Next Interior Memos weekly digest, 2025-09-11

There’s a lot going on, from the major national story of yesterday afternoon through a lot of activity from or relevant to the Department of the Interior. If it weren’t such a busy week on all fronts, then this digest could easily be very long and detailed. But it is a very busy week, so instead I am going to be very brief given the volume of info:

• The Trump administration through Secretary Burgum is proposing to rescind the Public Lands Rule, which had brought some much-needed sideboards for guiding the Bureau of Land Management’s decisions in balancing many competing uses of our public lands, including for conservation. We’ll do a deep dive on why rescission is a terrible idea as soon as possible, and well ahead of the 10 November comment deadline.
• Congressional staff have been tracking and tallying frozen or cancelled funding—to the tune of nearly $500 billion so far—including for Interior. As a reminder, until Congress rescinds already appropriated funding, or fails to provide funding in a subsequent year, it is illegal and unconstitutional for the administration to fail to expend the funding.
• The Senate Indian Affairs committee voted to advance Billy Kirkland to be the next Assistant Secretary - Indian Affairs at the Department of the Interior. 
• Yesterday, the House Natural Resources committee held a long hearing on permitting and National Environmental Policy Act reform. Most of the time was spent on the SPEED Act, which would not help permitting or the purposes of NEPA: giving people a voice in government decisions that affect their environment. As with the Public Lands Rule, we’ll do a deep dive on this proposed legislation—and what we think would be much better—as soon as possible.
• In the ongoing efforts of the administration to erase history and information that are inconvenient, the Associated Press had a rundown on the National Park Service review of “disparaging” signage. 
• There’s so much in the annals of corruption from the administration that it’s hard / impossible to keep track. But here are two for you: Trump I’s Secretary of the Interior is doing just fine bringing in the money; and a Brookings Institute scholar looks at how toadyism harms government performance. 
• Moment of Science: “But these methods [big geospatial data] may also undermine moves toward rights-based and inclusive conservation approaches that consider plural values and perspectives.” This paper is in my reading queue, you may appreciate it too!
• Following up on last week’s action request to weigh in on the Forest Service’s proposal to rescind the Roadless Rule, nearly 40 members of Congress signed a letter to the agency requesting reversal and a longer comment period. Release here, with a link to the letter. Interested in learning more? In the Coming up section, below, we’ve got info on a webinar next week! 
• “You cannot lose if you do not play.” That line from The Wire (clip below) came to mind while reading Secretary Burgum’s remarks while he’s taking care of things for the Department that’s struggling with staff terminations and departures, etc., in Italy to hang out with oil and gas companies. In his telling, “winning the AI arms race” is far more important than climate, and the only way to do that is with more energy*. But what if the AI arms race is a sham cooked up by salesmen looking to line their pockets before anyone notices, and the game is rigged against us and the planet?** Should we accept playing the game? If we don’t play then we cannot lose!

* Unless of course that energy is from renewables…

** On the other hand, there are only tens of thousands of incredibly skilled and knowledgeable researchers, backed by untold petabytes of data and strong scientific understanding of our planet, who say the climate (and biodiversity) crises are the biggest threat to people and society now and in the coming decades.

Coming up

• Curious about the Roadless Rule? Check out this webinar on Monday, Sept 15th at 7:30pm ET, which will feature Mike Dombeck (Former Chief, USFS); Rep. Andrea Salinas (D-OR); President Joel Jackson (Organized Village of Kake). Here is the Zoom information: https://sierraclub.zoom.us/j/96440943722
• Next week we’ll announce the Next Interior Fellows here!
• Fat Bear Week, 23-30 September! Read more

Last but not least:

• Odds remain high—and get higher every day—for a government shutdown starting 01 October. While I don’t want the American people to not be served by Interior and other agencies, and I don’t want our civil servants hurt, I believe it’s absolutely essential that there’s no funding for FY 2026 until the administration stops breaking the law and Congress uses its authority to ensure that. The medium- and long-term costs of capitulating are far too high.

Parting shot