Assistant Secretaries Estenoz, Trujillo Announce New Anacostia Urban Waters Federal Partnership Ambassador

04/05/2022
Last edited 04/05/2022

Date: Tuesday, April 5, 2022
Contact: Interior_Press@ios.doi.gov

WASHINGTON — Today, Department of the Interior Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks Shannon Estenoz and Assistant Secretary for Water and Science Tanya Trujillo visited the Anacostia Urban Waters Federal Partnership to announce Xavier Brown as the new Anacostia Urban Waters Ambassador. 

Assistant Secretaries Estenoz and Trujillo delivered remarks announcing Brown, who will work to help restore the Anacostia River and improve STEM career opportunities, with a focus on the Anacostia High School in Ward 8. They were joined by University of the District of Columbia President Ronald Mason Jr and representatives from the Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, and Washington, DC Department of Energy and Environment (DOEE). 

Now celebrating its ten-year anniversary, the Urban Waters Federal Partnership (UWFP) brings together 15 federal agencies working collaboratively with local communities to restore urban waterways and surrounding lands, boost recreational opportunities, help local economies, and protect the health of Americans. The federal agencies currently support 20 locations across the nation with financial and technical assistance—the Anacostia River watershed is one of the 20 Urban Waters locations.    

DOEE also announced the new Kingman Rangers program, which hires students from Anacostia High School to support restoration and education activities on Kingman and Heritage Islands and is funded by the American Rescue Plan. 

The group visited the Aquatic Resource Education Center in Anacostia Park, where they received a brief introduction to interagency efforts to restore and enhance access to the Anacostia River, including through the Anacostia River Sediment Project, Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration process and installation of new boat docks funded by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. They also toured the Anacostia River to view ecological restoration, the new FWS-funded boat dock on Kingman Island and early action areas for polychlorinated biphenyls remediation under the Anacostia River Sediment Project. 

###

  • Press Release
    Department of the Interior bison seal set against green mountainous background.
    07/14/2026

    Secretary Burgum Returns Management of Grizzly Bears to the West

    Today, the Department of the Interior announced a revised proposal to increase management flexibility for grizzly bears in areas where the species has met, and in many cases exceeded, federal recovery benchmarks. The updated management proposal ensures the Endangered Species Act is being used as Congress intended while continuing to support the species' long-term conservation. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum was joined by Montana Governor Greg Gianforte, Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon, Idaho Governor Brad Little and Fish and Wildlife Director Brian Nesvik for the announcement.

    Read more
  • Press Release
    Hikers at Sacramento Recreational River, California
    06/25/2026

    Interior Releases First-Ever Interagency Recreation Visitation Report and Announces Nationwide…

    The Department of the Interior today announced the release of the Interagency Recreation Visitation Data Report, the first unified compilation of recreation visitation estimates across all federal land and water management agencies, as directed by the EXPLORE Act. The landmark report provides a comprehensive, standardized view of how millions of people experience outdoor recreation across hundreds of millions of acres of federally managed public lands and waters.

    Read more

Was this page helpful?

Please provide a comment