Trump Interior pick to clarify stance on federal land development
Source: Reuters
POLITICS | Tue Jan 17, 2017 | 6:02am EST
Trump Interior pick to clarify stance on federal land development
By Valerie Volcovici | WASHINGTON
A U.S. Senate committee will grill President-elect Donald Trump's pick to run the Department of the Interior, Congressman Ryan Zinke of Montana, during a confirmation hearing on Tuesday that is likely to focus on how he would balance development and conservation on America's vast public lands.
The former Navy SEAL commander, an avid hunter and angler, emerged as a surprise pick to head the department in part because he has embraced federal stewardship of national parks, forests and refuges - rejecting the Republican party's official position to sell off acreage to states that might prioritize drilling, mining and grazing in some areas.
While an advocate for federal control, Zinke has also fought for increased coal mining on federal lands, a position that has worried conservationists but fits neatly with Trump's vows to bolster the U.S. energy sector by scaling back regulation and opening up more publicly-held land to development.
The Interior Department oversees territories covering a fifth of the country's surface from the Arctic to the Gulf of Mexico, comprising sensitive wildlife habitats, iconic landscapes, and overlying rich deposits of oil, gas and coal and important pasture lands for ranchers.
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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-congress-zinke-idUSKBN1511DQ
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