Latest news with #MartinHeinrich
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- General
- Yahoo
NM wildfire dispatch centers no longer face threat of closure, Heinrich says
An employee of the Albuquerque Interagency Dispatch Center stands at her desk to monitor wildfire starts, pictured May 2022. The dispatch centers in Albuquerque and Silver City are no longer at risk of closing amid DOGE's cost-cutting efforts, according to U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) (Photo courtesy Cibola National Forest) Two federal offices housing wildfire dispatch centers that coordinate the detection of and response to wildfires for much of New Mexico no longer face risk of lease cancellations, U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) said Tuesday. In early March, Elon Musk's so-called Department of Government Efficiency listed two national forest supervisor's offices in Albuquerque and Silver City among several hundred announced lease closures aimed at cutting federal spending. The offices also housed interagency wildfire dispatch centers, which house equipment and personnel crucial to ensuring that small wildfire starts are quickly noticed and extinguished before they become larger. A Source NM review of the online DOGE list of lease terminations showed that neither of the two offices remain on the list; nor do any other Forest Service offices nationwide. They appear to have been removed in the last week. Albuquerque center housing 'critical' wildfire dispatch on DOGE termination list as fire risk grows Heinrich questioned Agriculture Department Secretary Brooke Rollins about the centers recently during her testimony before a Senate committee. He confirmed Tuesday in a statement to Source New Mexico that the dispatch centers would remain open. 'I'm proud to announce that the Interagency Dispatch Centers in Albuquerque and Silver City will be staying open,' he said. 'These centers are essential to help protect New Mexicans during wildfires, floods, and other emergencies. That's why I called Secretary Rollins as soon as I heard that DOGE was planning to close them. Today, we put an end to DOGE's reckless efforts.' About 500 offices remain on the DOGE list, down from roughly 750 in early March, according to a Source NM review. Many, but not all, Agriculture Department offices have been removed from the list. The dispatch centers monitor most of Central and Southwest New Mexico, a 45,000-square-mile area, and coordinate the deployment of people, vehicles and aircraft to suppress wildfires as quickly as possible. Already this year, the dispatch center in Albuquerque has responded to 172 wildfires in its coverage area, and the one in Silver City has responded to 64, according to dispatch center data. The threatened closure of the Silver City Dispatch Center, in particular, alarmed some in the area because it was unclear where another dispatch center could go in the rural area. The dispatch center, which oversees the Gila National Forest, is in the epicenter of where national forecasters warn wildfire risk is highest this season. A spokesperson for the General Services Administration, which manages federal leases, referred comment to the Agriculture Department. Spokespeople for the national forests where the offices are housed did not respond to Source's request for comment Tuesday. The removals occur as Musk departs the White House. 'It's bad': How drought, lack of snowpack and federal cuts could spell wildfire disaster in NM Heinrich's statement did not provide more details on why most other Forest Service offices nationwide no longer appear on the DOGE list, but he noted how important the ones in New Mexico are to preventing disasters. 'The Interagency Dispatch Centers help get resources – like airtankers from Kirtland Air Force Base—to where they're needed, and fast. As fire seasons get longer and more dangerous, and post-fire floods continue to threaten our communities, I'll keep fighting to make sure our firefighters and emergency crews have the tools they need to keep our communities safe,' he said. The DOGE list said ending the two New Mexico leases would save taxpayers about $1 million a year.
E&E News
a day ago
- Business
- E&E News
Panel sets vote on international nuclear, mining bills
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will vote this week on bipartisan legislation meant to bolster international collaboration on nuclear energy and critical minerals. S.1801, the 'International Nuclear Energy Act,' would create an office focused on trade and collaboration with other nations on nuclear energy development, licensing and safety regulations. The bill is sponsored by Chair Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Energy and Natural Resources Chair Mike Lee (R-Utah), ENR ranking member Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.). Advertisement 'If the U.S. doesn't lead on nuclear energy development, Russia and China will. This bill will give us the tools we need to compete with these authoritarian aggressors and build long lasting nuclear energy deals that benefit our economy and ensure America remains the leader on nuclear energy for generations to come,' Risch said in a May statement.
