Trump gave Interior candidate a mandate for half a billion acres of US land: ‘Drill’.

BISMARCK, N.D. – Donald Trump was appointed Doug Burgum The unique task of nominating the governor of oil-rich North Dakota to lead an agency that oversees half a billion acres of federal land and vast swathes of offshore: “Drilling baby exercise.”

This order by the president-elect to announce Burgum as Minister of Internal Affairs paves the way for the revival of power. court battles Public lands and waters environmentalists worry about that helped define Trump’s first term climate change They are already declaring their opposition.

Burgum is an ultra-wealthy software industry entrepreneur who grew up on his family’s farm. He represents a tame choice compared to other Trump Cabinet picks.

Public lands experts describe their experiences as a popular land expert two-term governor Aligned with environmentalist Teddy Roosevelt, he touts a willingness to collaborate rather than abandon the agency he is tasked with leading.

This could help facilitate its approval and pave the way for the new administration to move quickly to open up more public land for development and commercial use.

“Burgum strikes me as a credible candidate who could do a credible job as Interior secretary,” said John Leshy, who served as an Interior lawyer under former President Bill Clinton.

“He is not a right-wing radical living on public lands,” added Leshy, a professor emeritus at the University of California School of Law in San Francisco.

Frictions on land

The Department of the Interior manages about one-fifth of the nation’s land, with missions that range from wildlife protection and recreation to natural resource extraction and fulfilling treaty obligations with Native American tribes.

Most of these lands are in the West, where frictions with private landowners and government officials have become commonplace, sometimes escalating into violent clashes with right-wing groups that reject federal authority.

Burgum, if confirmed, would face a lawsuit pending before Utah’s U.S. Supreme Court. defend state power On Ministry of Internal Affairs lands. North Dakota’s attorney general supported the lawsuit, but Burgum’s office declined to say whether he supported Utah’s claims.

Lawyers for the U.S. Department of Justice asked the Supreme Court on Thursday to dismiss Utah’s case. They said Utah agreed to give up its rights to the lands in question when it became a state in 1894.

Trump’s narrow focus on fossil fuels is a repeat of his 2016 campaign; although coal mining is excluded, collapsing industry He failed to achieve a revival in his first term. During this year’s election campaign, Trump repeatedly hailed oil as “liquid gold” and left coal largely unmentioned.

About 26% of U.S. oil comes from federal lands and offshore areas controlled by the Interior Department. Despite Trump’s claims that Democrats are blocking drilling, production continues to reach record levels under President Joe Biden.

But industry representatives and their Republican allies say volumes could be increased even further. They want Burgum and the Interior Department to increase oil and gas sales from federal lands in the Gulf of Mexico and off Alaska.

The oil industry is also hoping that Trump’s government efficiency initiative, led by billionaire Elon Musk, could significantly reduce environmental reviews.

The Biden administration has reduced the frequency and size of lease sales and restored environmental rules. Weakened during the Trump era. As a candidate in 2020, the Democrat promised more restrictions on drilling to help fight global warming, but struck a deal on the 2022 climate bill. Requires offshore oil and gas sales Renewable energy leases will be realized before being sold.

“Oil and gas brings in billions of dollars in revenue, but you can’t get that if you don’t have leases,” said Erik Milito of the National Ocean Industries Association, which represents offshore industries including oil and wind.

Trump promised kill offshore wind energy projects. But Milito said he is hopeful that with Burgum in office, there will be “green lights ahead of us, not just for oil and gas, but for everything.”

Conservation, drilling and grazing

Burgum is expected to revive some of the most controversial moves at the agency during Trump’s first term, including relocating top officials from Washington, D.C., tearing down parts of the Endangered Species Act and reducing the size of two designated national monuments in Utah. It is not clear whether it will be revived. by former President Barack Obama.

Biden administration officials have spent much of the last four years reversing Trump’s moves. They restored Utah monuments and rescinded numerous Trump regulations. While many wind and solar projects are moving forward, onshore oil and gas lease sales have fallen — only 91,712 acres (37,115 hectares) were sold last year, out of more than a million acres sold annually under Trump and previous administrations.

Energy leases take years to develop, and oil companies control millions of unused acres.

Biden administration also increased prices importance of protection Adopting a rule for public land decisions that puts it more on par with oil and gas development. They proposed withdrawing parcels of land in six states from potential future mining to protect struggling bird species. greater sage grouse.

North Dakota is among Republican states challenging the Biden administration’s management of public lands. Officials acting to prevent climate change have turned laws intended to facilitate development into policies that block drilling, livestock grazing and other uses, the states said in a lawsuit filed in June.

Oil production has boomed in North Dakota over the past two decades, thanks in large part to better drilling techniques. Burgum has been an industry champion and signed a petition for state repeal last year. oil tax trigger — a price-based tax increase industry leaders supported extraction.

Burgum’s office declined an interview request.

In his statement following his nomination, Burgum reiterated Trump’s call for US “energy dominance” in the global market. The 68-year-old governor also said his Interior job provides an opportunity to improve government relations with developers, tribes, landowners and outdoor enthusiasts, “focused on maximizing environmental stewardship and responsible use of our natural resources for the benefit of Americans.” people.”

Under current Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, the agency has placed greater emphasis on working collaboratively with tribes, including its own. energy projects. Haaland, a member of the Laguna Pueblo tribe in New Mexico, also launched an initiative to resolve criminal cases involving missing and murdered Indigenous people and helped lead a nationwide reckoning. Abuses in federal residential schools in India this resulted in Biden issuing a formal public apology.

Burgum worked with tribes in his state, including on oil development. Burgum was also a big supporter of tourism and outdoor activities like hunting and fishing in North Dakota, said Shannon Straight, director of the Badlands Conservation Alliance in Bismarck, North Dakota.

But that doesn’t mean additional protection for lands in the state, the Straight said.

“Theodore Roosevelt had a conservation ethic, and we speak and defend that as a beautiful standard to live by,” he said. “We haven’t seen that much in the field. … The view is only going to be as good as some additional protection.

Burgum became a cheerleader for the plan Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library In Medora, North Dakota.

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Brown reported from Billings, Montana.