When Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke stepped down in January amid multiple ethics probes, his deputy secretary, David Bernhardt, filled in. Now, as the longtime oil and agribusiness lobbyist formally takes the reins at the Interior Department, criticism is mounting over alleged conflicts of interest and government documents indicate that Bernhardt interfered with a key US Fish and Wildlife Service report that detailed the risks pesticides can pose to endangered species.
The Migratory Bird Treaty Act and related rules have helped safeguard many millions of birds since 1918, but now the Trump Administration has reinterpreted the act in a way that would loosen its protections and shield from prosecution companies that kill birds.
The Obama administration had put a temporary stop to copper-nickel mining on the edge of Minnesota's Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, pending environmental review. The Trump Interior Department reversed this policy, raising concerns about pollution in this hugely popular area that has been part of the National Wilderness Preservation System since 1964.
The Trump administration plans to drastically shrink the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments in Utah. Conservation and Native American groups have sued, saying only Congress can make that change.
Remember "Drill, baby, drill"? Well, it's back — and this time it's likely to become a reality.
“You have a small, untested power company going in to help a desperate, bankrupt utility.”
A leaked report says Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke wants to shrink or alter some national monuments in order to allow greater commercial use of the land.
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s interim report recommends changes to Bears Ears National Monument’s 1.3 million acres of protected lands.
The new interior secretary, Ryan Zinke, is a keen outdoorsman who advocates multiple uses for federal public lands and keeping them in federal control.
On Wednesday, the now-famous SEAL Team Six conducted another high-profile operation, rescuing two hostages in Somalia. Ryan Zinke, a politician and former Team Six commander, says as the military and conflicts evolve, these sorts of actions will become more common.