E&E News
4 days ago
- Business
- E&E News
Dems seek probe of Bureau of Reclamation staff losses
Democratic senators are pressing the Interior Department to determine whether significant staff losses at the Bureau of Reclamation could put water infrastructure at risk as well as derail the agency's ability to fulfill congressional mandates. In a Friday letter to Interior acting Inspector General Caryl Brzymialkiewicz, eight senators asked for a review of staff reductions at Reclamation, pointing to an estimated loss of up to 25 percent of the agency's staff under the Trump administration. 'We are concerned that the administration's actions to gut the agency of qualified public servants could leave critical water infrastructure and communities vulnerable to operational disruptions,' states the letter, led by Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), ranking member on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Advertisement The letter cites reporting by POLITICO's E&E News that about 1,400 individuals have left Reclamation in recent months — including those in senior positions — as the result of deferred resignation programs, early retirement or voluntary separation payments.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Heinrich pushes Interior for list of national parks that could be sent to states under Trump plan
The Valle Grande blanketed by snow in 2019 in the Valles Caldera National Preserve, a national park. U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich is calling on Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to say which national parks the agency wishes to transfer to states or municipalities. (Photo by the National Park Service) United States Interior Secretary Doug Burgum recently testified that his agency is eying about 400 national parks for possible transfer to states or localities, but he has not yet detailed which ones the agency wishes to get rid of. U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) on Thursday re-upped his call for Burgum to release that list, sending the secretary a letter demanding explanations for how the agency is making these decisions as it simultaneously seeks to cut 30% of its operating budget. Heinrich's letter also says that only Congress has the authority to transfer national parks 'in most circumstances,' so he expressed his opposition, as ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, to the transfer of any national park. According to Heinrich's letter, President Donald Trump's plan for the Interior Department would cut $900 million from its budget. But Heinrich defended national parks as, among other things, 'engines of economic growth,' as visitors to national parks contributed about $56 billion to the economy in 2023 and supported more than 400,000 jobs. 'A huge victory': Vasquez touts nixing of public lands sell-off in Congressional bill Burgum testified that the agency is not seeking to get rid of any of the nation's 64 'crown jewel' national parks, but that some of the more than 400 other NPS sites could be managed by state or local authorities. Heinrich noted that states often don't have adequate resources to adequately manage the parks that are now under federal control, parks that he said accomplish important conservation and other objectives and 'tell the complex story of our nation.' 'The budget proposal makes clear that the administration expects the states to shoulder the burden of managing these sites without any additional funding or resources, many of which have significant and costly deferred maintenance backlogs.' In previous committee testimony, Heinrich pointed to the Valles Caldera National Preserve as an example of a park that isn't a 'big-P national park' but still 'incredibly important parts of our National Park System, our history and our culture.' In addition to the president's budget proposal, the House of Representatives last week passed a reconciliation bill that, among other actions, undoes $267 million in Inflation Reduction Act spending on personnel including rangers, emergency responders, scientists and curators, according to the National Parks Conservation Association.
E&E News
6 days ago
- Business
- E&E News
Democrat demands info on Trump plan to shift national parks to states
Sen. Martin Heinrich is pressing the Trump administration to provide answers about its cost-cutting plan to transfer some national park sites to states. The Democrat from New Mexico, the ranking member of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, sent a letter to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum last week asking for more detail about the proposal and expressing his disapproval of the idea. The Trump administration 'expects the states to shoulder the burden of managing these sites without any additional funding or resources, many of which have significant and costly deferred maintenance backlogs,' Heinrich wrote in the letter, which was released Wednesday. Advertisement 'States do not have the same resources as the Federal government to manage and maintain these sites that tell the complex story of our nation,' he said.
