ago because the new USDA policy — while ostensibly already in force for 31/2 months — wasn’t known to the people in the field.

Questions sent Monday morning by the Yakima Herald-Republic to the office of USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack prompted a short email reply with this statement, which was “to be attributed to ‘a USDA spokesperson’ ”: “The US Forest Service shield is exempted from the One USDA branding directive.”

Also Monday morning, Forest Service headquarters around the country received the same message, with this terse directive, from Forest Service headquarters in Washington, D.C.: “Good morning, colleagues. Per USDA, we are cleared at all levels to provide only the following comment when queried about the (Forest Service) shield. If we get further guidance, we will let you know.”

While current Forest Service employees could not comment on the record, many retirees were aghast at the idea of what they saw as the USDA’s usurping the service’s shield logo.

“I just think that’s horrible,” said Doug Jenkins, who retired as a Naches Ranger District information specialist four months ago. “It doesn’t surprise me, as if they didn’t have better things to do than do away with the Forest Service shield so they can have their own little realm.”

The Forest Service’s logo has been around since the agency’s inception in 1905 under then-chief forester Gifford Pinchot. It was a former Gifford Pinchot National Forest supervisor who was instrumental in marshaling the opposition to the shield logo’s removal...

One retired 34-year employee sent sarcastic congratulations through the USDA’s online feedback forum, calling the new standards “egotistical bureaucratic tunnel vision” and “the best example of top-down, super-centralized, micro-managed piece of bureaucratic direction that it has been my disgust to read.”  

READ ENTIRE ARTICLE

Park ranger: Supervisors pushed sequester cuts that visitors would see

Another federal employee has come forward to claim the Obama administration resisted efforts to ease the impact of sequester. A U.S. park ranger, who did not wish to be identified, told FoxNews.com that supervisors within the National Park Service overruled plans to deal with the budget cuts in a way that would have had minimal impact on the public. Instead, the source said, park staff were told to cancel special events and cut "interpretation services" -- the talks, tours and other education services provided by local park rangers. "Apparently, they want the public to feel the pain," the ranger said. The National Park Service is among many federal agencies warning of a major impact from the sequester cuts, which took effect last Friday. The agency has warned of delayed access to portions of Yellowstone and Yosemite national parks, closed campgrounds at Great Smoky Mountains National Park, reduced hours at the Grand Canyon visitor center and other ramifications. At the Park Service, the alleged incident occurred in one region and it's unclear whether other divisions were given similar guidance...more

Interior Secretary Salazar ‘thinking hard’ about second term

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said he’s still mulling whether to serve another term atop the department. “We are thinking hard about it,” Salazar said in the Capitol Tuesday evening. “My family and I are having lots of great conversations,” he said when asked whether he planned to stick around. Salazar, who was a U.S. senator from Colorado before President Obama tapped him for the Interior job, did not provide a timeline for making a decision...more

Diverse Coalition urges Obama to pick Raul Grijalva for Interior Secretary

On Monday, a letter was sent to President Obama signed by 238 conservation, Hispanic, recreation, animal welfare, religious, labor, youth, business and women’s groups urging President Barack Obama to nominate Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) as the next interior secretary when that position opens. Grijalva is currently ranking member of the House Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands, and a leading Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee. The letter, released by Center For Biological Diversity, stated in part: The selection of the next interior secretary is an important moment to place a renewed emphasis and urgency on some of the most critical issues of our age, including climate change, the protection of endangered species and preservation of water and wild lands. We strongly believe Congressman Grijalva exemplifies the modern and forward-thinking vision of the Department of the Interior.

I couldn't think of anything worse. This would put Jimmy Carter's War On The West to shame. 

Go here to view the letter and view the list of  signatory groups.  Of local interest, the letter is signed by the New Mexico Wilderness Alliance and the Southwest Environmental Center.  Interestingly, I didn't see signatures representing the Sierra Club, Defenders of Wildlife, Wilderness Society, NRDC, etc. 

