YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK — Decisions belong closer to the people they affect, and President Trump’s Interior Department just proved it again. On Friday, October 16, Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum joined Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon in Yellowstone to officially begin the process of handing federal environmental program authority — including Clean Water Act Section 401 authority — over Wyoming’s portion of the park to the State of Wyoming. The Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality will take over after a 60-day notice period to Congress.
“President Trump made cutting red tape and putting decisions closer to the people they impact a top priority of this administration,” Secretary Burgum said in a news release. “The people of Wyoming know its land and water better than Washington ever could.” Gov. Gordon called it “a proper and practical acknowledgement” of the partnership between Wyoming DEQ and the National Park Service that will bring “an increase in certainty and responsiveness for our Yellowstone visitors.”
Alaska won big too. On October 16, Interior and the National Park Service finalized a rule restoring the longstanding Alaska-specific framework for wildlife harvest, subsistence activities and public access in Alaska’s national parks and preserves under the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act — advancing President Trump’s Executive Order 14153, Unleashing Alaska’s Extraordinary Resource Potential. “This final rule restores that commonsense framework and gives Alaskans a stronger voice in decisions affecting the lands, wildlife and traditions they know best,” Burgum said.
At Denali, a final rule announced October 15 under the President’s Make America Beautiful Again order allows up to 160 vehicles a day on the restricted section of the park road, from mile 15 to mile 90, replacing the old seasonal cap of 10,512 vehicle permits. And a proposed rule announced October 16 would let qualifying rural residents of Anaktuvuk Pass — a remote community not connected to the state road system — use off-road vehicles for lawful subsistence in Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve, with a 60-day public comment period.
Secretary Burgum’s weekly Inside Interior video also highlighted the President’s milestone for the 800-mile Alaska LNG pipeline, which Interior says is expected to support 12,000 construction jobs, generate $9.5 billion in state gas revenues and save the average Alaskan family $1,450 a year in energy costs. “From advancing American energy to opening new opportunities on our public lands, the Trump Administration remains focused on delivering for the American people.” Watch the video above.
