U.S. SENATE – U.S. Senator Steve Daines today spoke with Secretary of the Department of the Interior (DOI) Doug Burgum in a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing. Secretary Burgum committed to support a number of Montana priorities, including delisting the grizzly bear, supporting domestic energy production, and fighting for Daines’ “America the Beautiful” Act.
Watch the full exchange HERE.
Daines and Burgum discussed the need to delist the grizzly bear:
Daines: Secretary Burgum, it’s good to see you here today. I’m grateful for your leadership. You’ve made a lot of significant accomplishments delivered here over the first five, six months of your tenure. Thank you. One issue that we’re focused on in Montana, among many, is grizzly bears. As you’re well aware, the Fish and Wildlife Service has advanced a proposal on grizzly bears in January that we’ve spoken on. I want to again emphasize that this Biden-era proposal punishes Montana’s successful grizzly bear recovery efforts. We should celebrate the fact that there are populations that are way over the recovery targets, delist the bear, and transfer the responsibility of the managment of that great species back to the state of Montana. Your agency reviews the status of bears. Would you commit to looking at those recovery targets that were set by FWS for the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem, which by the way, have been well exceeded?
Burgum: Yes, absolutely, I’ll commit to that. And you’re absolutely correct, well exceeded by more than double.
Daines thanked Burgum for his work to support Made-In-Montana energy:
Daines: Montana’s home to three major coal mines that have been in limbo for years because of inaction by the Biden administration. But under your leadership, I was talking about it on the radio here this morning, in fact, what you did, you’ve got Montana back on track. Earlier this year, you approved the Spring Creek Mine in eastern Montana, and just last week you approved the Bull Mountains Coal Mine in Roundup. I can tell you there’s a lot of Montana families who depend on those jobs, who are, it’s a big sigh of relief at the moment. So I want to thank you for prioritizing that, and made in Montana Energy. It’s not going unnoticed. And by the way, some have said this wasn’t well thought out, this was a knee jerk reaction. This is the 700-page EIS for the Bull Mountain Mine. It’s the result of extensive public comment, extensive public input, years of review, and that’s contained in this EIS. I know the community in Montana is grateful for the hard work your team put into this. The last piece of the puzzle is the Rosebud coal mine, which feeds the Colstrip Power Plant. I hope to see that permit in the very near future. Secretary Bergum, my question is this, could you speak to the work you are doing to support more Made-in-America energy and the work you have done in Montana?
Burgum: Well, I’d be happy to…
Daines emphasized the importance of his bill, the “America the Beautiful” Act:
My good friend Angus King and I have worked long to protect and strengthen our national parks. Last month, we introduced the America the Beautiful Act to reauthorize the National Parks and Public Lands Legacy Restoration Fund. Remember when President Trump signed the Great America Outdoors Act? Many said it was the greatest conservation win in 50 years, signed by President Trump. The only problem we have is that expires after five years. Well, it’s been five years believe it or not. It’s time to renew this to deal with the crumbling infrastructure and the deferred maintenance problems we have in our national parks. With America’s 250th birthday around the corner, I can’t think of a better gift to give America than to sign that bill. We’re working hard on that. This is a legacy item for the president. Mr. Secretary will you work with Senator King and me to get this to the President’s desk as soon as possible?
Burgum: Absolutely.
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Contact: Matt Lloyd, Gabby Wiggins