U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke today announced President Trump’s $11.6 billion Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 budget blueprint request for the Department of the Interior.
The Interior budget contains funding for American Samoa ‘s basic operations and capital improvement projects.
KHJ News to bring you an analysis of how American Samoa fares in Trump’s first budget bill in later newscasts.
According to Secretary Zinke, the budget meets the DOI’s core mission while also saving taxpayers $1.5 billion or 12 percent reduction from the FY 2017 Annualized Continuing Resolution level.
A DOI press release says the President’s budget blueprint prioritizes strengthening America’s energy security by increasing funding for programs that support responsible development of oil, natural gas, coal, and renewable energy on public lands and offshore waters.
The blueprint also sustains funding for DOI’s collection and disbursement of roughly $10 billion annually for mineral development, an important source of revenue to the Treasury, states, and Indian mineral owners.
The proposed budget directly supports funding for land management operations for the National Park Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, and Bureau of Land Management, ensuring streamlined operations and greater access to public lands for multiple uses, including recreation, conservation, and responsible development of natural resources.
The budget ensures National Park Service assets are preserved for future generations by increasing investment in deferred maintenance projects.
Secretary Zincke said, “From supporting tribal sovereignty and self-determination across Indian country to investing more than $1 billion in safe and reliable water management in the western U.S., to budgeting for wildland fire preparedness and suppression, and streamlining access to the energy resources America needs, this budget enables the Department to meet its core mission and prioritizes programs that will put Americans’ security first.”
The President’s budget blueprint also eliminates some duplicative programs, including discretionary Abandoned Mine Land grants that overlap with existing mandatory grants, National Heritage Areas that are more appropriately funded at the local level, and National Wildlife Refuge fund payments to local governments that overlap with other payment programs.
The budget reduces land acquisition funding by more than $120 million and focuses available discretionary funds on investing in and maintaining existing parks, refuges and public lands.