Industry looks for change among Obama energy officials

Energy-industry officials and environmental groups are watching for change at the top in President Barack Obama's second term, with Environmental Protection Agency chief Lisa Jackson, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Energy Secretary Steven Chu seen as possible candidates to step down. Any new faces could have a big impact on some of the most important issues affecting the US economy, including the rapid growth of oil and gas production backed by new drilling technologies and the decline of coal. Mr. Salazar's spokesman said the secretary remains "focused on the job." The White House declined to comment on who might leave the Cabinet or when, and representatives of the EPA and the Energy Department didn't return messages seeking comment. Washington lobbyists and Capitol Hill staff are already circulating lists of possible candidates for the posts. The EPA job is particularly critical, whether Ms. Jackson holds it, because the agency must make decisions about regulating greenhouse gases in the coming year that could effectively block new coal-fired power plants. Presidents typically shuffle their cabinets going into a second term. The grueling workload and relatively low government salaries often prompt some leaders to step aside. Mr. Obama's allies in the environmental community were pleased with the selections of Mr. Chu and Ms. Jackson after his election in 2008. If they step down, the president's picks for successors could be an indication of whether he wishes to lean more in the direction of industry or environmental groups interested in global warming...more

Lincoln National Forest supervisor promoted

The supervisor for the Lincoln National Forest the past almost two years is moving up. Robert Trujillo has been appointed to the USDA Forest Service's Southwest Region as the deputy director of Ecosystems, Analysis, Planning, Watershed, Soil and Air. Trujillo will report to the position in the regional office in Albuquerque on Monday. Trujillo was appointed the Lincoln National Forest's supervisor in January 2011. The local position at the Lincoln's Alamogordo headquarters will be filled temporarily by Tony Edwards, who currently works in the Office of the Chief in Washington, DC. Edwards is a legislative affairs specialist. He will hold the Lincoln's supervisor's post for 120 days, beginning on Monday. The soon to be acting forest supervisor has been with the Forest Service since 1990, beginning as a student employee on the Coronado National Forest located in southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico...more

BLM employee pleads guilty to threatening to kill co-workers

A federal Bureau of Land Management engineer pleaded guilty Tuesday to a federal charge after authorities said he threatened to kill a fellow employee at the bureau’s Amarillo office, federal court records said. A sentencing date was not set. Peter J. Madrid III, 38, of Albuquerque, N.M., pleaded guilty Tuesday in Amarillo’s U.S. District Court to one count of making a threat against a federal employee. The charge carries a maximum penalty of one year in prison, a $100,000 fine and a one-year term of supervised release following the prison sentence...more

Forest Service Paintballs Goats, Reopens Trail

The Forest Service has reopened a popular trail in the Olympic National Forest in Washington after a wildlife biologist spent much of the summer teaching aggressive mountain goats that people are to be avoided.  The trail up Mount Ellinor was closed in early July after several groups of hikers reported encountering very assertive goats. Forest Service officials said hikers who fed goats in the past or let them lick hands or backpacks for salt helped cause the behavior.  As many as 20 goats have been observed on the trail.  During much of the summer, KING-TV says Forest Service employee Kurt Aluzas shot paintballs, sprayed repellant and used his voice to clear the trails of goats. He suggests that hikers yell and stand their ground if they run into a mountain goat.  The trail reopened Monday. AP


Watch the FS biologist demonstrate how to scare a goat in this news report from KING5-TV.

 

Hidden EPA emails alleged

A free market think tank has accused an Environmental Protection Agency official of hiding communications with environmentalists from public disclosure. The Competitive Enterprise Institute of Washington, D.C., has filed a legal complaint seeking to compel the EPA to turn over emails sent and received by James Martin, a regional agency administrator. The institute believes Martin used a private email account to correspond with his former employer, the Environmental Defense Fund, in an attempt to avoid disclosing the messages under the Freedom of Information Act. Chris Horner, a senior fellow at the think tank, said this method of evading public scrutiny has reached "epidemic levels" throughout the Obama administration. "These are not the exception. This seems to be the rule," he said. "We're talking about a very widespread effort. They're running amok with this practice." The group has filed a complaint over Martin's emails and plans similar litigation related to another EPA official because it's concerned such hidden correspondence may influence the agency's decision-making. "We do have concerns generally about coordinating policy with environmental groups," Horner said...more

