
Shelley Capito
19:52 - 20:36
“I was pleased to see that the Service is requesting an increase in funding for energy project reviews, including the development and use of programmatic tools to automate ESA compliance. Known as the Information for Planning and Consultation System, or IPAC. IPAC has been a game changer in our state for our projects, dramatically cutting down the timeframes for Section 7 consultations.”
- Speaker
- Shelley Capito
- Timestamp
- 19:52 – 20:36
- Community
- Alaska News
- Location
- Alaska
- Captured at
- June 10, 2026
From the transcript
To that end, the Service is requesting additional funding for priority recovery activities in the agency's FY 2027 budget request. I was pleased to see that the Service is requesting an increase in funding for energy project reviews, including the development and use of programmatic tools to automate ESA compliance. Known as the Information for Planning and Consultation System, or IPAC. IPAC has been a game changer in our state for our projects, dramatically cutting down the timeframes for Section 7 consultations. Recently, the service issued a final rule designating over 1 million acres of critical habitat for the rusty-patched bumblebee across 6 states, including West Virginia.
Related Coverage
A federal expansion of hunting and fishing access on national wildlife refuges would land most heavily in Alaska
They're making changes to national wildlife refuges? We got a lot of them.

Fish and Wildlife lost quarter of staff, faces questions on refuge management
Fish and Wildlife Service lost a quarter of its staff, including 530 biologists. Nine percent of refuges now lack on-ground management. Alaska holds 16 refuges covering three-quarters of the system's acreage, but the agency has not disclosed which Alaska refuges are shuttered or how many Alaska staff were cut.

Fish and Wildlife Service seeks $5M to cut energy permit times in half
Fish and Wildlife Service is asking Congress for $5.1 million to cut endangered species review times from 30 to 14 days, a change that could speed up Alaska energy and mineral projects that have faced years of federal delays.
