WASHINGTON, DC – As part of President Obama's all-of-the-above energy strategy to continue to expand safe and responsible domestic energy production, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar will participate in the Central Gulf of Mexico oil and gas Lease Sale 227 in New Orleans on Wednesday.
Following the lease sale, Salazar will travel to Louisiana's Big Branch Marsh National Wildlife Refuge where he will tour the refuge by airboat and see firsthand a Coastal Wetlands Planning Protection and Restoration Act (CWPPRA) marsh restoration project. Salazar will then host a Gulf restoration stakeholder meeting at the NWR headquarters.
Conducted by Interior's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), the lease sale will begin at 9:00 a.m. CDT at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana, making nearly 39 million offshore acres available for oil and gas development – all unleased areas in the Central Gulf of Mexico Planning Area.
Lease Sale 227 builds on a number of recent offshore lease sales, including a November 2012 sale that made more than 20 million acres available, and a sale last June that made nearly 39 million acres available. The Administration's Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program for 2012–2017 (Five Year Program) makes available for exploration and development all offshore areas with the highest resource potential and includes more than 75 percent of the nation's undiscovered, technically recoverable offshore oil and gas resources.
EVENT #1 – CENTRAL GULF OF MEXICO LEASE SALE 227
WHO
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management and BOEM Director Tommy Beaudreau
BOEM Gulf of Mexico Regional Director John Rodi
WHEN
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
9:00 a.m. CDT / 10:00 a.m. EDT Lease Sale Begins
9:30 a.m. CDT / 10:30 a.m. EDT Media Availability at Superdome
WHERE
Mercedes-Benz Superdome
St. Charles Club Room, 2nd floor
1500 Sugarbowl Drive (park Garage 6, enter Gate A)
New Orleans, Louisiana, 70112
EVENT #2 – AIRBOAT TOUR OF BIG BRANCH MARSH RESTORATION EFFORTS
WHO
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar
David Viker, Regional Chief, National Wildlife Refuge System, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
WHEN
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
11:30 a.m. CDT
(Media should arrive no later than 11:15 a.m. CDT to board the boats)
WHERE
Big Branch Marsh National Wildlife Refuge Refuge Headquarters
61389 Highway 434
Lacombe, LA 70445
(Take Interstate 12 to exit 74. Go south on LA Hwy. 434 and drive 2 miles, look for the signs on the right.)
MEDIA
Space on the airboats is extremely limited; credentialed news media must RSVP to Jessica Kershaw (jessica_kershaw@ios.doi.gov) no later than 5:00 PM EDT on Tuesday, March 19, 2013, to secure space on the airboats.
EVENT #3 – GULF OF MEXICO RESTORATION STAKEHOLDER MEETING
WHO
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar
David Viker, Regional Chief, National Wildlife Refuge System, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Gulf of Mexico Restoration Stakeholders
WHEN
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
1:45 p.m. CDT
WHERE
Big Branch Marsh National Wildlife Refuge Refuge Headquarters
61389 Highway 434
Lacombe, LA 70445
(Take Interstate 12 to exit 74. Go south on LA Hwy. 434 and drive 2 miles, look for the signs on the right.)
MEDIA
Credentialed news media are invited to cover the the stakeholder meeting.
Source: Department of Interior
