I remain concerned that there is still a directive in place for BLM to offer quarterly lease sales that have the potential to impact Chaco.

I do not see how drawing the lines really makes a difference there.

Public lands boost our local economies and add jobs, and special places like Las Vegas, New Mexico, benefit greatly.

The monuments review that the Department conducted, and the decisions to eviscerate Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante, are a travesty.

Mr. Secretary, you raised King Cove. Maybe Senator Murkowski is more up-to-date than I am on that, but could you provide the committee an update on the Izembek road?

I am particularly troubled by the lack of Tribal consultation so far.

The decisions made by the Department determine whether our natural and cultural resources are protected and managed responsibly.

You intend to follow the direction provided in the omnibus and the explanatory statement, and follow congressional intent.

I want to clear all of this up.

Soon is a couple of weeks?

Mr. Secretary, will you submit, for the record, a schedule for Tribal consultations?

the reason we have the Land and Water Conservation Fund and the reason the commission that Senator Alexander talked about was put in place, and the high numbers that Senator Tester talked about, are to have additional parks at the local…

I would also point out that we have an example of where the bureaus were able to do that already, the regional sage-grouse plans at your Department, and your Department is now in the process of scrapping those.

Well, I think the reality is that, State flexibility, it ends up that we end up deteriorating the habitat for the sage-grouse.

That is our point here.

What date are we releasing the budget to the field?

Yes, and we really appreciate what you did in New Mexico.

I appreciate you want to improve resource stewardship by getting bureaus to focus on regional landscapes and to work across Federal, State, and local lines.