INTERIOR/RYAN ZINKE: “Three-quarters of the seats on the U.S. National Park Service advisory board are vacant following a mass resignation Monday [1-15-18] night, citing Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s unwillingness to meet with them.
Nine of the panel’s 12 members, led by former Alaska Gov. Tony Knowles, handed in their resignations. The bipartisan panel was appointed by President Barack Obama and the terms of all members who quit were set to expire in May.
Knowles, in a letter of resignation to Zinke from himself and the eight other members, said the board had ‘worked closely and productively through 2016 with dedicated National Park Service employees, an inspiring Director and a fully supportive Department.’
Since then, as explained in the letter, the board had repeatedly tried and failed to secure a meeting with the new interior secretary… Alaska Public Radio quoted Knowles as saying that the Department of the Interior ‘showed no interest in learning about or continuing to use the forward-thinking agenda of science, the effect of climate change, protections of the ecosystems, education.’… Washington Sen. Maria Cantwell, a Democrat who is the ranking member on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, issued a statement of support for the resigning board members…
Since taking office, President Trump has sought to roll back protections of national parks and public lands under the auspices of the Department of the Interior. The administration has ordered a dramatic downsizing of two massive national monuments in Utah and has announced plans to open up oil drilling in protected areas of the Arctic and the Atlantic.”
-Scottt Neuman, “Majority Of National Park Service Board Resigns, Citing Administration Indifference,” NPR, Jan. 17, 2018 05:42am