All Sides Suspicious of OSM/BLM Consolidation Plan

The U.S. Department of the Interior has proposed consolidating the federal Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Many have expressed surprise and suspicion about the plan. The BLM is much larger, concentrated in the West and leases public land for mining, grazing and drilling. The smaller OSM regulates surface coal mines and has more offices in the East. Aimee Erickson is the executive director of the national coalfield community group, Citizens Coal Council. She says she is afraid the already weak and smaller agency could see its mission watered down to nothing. "If the OSM's ability to enforce and do oversight is diminished, we can't afford that in the coal fields." One argument for consolidation is that OSM is much better at reclaiming abandoned mine lands, using funds from a per-ton fee on coal. Jason Bostic, vice president of the West Virginia Coal Association, says his constituents do not want to see the reclamation fund used to clean up BLM's backlog of abandoned non-coal mines...more

Forest Service part of team sequencing 1,000 fungal genomes for "encyclopedia of all fungi"

A 79-year-old collection of fungal cultures and the U.S. Forest Service's Northern Research Station are part of a team that will sequence 1,000 fungal genomes in the next 5 years. Dan Lindner, a research plant pathologist with the Northern Research Station's Center for Forest Mycology Research (CFMR), is one of 13 scientists participating in the '1000 Fungal Genomes' project, which in collaboration with the Department of Energy's (DOE) Joint Genome Institute will sequence two species from every known fungal family. The project is a first step in creating an encyclopedia of all fungi, which will one day help researchers understand not only what they do, but how fungi operate...more

Funding, staff shortages threaten national parks

Five years out from its 100th anniversary, the National Park Service lacks funding for critical maintenance and staffing, imperiling the natural and cultural heritage found in America's "special places," watchdog groups and other observers contend. Nationwide, there is a nearly $11 billion maintenance backlog, about half of which agency officials consider "critical" — and the total shows no signs of lessening. Problems include craggy and washed out roads and visitor centers and other aging buildings with stressed electrical systems and worn out roofs. Shortfalls for staffing approach $600 million, according to an estimate by the National Parks Conservation Association, an advocacy and watchdog group. Cultural resources, such as archeological and archival collections and historic structures, suffer from a lack of trained personnel to care for them, it says. "With too few park staff to watch over them, park prehistoric sites and battlefields are looted and destroyed, historic buildings are vandalized and museum collections are left to deteriorate," said the report, one of many by outside groups in recent years that have described park system problems...more

We can expect more of this kind of stuff as Congress and the Super Committee search for programs to "cut".

Environmental provisions in Interior money bill

CattleNetwork reports the following on the Interior Appropriations bill:

...Van Liew said Interior and Environment Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) included in the legislation a five-year extension of language to allow the renewal of grazing permits under existing terms and conditions as well as language to prohibit the management of bighorn sheep that would have harmful impacts on federal lands grazing of livestock. Also included in the legislation was a provision to limit new listings under ESA and block judicial review or challenge of a decision to remove the gray wolf from the Endangered Species List in Wyoming and the Great Lakes once those states produce authorized management plans. Another measure was included to exempt the trailing of livestock from NEPA requirements. Van Liew hailed the passage of Rep. Cynthia Lummis’ (R-Wyo.) amendment to continue the funding block on DOI’s Secretarial Order 3310 regarding wild lands designations...She said U.S. Representatives Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) and Tom Cole (R-Okla.) offered amendments that would prevent EPA from using any fiscal 2012 funding to advance dust and ammonia regulations under the Clean Air Act. The bill also included language that stops the attempted expanded regulation of waters under the EPA’s proposed Clean Water Act guidance during fiscal year 2012...

