"Interior Department officials enter a thicket this year overgrown with tough choices, evergreen litigation and plenty of political heat no matter which direction they go.

Iconic species including the grizzly bear and the gray wolf could lose their Endangered Species Act protections, or not.

Conservation could gain parity with grazing, mining and drilling on federal lands, or not. President Joe Biden’s contentious oil reform efforts could cross the finish line, or fall short.

Decisions could boost, or slow, the mining of materials needed to meet the Biden administration’s clean energy and electric vehicle goals.

And all of this will be happening under the eagle eye of lawmakers and advocates revved up by a presidential election year."

Michael Doyle, Rob Hotakainen, Scott Streater, Heather Richards, Hannah Northey, and Jennifer Yachnin report for E&E News January 4, 2024. [2]