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Tag: U.S. Department of the Interior

  • 2,000 Doped Up Mice Dropped on Guam to Battle Snakes

    Federal officials on Sunday dropped 2,000 mice full of painkillers onto the unincorporated western Pacific U.S. territory of Guam, in order to combat the invasive brown tree snake, which has devastated the bird population in the region.

    Shortly after World War II, the mildly venomous Boiga irregularis was accidentally transported from its native range in the South Pacific to Guam, likely as a stowaway on a boat. With its only natural predators being feral pigs and mangrove monitors, brown tree snake populations reached unprecedented numbers in Guam.

    Not only have the snakes devastated populations of endemic forest species in the area, they’ve also caused thousands of power outages, have eaten pets, have terrified tourists and have envenomated small children. The aggressive-when-cornered brown tree snake, which can grow up to 9 feet long, packs a mild neurotoxin, though as it is rear-fanged (the fangs are at the back of the mouth), it’s difficult to inject a dangerous dose into an adult human. Though, the snakes are dangerous to small children, who have a lower body mass.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ir-bi54vqP8

    Guam has been using acetaminophen, only 80 grams of it can kill the snakes, in attempts to eradicate the invasive species. According to Dan Vice, a U.S. Department of Agriculture official, “The process is quite simple. The helicopter is going to make low altitude flights over the forest at relatively slow speeds they’re going to be certified pesticide applicators inside the helicopter delivering the baits out of the helicopter on a time sequence.”

    The latest mice-drop is the fifth so far this year, near Andersen Air Force Base, where the U.S. Department of the Interior had estimated in 2005 that the snakes caused 80 outages and about $4 million in subsequent repairs.

    In related Guam news, two unarmed U.S. Air Force B-52 bombers entered a Chinese air defense zone on November 25, defying China’s expanding claim over an island chain in the East China Sea. The planes took off from Andersen Air Force Base, located roughly 4 miles northeast of Yigo, near Agafo Gumas.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons.

  • Sally Jewell Chosen For Secretary of the Interior

    U.S. President Barack Obama today announced his pick for a new Secretary of the Interior. Sally Jewell, the CEO of Recreational Equipment Inc. (REI), will be nominated by the president to head up the U.S. Department of the interior. If confirmed, Jewell will replace former U.S. senator Ken Salazar, who currently holds the position.

    “…even as Sally has spent the majority of her career outside of Washington – where, I might add, the majority of our interior is located – she is an expert on the energy and climate issues that are going to shape our future,” said Obama. “She is committed to building our nation-to-nation relationship with Indian Country. She knows the link between conservation and good jobs. She knows that there’s no contradiction between being good stewards of the land and our economic progress; that in fact, those two things need to go hand in hand. She has shown that a company with more than $1 billion in sales can do the right thing for our planet.

    The Department of the Interior manages and conserves federal resources, including 500 million acres of public land and national parks. It also oversees the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Geological Survey, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, which operates programs for Native Americans, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians.

    “I have a great job at REI today, but there’s no role that compares than the call to serve my country as Secretary of the Department of Interior,” said Jewell. “I’m humbled and I’m energized by this opportunity, and I look forward to getting to know members of the Senate as they consider my nomination in the coming weeks.”

    Jewell has been CEO of REI since 2005. Since that time, the consumer cooperative has nearly doubled its sales from $1 billion to almost $2 billion and added 71 stores across the U.S.

    (Image courtesy REI)

  • U.S. Department of the Interior Chooses Google Apps

    U.S. Department of the Interior Chooses Google Apps

    The U.S. Department of the Interior announced yesterday that it has awarded a contract to Onix Networking for department-wide cloud email and collaboration services using Google Apps for Government. The contract is part of the Department of the Interior’s “IT Transformation” initiative, which was announced last year and seeks to reduce costs by cutting waste and increasing the efficiency of the department’s IT operations.

    “This award is a great example of how our IT Transformation initiative is already delivering value to the Department,” said Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar. “Implementing a Department-wide, cloud-based email system that helps modernize the ways we do business while cutting costs is good government, plain and simple. We will continue to identify efficiencies to save time and taxpayer dollars using advances in technology to provide better service for less.”

    Google Apps for Government is a version of Google Apps cloud services with an added layer of security that governments require. The U.S. Department of the Interior is only the latest in a series of government organizations switching to the platform since its launch two years ago. Most recently, the State of Colorado and the City of Edmonton adopted the platform.

    The U.S. Department of the Interior admits to currently having seven different email systems operating within the department. This new agreement would consolidate those disparate systems into one Google cloud email service. If Onix Networking is able to prove it can meet the department’s standards, over 90,000 mailboxes could be migrated before the end of this year. The total value of the contract is $34,872,728 over seven years.

    In addition to email services, Department of the Interior employees will gain the use of Google services that integrate with Gmail, including video and audio chat. In addition, Google Calendar and Google Docs (presumably now Drive) contain features that enable many collaboration and organization options.

    “We look forward to providing state-of-the-art communication and collaboration tools, desktop video, document sharing and new messaging technologies to help Interior employees work more effectively with each other and with external partners,” said Andrew Jackson, Interior Deputy Assistant Secretary for Technology, Information, and Business Services. “Not only do we get the features we want in a desired security environment, but our workforce will get the cutting edge technology that many of them use in their personal lives.”

    What do you think? Are you surprised that the Department of the Interior is running seven different email systems? Can any amount of technology streamline bureaucracy to the point of efficiency? Leave a comment below and let me know.