Free Republic

So you thought the creation of the NLCS was just so BLM could do a better job of managing special lands already under their control. That's how the program was sold. To better manage 27 million acres. Well we all better think again. The document I'm about to describe provides for the BLM to have 14 new monuments on existing BLM land and acquire at the very least 2.6 million acres to add to the NLCS. I am in possession of part of a DOI document marked "Internal Draft - NOT FOR RELEASE". The part I have is pgs. 15-21,...

Energy The administration asked for public comments on a plan to expand offshore drilling. When they came in 2-to-1 in favor, the Interior Department sat on the news. Time for a "Texas tea" party? When you ask for public comment on a major policy issue, at some point you should make the results public, not hide them until you can figure out a way to spin the public reaction to support a conclusion you've already drawn. On its last business day in office, the Bush administration published a proposed draft of a five-year plan to lease areas in the Atlantic...

WASHINGTON - Federal officials are investigating how National Archives documents of interest to Indians suing the Interior Department were found discarded in a trash bin and a wastebasket. The discovery came to light on Sept. 1, when Archives staff noticed federal records in one of the trash bins behind the National Archives Building near the Capitol. They notified the Archives' inspector general, Paul Brachfeld, whose staff recovered the documents. They found at least a portion of the documents were Bureau of Indian Affairs records dating to the 1950s, according to Jason Baron of the Archives' Office of General Counsel, in...

WASHINGTON - (KRT) - The new version of the Endangered Species Act approved by the House is unlikely to pass muster in the Senate, at least right away. Critics worry especially about a murky provision that could pay landowners tens of millions of dollars in damages for property devalued by restrictions due to rare critters or plants. Nonetheless, sponsors' success in getting this far and winning bipartisan backing shows widespread recognition of problems in one of the nation's most venerable environmental laws. In a barometer of emotions flowing on the issue, no fewer than four Old Testament books (Genesis, Psalms,...

WASHINGTON DC -- Around midday Friday, Senator Harry Reid (D NV), as Senate Majority Whip, announced the Senate schedule for Monday, September 23. The late afternoon's events, he said, are to include a vote on a motion to invoke cloture on the Byrd Amendment to the Interior Department funding bill. The very same motion, actually aimed not against the Byrd Amendment but the Bush Healthy Forests Initiative, was voted down September 17. But Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD)then saved his vote until last, and when it was clear the Democrat-favored motion would not attract the necessary 60 votes,...

Appropriators Try to Blackmail Flake, Shadegg to Vote For Bad Bill Washington, D.C. – Arizona Congressman Jeff Flake, who represents the state’s First District, today blasted the House Appropriations Committee for accusing him, and other members of Arizona’s congressional delegation, of working to slash funds to help Arizona and other western states cope with the devastating wildfire season.   The Interior Appropriations bill, written by the House Appropriations Committee, has a price tag of nearly $20 billion.  The bill is $775 million more than President Bush’s request and is more than $900 million more than the same bill cost...

U.S. Newswire 24 Apr 16:26 To: National Desk Contact: Mark Pfeifle or John Wright, 202-208-6416, both of the Department of the Interior WASHINGTON, April 24 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton announced today her intention to develop plans managing the national monuments established under the department's jurisdiction in 2000 and 2001. "It's important that we begin the process of developing plans for managing these national treasures," Norton said. "While I share concerns about the way in which these monuments were created, it's our job now to see that we develop land use plans in an open, inclusive...