EPA, Interior face budget cuts as proposals move out of committee

The Environmental Protection Agency stands to lose significant funding for fiscal 2012 under the Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Appropriations bill released by the House Appropriations Committee late last week. In addition to EPA, the legislation covers funding for the Interior Department, the U.S. Forest Service, and various independent and related agencies. Overall, EPA's budget could be slashed by 18 percent and Interior's by nearly 8 percent. Under the proposed legislation, EPA would get $7.1 billion, which is 18 percent below last year’s funding level and 20 percent — or $1.5 billion — below President Barack Obama’s request. The bill also caps EPA’s personnel at last year’s level, which is the lowest since 1992. Interior would be funded at $9.9 billion, which is $720 million below last year’s level and $1.2 billion below the president’s request. “The EPA has been funded at unparalleled high levels over the past several years, leading to wasteful and unnecessary spending within the agency, as well as contributing to the agency’s regulatory over-reach, which has a detrimental effect on American businesses and the recovering economy,” wrote committee members in a statement...more

Idaho water group opposes Fish and Wildlife post pick

It didn't take long for Idaho's largest water users' group to oppose President Obama's recent nomination for assistant secretary of fish, wildlife and parks at the Interior Department. Rebecca Wodder, president of American Rivers and an advocate for dam removal, is not the right person for the job, according to the Idaho Water Users Association. At American Rivers, Wodder pushed for the removal of the four lower Snake River dams and was a critic of the federal government's salmon recovery plans. "We are deeply troubled that President Obama has nominated the head of a national environmental advocacy group, which has made it a mission to challenge the operation and continued beneficial use of water storage and delivery projects in the state of Idaho and call for the removal of federal dams on the Snake River," Norm Semanko, executive director of the association, said in a letter to the state's two U.S. senators...more

How Long Will Salazar Stay at Interior?

Salazar has given up the fight on this issue, and who can blame him? Five months ago, he could talk about protecting wilderness. Now any policy that even hints at hindering oil or gas drilling, as the wild lands policy did, gets shouted down as un-American. Yesterday, The Denver Post ran a story suggesting that Salazar was tired of taking a beating at Interior. The paper asked him if he’d continue on for a second Obama term, and he replied that he wasn’t “going to look that far into the future.” The paper spun that as “he’s not sure of a second term,” which wasn’t exactly what he said. But a stronger statement would have shown a little more enthusiasm for keeping his current job...more

Salazar ‘still standing tall:’ Interior chief says he’s proud of his record

Buffeted by fallout from the BP oil spill and outcry from fellow Westerners over drilling reforms, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said he feels he’s “still standing tall here” in his job and is moving forward with the administration’s agenda on energy and conservation. Salazar said in an interview Monday with The Associated Press that he intends to stay in office until the end of President Barack Obama’s term. If Obama is re-elected next year and wants him to stay, Salazar said he will decide then about continuing. “Almost everything that we do at Interior touches all of America,” the former Democratic senator from Colorado said. “These are tough issues and it’s tough to serve.” After nearly three years on the job, Salazar said he is proud of the administration’s work promoting renewable energy and conservation and reforming oil and gas drilling. Wearing his signature cowboy hat and bolo tie, Salazar declared in a news conference early in his tenure that there was “a new sheriff in town” and that he was determined to clean up an agency plagued by scandals and assailed by critics as under the sway of the oil and gas industry...more

Salazar says he's not sure of second term as interior secretary

Dusting off from his latest skirmish with Republicans in Congress — his decision to reverse course two weeks ago on a divisive wild-lands policy — Interior Secretary Ken Salazar is noncommittal about serving a second term for President Barack Obama. "I'm not going to look that far into the future," Salazar told The Denver Post when asked whether he would continue to serve if Obama is re-elected in 2012. "I'm working very hard on the job I have now . . . to implement the vision the president has in energy security in the United States." It has not been an easy 29 months for the former Democratic U.S. senator from Colorado. Almost since Day One, he has pushed against 8-year-old policies from the Bush administration, making him a polemical — and deeply mistrusted — figure among Republicans, most of whom are Westerners or from states with significant oil and gas development...more