STATEMENT on Senate Confirmation of David Bernhardt as Deputy Interior Secretary

Since 1964, the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) has helped protect critical landscapes within our national parks and increase recreational access to public lands across the country. Congress permanently renewed this key program in a sweeping bipartisan public lands bill this year, but did not provide any promise of funding‚ leaving the program subject to the whims of Congress each year. Now that LWCF will be around for the foreseeable future, what’s next for America’s most important parks program?

To: Reporters and Interested Parties From: Jesse Prentice-Dunn, Policy Director, Center for Western Priorities Re: Ahead of confirmation hearing, background on Acting Interior Secretary David Bernhardt’s oil and gas conflicts of interest Acting Interior Secretary David Bernhardt is scheduled to appear before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources on March 28, at 10:00 […]

“These plans show that a handshake doesn’t mean anything to David Bernhardt unless it’s with an oil and gas executive. At Bernhardt’s direction, the Interior Department is breaking a landmark deal that was brokered by Western governors, ranchers, and conservationists—all to allow more drilling and mining.

“Surrounding himself with former lobbyists, it quickly became clear that Ryan Zinke was a pawn for the oil and gas industry. We can expect more of the same from Acting Secretary David Bernhardt, but without the laughable Teddy Roosevelt comparisons.”

After stocking his department with oil and gas lobbyists, Zinke goes full speed ahead on drilling and mining Last week, as most Americans celebrated Thanksgiving, the Trump administration quietly released two stunning reports detailing the current and forecasted impacts of climate change to the United States. The comprehensive studies concluded that the United States is […]