Ryan Zinke

Ryan Zinke Stepping Down From Position As Secretary of the Interior

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on December 16, 2018 1 Comment

Leaving by the end of the year...

Analyzing Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s incendiary comments about California wildfires

Posted by Leslie Eastman on August 18, 2018 27 Comments

I was slated to be hiking in Yosemite National Park today, but the Ferguson fire in the area forced our family to shorten our vacation. Instead, I am back at my front line battle station in Southern California. The good news is that the wildfires are being contained, including the historically largest blaze in state history.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlX9AbX-MEI

Trump wants to lift offshore drilling restrictions

Posted by Leslie Eastman on January 06, 2018 23 Comments

President Donald Trump's eraser is proving to be mightier than his predecessor's pen. After jettisoning the Obama-era lax pot rules, his administration is looking to dump another Obama-era legacy by nixing the massive restrictions on offshore drilling.

The Trump administration unveiled a controversial proposal Thursday to permit drilling in most U.S. continental-shelf waters, including protected areas of the Arctic and the Atlantic, where oil and gas exploration is opposed by governors from New Jersey to Florida, nearly a dozen attorneys general, more than 100 U.S. lawmakers and the Defense Department.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Canyons_of_the_Ancients_ruin.jpg

Interior Recommends No Changes to National Monument in Colorado

Posted by Mary Chastain on July 21, 2017 3 Comments

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has decided to recommend no changes to Colorado's Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, which was one of the many national monuments under modification reviews.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_89DzLZGQ1s

Interior Secretary’s Plan to Reconfigure National Monument in Utah Sparks Outrage

Posted by Mary Chastain on June 13, 2017 9 Comments

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has announced that he would like to shrink the Bears Ears National Monument in Utah. From CBS News:

In a release following the call, Zinke said, "Designating a monument that - including state land - encompasses almost 1.5 million-acres where multiple-use management is hindered or prohibited is not the best use of the land."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLwhje0OIKk

Zinke Begins ‘Doggy Days’ at the Interior Department

Posted by Mary Chastain on May 05, 2017 6 Comments

It's really hard not to like Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke. On Friday, he hosted the first "Doggy Day," which he hopes will become a regular thing. After all, Zinke likes to bring his dog Ragnar to the office as often as possible. The Hill reported:

"It does improve morale among a lot of people,” said Zinke, who rode a United States Park Police horse to the building on his first day of work after Senate confirmation.

Pentagon, Interior Dept. Disagree Over Offshore Drilling

Posted by Mary Chastain on May 04, 2017 5 Comments

The Pentagon has stated that it wants to extend the ban on offshore drilling in the eastern portion of the Gulf of Mexico only a day after Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke wants to expand offshore drilling. A.M. Kurta, the Pentagon's under secretary of Defense for personnel and readiness, stressed to Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) "that military training and related exercises in the eastern Gulf, which borders Florida, necessitate a continuation of Congress's ban on drilling." The Defense Department has made it known over the years that while "there may be areas of potential oil and gas work in the Atlantic," officials believe the drilling "may not be compatible with defense operations and interests."