department of interior

A new Trump administration protocol requires U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists to run interview requests with the Department of the Interior, its parent agency, before speaking to journalists, the Los Angeles Times reported. The move is a departure from past media practices that allowed government scientists to quickly respond to journalists’ inquiries, according to unnamed […]

This Saturday, the American Hiking Society is celebrating a very special National Trails Day—2018 marks the 50th anniversary of the passage of the National Trails System Act, which created and protected some of the U.S.’s most loved scenic and historic walks. Now, just in time for Saturday’s festivities, Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke has […]

The Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management office in Alaska received a plan to conduct extensive, 3-D seismic testing in search of oil on the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) this winter. The plan—submitted by surveying services SAExploration, Inc. and its partners Arctic Slope Regional Corporation and the Kaktovik Inupiat Corporation—is […]

The National Parks Service (NPS) quietly released a long-delayed report that mentions humanity’s role in climate change, which officials had removed in earlier drafts. The report, published Friday without a press release or any social media activity from the parks department or Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, shows estimates of sea level change for 118 coastal […]

The Trump administration has proposed new regulations to overturn an Obama-era rule that protects iconic predators in Alaska’s national preserves. Wildlife protection organizations condemned the move, as it would allow hunters to go to den sites to shoot wolf pups and bear cubs, lure and kill bears over bait, hunt bears with dogs and use […]

As the nation observes National Park Week, the Interior Department released a report Wednesday touting that visits to national parks added $35.8 billion to the U.S. economy in 2017—a nearly $1 billion increase from the year prior—and supported 306,000 jobs. The National Park Service said more than 330 million visitors spent $18.2 billion in the […]

The Interior Department has launched the process of holding lease sales for oil and gas drilling in the 1.6-million-acre coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). Despite decades of fierce resistance from Democrats and conservation groups, pro-drilling Republicans were able to realize their goal of opening the refuge after quietly including the measure […]

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has assembled a new outdoor recreation advisory panel dominated by top executives from the industry. The 15-member “Made in America” Outdoor Recreation Advisory Committee will advise Sec. Zinke on issues surrounding public lands. They include officials that represent fishing, shooting sports, motorized vehicles and hospitality as well as national park concessionaires. […]