Trump’s pick to lead Interior delivers favor to major lobbying client

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?

“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.

Congressional investigation necessary into inappropriate use of NPS funds DENVER—According to a memo obtained by The Hill, National Park Service Deputy Director Dan Smith announced that the National Park Service (NPS) would use funds provided in Congress’ short-term funding bill to retroactively pay for NPS operations and staffing during the government shutdown. Acting Interior Secretary David Bernhardt […]

How we can conserve wildlife corridors to safeguard the West’s wildlif The West has long been lionized for its wide open spaces, vast rangelands, and rugged forests. But growing development is threatening that iconic Western vision. We lose a football field of natural land every two and half minutes to highways, subdivisions, and oil and gas well […]

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 […]