01.17.25

Cantwell Grills Interior Nominee on Protecting Public Lands: “These Are An Economic Juggernaut”

Cantwell: “You're for this very aggressive oil and lease strategy … How many areas that we've already leased for oil and gas that aren't being used? Why don't we start there?”

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Yesterday, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), a senior member of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, questioned Doug Burgum – President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to serve as Secretary of the Interior – on whether he would protect the United States’ public lands, as well as the booming economy they support.

“Not only will you become steward of over 20% of the land in the United States, but [these are] some of the most beautiful, iconic places in America. And these are an economic juggernaut. They are in my state, if you think about Mount Rainier, or Olympic National Park, or the Hanford Reach, or many other places. The outdoor rec economy generates $1.2 trillion in economic output every year -- $1.2 trillion. And accounts for 5 million jobs,” Sen. Cantwell said.

She asked: “Will you support more input in outdoor recreation economies and gateway communities? And will you fully utilize the LWCF and support the conservation legacies bills that we've passed?”

“I agree completely on the importance of this, and it's not only good for the economy, it's also good for the health of Americans. I think one thing that we understand is that we just need more people to get off their devices, get outdoors, get engaged, understand the importance of our land, our wildlife, our soil health,” Burgum responded.

Sen. Cantwell pressed: “Great. So you support the LWCF that we've passed and continuing to support those funds?”

“Some of those acronyms I'm less familiar with, so I'd look forward to learning more about them,” Burgum responded, leading Sen. Cantwell to say she would ask Burgum additional questions for the record on this topic.

Sen. Cantwell also questioned Burgum on his approach to leveraging existing leases to explore for oil and gas on federal lands, versus seeking new ones.

“You're for this very aggressive oil and lease strategy … How many areas that we've already leased for oil and gas that aren't being used? Why don't we start there?” she asked.

Burgum responded: “Well, I don’t think I would use the term that I was ‘for aggressive.’ I've never stated that. I'm for following the law […] we always want to prioritize those areas that have the most resource opportunity for America with the least impact on lands that are important. And I think that's a pretty simple formula to be able to figure that out.”

“One of the things that would be helpful to hear from you is that you believe in prioritizing on federal land the leases that are already there, as opposed to now going and saying, ‘Okay, let's, let's get a big map and open up all federal land to new leasing,’” Sen. Cantwell said.

Under the first Trump administration, Sen. Cantwell authored legislation to fully, permanently fund the LWCF and invest billions of dollars to address the maintenance backlog on public lands throughout Washington state and around the country. The Great American Outdoors Act, which Sen. Cantwell helped author and cosponsored in the Senate, permanently funded the LWCF at its full authorization level of $900 million per year – roughly two or three times the amount the fund had historically received. Because the funding comes from offshore oil and gas royalties, it does not burden taxpayers or add to the national deficit. Since its creation by Washington Senator Scoop Jackson in 1965, the LWCF has supported more than 42,000 projects in communities throughout the country, including investing more than $725 million in more than 700 projects throughout Washington state.

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