Zinke Honked About Fixing The National Parks, Leaves Office With The System In A Fecal Shambles

[hatrack]

On his second day as interior secretary, Ryan Zinke told his staff that America’s national parks were “the face” of the Interior Department. “Your uniforms, showing up every day, your professionalism, is how most of America views our department,” he said. He underlined the point by pledging to fix the estimated $12.5 billion park maintenance backlog, a move that earned him rare points with the conservation community.

Less than two years later — on Jan. 2, the 12th day of President Donald Trump’s ongoing partial government shutdown — Zinke exited the department under a cloud of ethics scandals, and Americans instead saw national parks and monuments around the country overflowing with trash and human waste. Hoping to avoid the backlash that the Obama administration received when it shuttered parks during the 16-day government shutdown in 2013, the Trump administration opted to keep them open ― albeit with a skeleton crew of staff and without most visitor services.

EDIT

Meanwhile, the filth accumulating at understaffed parks continues to spread. Overflowing toilets, vandalism and damage have been reported at several sites, including Joshua Tree National Park, which managed to stay open this week despite the fact that visitors had built illegal roads and cut down some of the park’s namesake and imperiled trees. After 22 months as chief steward of America’s natural resources, Zinke left his post with the face of the department in shambles. And in his first post-resignation interview, he urged park visitors to “grab a trash bag,” The Associated Press reported.

Over the weekend, as garbage and sanitation issues multiplied and media coverage grew, the Interior Department’s acting secretary, David Bernhardt, issued an order allowing the National Park Service to dip into park entrance fees to combat the mess and keep sites open. In a statement, National Park Service Deputy Director P. Daniel Smith called it an “extraordinary step” and said it had “become clear that highly visited parks with limited staff have urgent needs that cannot be addressed solely through the generosity of our partners.”

EDIT

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/national-parks-trump-shutdown-ryan-zinke_us_5c38d473e4b0c469d76dd24e?ncid=engmodushpmg00000004

[klook]

1. After the national parks are destroyed,

the mining, trophy hunting, and oil & gas exploration can begin.

[gtar100]

2. A living example of the effects of conservative idealogy.

Promises of good management followed by unending scandals and abuses of power. All they live behind are piles of shit for the rest of us to clean up.