Wednesday, January 17, 2018

Park Service staff is fed up: they quit en masse

It all started on Trump’s first day in office, when he called the acting director of the National Park Service seeking pictures that would prove his false claims about the size of his inauguration crowd. Relations with the agency never improved, as the Trump administration feuded with rogue NPS tweeters, slashed the size of two national monuments in Utah, authorized offshore-drilling around the country (except in Florida), and prohibited NPS from sharing its objections to a bill that would reduce its ability to regulate hunting and fishing in parks, including the killing of bear cubs in Alaskan wildlife preserves.

On Monday night, nine out of 12 members of the national Park System Advisory Board decided they’d had enough. In a one-page letter to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, board chairman Tony Knowles, a former Alaska governor, tendered their resignations. Their primary gripe: while they are required by law to meet twice per year, Zinke has refused to meet with them or convene a single meeting in the last year.

[...]

Until Zinke names new advisory board members, the U.S. will not have a body that can designate national historic or natural landmarks. In general, though, the Trump administration doesn’t seem that concerned with the status of federal advisory panels. In May Zinke suspended the work of more than 200 advisory boards, committees and subcommittees, pending a department-wide review. Some appear to be operating again, but the status of others is unclear.

  NY Magazine
What are the odds they'll be replaced?

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

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