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 […]
Conservation groups are calling on the Trump administration to cancel plans to lease thousands of acres of federal public lands for oil and gas development near western Colorado’s Great Sand Dunes National Park and Blanca Peak without fully analyzing environmental or cultural harms. WildEarth Guardians, the Center for Biological Diversity, Friends of the Earth, Rocky […]
By Courtney Lindwall Load the camper back up: U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke appears to be backtracking on the steep entrance fee hikes he proposed last October for 17 of the country’s most popular national parks. In a relatively short public comment period of 30 days, the Interior Department received more than […]
In all the media attention gobbled by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) head Scott Pruitt, it’s important to remember that Trump’s appointed Department of Interior (DOI) leader Ryan Zinke is also extremely dangerous for the environment. Before being chosen to head the DOI, Zinke was a Montana representative with a three percent environmental voting record […]
By Sam Schipani The federal government is moving forward with a plan to halt new mining claims in the Absaroka Mountains north of Yellowstone National Park. The plan would withdraw 30,370 acres of public lands in Montana’s Paradise Valley from new claims for gold, silver and other mineral extraction for a period of 20 years. […]
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. […]
The Trump administration is initiating the regulatory process of opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to oil and natural gas leasing. Top Interior Department officials recently visited the Kaktovik and Utgiagvik communities in northern Alaska to let them know that the agency will publish in the coming weeks a notice in the Federal Register […]
At the CERAWeek energy industry conference in Houston this week, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said he’s “pro-energy across the board” but made it clear that he’s in favor of oil and gas over other types of domestic energy production. According to Bloomberg, Zinke praised the Trump administration’s push for fossil fuels, from expanding offshore oil […]
By Helen O’Shea After opening up most of our country’s shorelines to offshore drilling, the Trump administration is now reconsidering an ambitious and innovative plan to conserve desert lands while generating renewable energy. The administration intends to reopen the Desert Renewable Energy and Conservation Plan (DRECP) for the Mojave Desert finalized in September 2016. The […]
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