Wyoming is suing the U.S. Department of the Interior over federal oil and gas leases but that didn't stop Gov. Mark Gordon from meeting and discussing weighty matters with the Interior secretary during her recent visit to the state.
Gordon was with Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and elected officials in Lander on Thursday, Aug. 12, to discuss the governor’s efforts to address the issue of missing and murdered indigenous persons, according to a news story widely reported in Wyoming news outlets. They also talked about migration corridors and energy projects.
Gordon called Haaland's visit "a valuable opportunity" for her to observe "firsthand the critical nature of federal lands for Wyoming people." Gordon also mentioned the impact of actions by President Joe Biden's administration earlier this year that led to Wyoming filing suit against the federal government.
Gordon also was on hand during Haaland's visit with the Shoshone Business Council and members of the Northern Arapaho Business Council at the new Path of Honor Wind River Reservation Veterans Memorial in Fort Washakie.
Haaland, a member of the Pueblo of Laguna and a 35th generation New Mexican, is the first Native American to serve as a cabinet secretary.
"I appreciated her taking the time to be here and to listen to Wyoming perspectives on how her department has significant impacts on the lives of those who live, work and recreate on federal lands," Gordon said in the news story. "One key topic for me was our energy and mining industries. I continue to stress how much the mineral industry has done for our state, its importance to our economy, and the impacts and issues created by the Biden Administration’s actions."
The DOI issued a news release Aug. 12 announcing that the Department, along with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the state of Wyoming, were committed to enhancing wildlife corridors. The news release announced $2 million in grants to support Tribal- and state-led efforts to restore and improve big game habitats throughout the western U.S.
"Wyoming is a great model for how to advance collaborative, proactive work to conserve and restore important wildlife habitat and migration corridors," Haaland said in the news release. "We are eager to further the state's efforts, and to leverage new and existing federal resources to support Tribes, private landowners, and others in this locally led conservation vision."
Haaland ended her weeklong visit to Wyoming with a stop at Yellowstone National Park, where she highlighted the Biden administration's investments in the nation's infrastructure, the clean energy economy and conservation efforts. Those efforts are consistent with the America the Beautiful initiative that aims to conserve at least 30% of the nation's lands and waters by 2030, according to an Aug. 13 Interior news release.
During her Yellowstone visit, Haaland met with young people working in the park's conservation projects, as well as park leadership and staff "to better understand how they are navigating the impact of record visitation levels expected in 2021," the Interior release stated.
Gordon's interactions with Haaland are not always so cordial. In April, Gordon sent a letter to Haaland objecting to cancellation of federal oil and gas lease sales pending a "review," which Gordon said "was unnecessary and discriminatory to the people of Wyoming."
In March, Wyoming joined litigation against the DOI, Louisiana et al v Biden, over the moratorium on oil and gas leasing on federal land. Wyoming and 10 other states allege that the Interior Department's leasing moratorium, part of an executive order issued by President Joe Biden in January, was invalid under federal law. The Interior Department announced Aug. 16 that a district court's preliminary injunction in the case had been appealed.
