Nominated inside the Trump directive: “Experiment.”

By MATTHEW BROWN and JACK DURA

BISMARCK, ND (AP) — Donald Trump appointed Doug Burgum a singular mission in the nomination of the governor of oil-rich North Dakota to lead an agency that oversees half a billion acres of federal land and vast areas offshore: “Drill baby drill.”

This dictum from President-elect Burgum’s announcement for the Secretary of the Interior sets the stage for a rekindling of legal battles on public lands and waters that helped define Trump’s first term, with environmentalists worried climate change already swearing his opposition.

Burgum is an ultra-rich software entrepreneur who grew up on his family’s farm. He is a soft pick compared to other Trump cabinet picks.

Public land experts said its experience as a popular governor in two terms aligning himself with conservationist Teddy Roosevelt suggests a willingness to collaborate, as opposed to the disunity within the agency he is tasked with leading.

That could help smooth his confirmation and pave the way for the next administration to move quickly to open up more public lands for development and commercial use.

“Burgum seems to me like a credible candidate who could do a credible job as secretary of the interior,” said John Leshy, who was the attorney general of the interior under former President Bill Clinton.

“He’s not a right-wing radical on public land,” added Leshy, professor emeritus at the University of California, San Francisco College of Law.

Frictions on lands

The Department of the Interior manages about one-fifth of the country’s land with a mandate that ranges from wildlife conservation and recreation to natural resource extraction and fulfilling treaty obligations with Native American tribes.

Most of these lands are in the West, where friction with private landowners and state officials is common and has sometimes turned into violent confrontations with right-wing groups that reject federal jurisdiction.

Burgum, if confirmed, would face a pending U.S. Supreme Court action in Utah that seeks to affirms the power of the state on the lands of the Department of the Interior. North Dakota’s attorney general supported the lawsuit, but Burgum’s office declined to say whether it supports Utah’s claims.

Lawyers for the US Department of Justice asked the Supreme Court on Thursday to throw out Utah’s lawsuit. They said Utah in 1894 agreed to relinquish its claim to the lands in question when it became a state.

Trump’s narrow focus on fossil fuels is a repeat of his 2016 campaign — albeit minus coal mining, a collapsing industry that he failed to revive in the first term. Trump has repeatedly hailed oil as “liquid gold” during this year’s campaign and has largely omitted any mention of coal.

About 26 percent of U.S. oil comes from federal lands and offshore waters overseen by Interior. Production continues to reach record levels under President Joe Biden, despite Trump’s claims that the Democrat has blocked drilling.

But industry representatives and their Republican allies say volumes could be increased further. They want Burgum and the Interior Department to step up sales of oil and gas from federal lands in the Gulf of Mexico and offshore Alaska.

The oil industry also hopes that the Trump administration’s efficiency initiative led by billionaire Elon Musk can dramatically reduce environmental reviews.

The Biden administration reduced the frequency and size of lease sales and restored the environmental rules that were in place weakened under Trump. The Democrat, as a candidate in 2020, promised further restrictions on drilling to help combat global warming, but he struck a deal on the 2022 climate bill that require offshore oil and gas sales be held before renewable energy leases can be sold.

“Oil and gas brings in billions of dollars in revenue, but you don’t get that if you don’t have leasing,” said Erik Milito of the National Ocean Industries Association, which represents offshore industries including oil and wind.

Trump promised he would kill the offshore wind energy projects. But Milito said he hoped that with Burgum there would be a “green light forward for everything, not just oil and gas”.

Conservation, drilling and grazing

It is unclear whether Burgum will revive some of the most controversial steps taken by the agency during Trump’s first term, including relocating senior officials from Washington, D.C., dismantling parts of the Endangered Species Act and shrinking the size of two monuments designated Utah nationals. by former President Barack Obama.

Officials in Biden’s leadership have spent much of the past four years reversing Trump’s moves. They restored Utah monuments and overturned numerous Trump regulations. Onshore oil and gas lease sales have fallen — from more than a million acres sold annually under Trump and other previous administrations to just 91,712 acres (37,115 hectares) sold last year — while many wind and solar projects have moved forward .

Energy leases take years to develop, and oil companies control millions of acres that remain undeveloped.

The Biden administration also raised the importance of conservation in public lands decisions, adopting a rule that puts it more on par with oil and gas development. They proposed withdrawing parcels of land in six states from potential future mining to protect a struggling bird species, the great sage grouse.

North Dakota is among the Republican states that have challenged the Biden administration’s regulation of public lands. The states said in a lawsuit in June that officials acting to prevent climate change turned laws meant to facilitate development into policies that prevent drilling, livestock grazing and other uses.

Oil production has increased over the past two decades in North Dakota due in large part to better drilling techniques. Burgum has been a champion of the industry and signed a state repeal last year the oil tax trigger — an industry-leading, price-based fee increase support removal.

Burgum’s office declined an interview request.

In a statement after his nomination, Burgum echoed Trump’s call for US “energy dominance” in the global marketplace. The 68-year-old governor also said the Interior job offers an opportunity to improve government relations with developers, tribes, landowners and outdoor enthusiasts “with a focus on maximizing the responsible use of our natural resources with managing the environment for the benefit of Americans. people.”