The White House will work with Utah leaders to ensure the state’s public lands and national parks receive the federal assistance they need to thrive, Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum said on Monday.
In a hearing with the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies, the department secretary told Utah Rep. Celeste Maloy that he would work with her office as well as other local officials to ensure the state receives the funding it needs as well as other assistance needed to protect its land.
That includes federal funding for the Great Salt Lake, which is set to receive $1 billion under the Trump administration’s latest budget request for the next fiscal year.
“I know it’s early days, and your team is still working on what that’s going to look like, so I just have (a request) that you work with me and my team and our state and make sure that we have a good plan in place,” Maloy said. “If we’re going to be investing in restoring the Great Salt Lake, let’s make sure it’s something that helps us for decades to come.”
“Yes, absolutely,” Burgum replied. “We look forward to working with you and the governor and the team and the Bureau of Reclamation to make sure we have that plan.”
Maloy asked the secretary for his commitment to work with her office on other matters related to public lands and national parks in the Beehive State. Maloy serves as the vice chair on the Interior and Environment subcommittee that works with the Interior Department in terms of annual appropriations.
For example, the Utah congresswoman pressed Burgum on how the Interior Department is addressing reports of lost revenue at national parks due to the increase of online sales for season passes.
When national parks sell America the Beautiful passes, which grant pass-holders access to more than 2,000 parks and public lands, the park receives part of the revenue, according to Maloy. But with the rise of digital passes or online purchases, national parks are “losing out on revenue when it gets split evenly between some of the low visitation parks that don’t take the same wear and tear that the high visitation parks do.”
Burgum acknowledged those concerns, pointing to the Great American Outdoors Act as one solution. Under that law, approved in 2020, national parks and other public lands can receive federal funds for overdue maintenance needs.
However, the secretary told Maloy the online passes do pose a new challenge for national parks — and has become something the Trump administration will “have to take a look at” to understand the lost revenue high-visitation parks must grapple with.
Finally, Maloy requested assistance from the White House to increase access to public lands through a piece of legislation being led by the Utah delegation to roll back Biden-era environmental regulations in Utah.
Maloy has introduced several resolutions of disapproval through the Congressional Review Act to overturn restrictions in certain public areas, particularly the use of off-road vehicles and all-terrain vehicles. As part of those efforts, Burgum agreed to expand efforts to protect road access and review minimization criteria.
“I’d be happy to,” Burgum said. “Access matters, and we’re trying to make sure that we’re increasing access as opposed to reducing it. So we’d be happy to specifically review with you any particular sites or locations where we could work together to see if we can come up with a solution.”