Accidentally-released documents show Interior agency prioritized industry over public lands
Interior officials worked to bury benefits of national monuments in order to bolster fossil fuels and logging.
E.A. CRUNDEN
JUL 23, 2018, 3:59 PM
Documents released by the Department of the Interior — and then retracted a day later — reveal that agency officials dismissed evidence that public lands provide numerous benefits in favor of prioritizing fossil fuel interests, along with ranching and logging.
Thousands of emails sent between Interior Department officials last year dismissed the benefits of establishing National Monuments, the Washington Post first reported Monday, including evidence of an uptick in tourism and archaeological discoveries.
Under Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, the agency intentionally tailored a survey of protected sites, emphasizing instead the value of fossil fuel extraction and other industry endeavors.
The Interior Department released the documents last week in response to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, sending them to journalists and advocacy groups on July 16. The agency removed the communications a day later, saying they had been posted in error.
https://thinkprogress.org/interior-zinke-public-lands-oil-drilling-d8a4cc51c5d2/
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“The fact that the Trump administration places no value on the booming recreation economy that generates over $887 billion annually is no surprise to those of us who have been watching their shameful record of exploiting our public lands over the last two years,” said Cantwell.
Research has shown that counties around monuments often benefit economically and culturally after federal designation. But under Zinke, the Interior Department has worked to scale them back regardless, seemingly thanks to industry lobbying.
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what a terrible accident! Who could have possibly foreseen such a calamity?
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