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A review of associate deputy Interior secretary Karen Budd-Falen's financial disclosure documents, conducted by Public Domain, raises more questions than it answers about Budd-Falen's potential conflicts of interest. Budd-Falen has a long anti-public lands history, including as an attorney representing ranchers and others in support of extreme anti-public lands positions, and as deputy Interior solicitor for fish, wildlife and parks during the first Trump administration.
According to Budd-Falen's latest financial disclosure, she also owns multiple ranches in the West, as well as stocks in oil and gas companies, creating the potential for conflicts of interest with her work at the Interior department, which oversees grazing and oil and gas drilling on national public lands. "According to this form, she returned to Interior in March and still held Exxon Mobil stock as of May. She’s making millions of dollars a year from her cattle ranches. If Budd-Falen were to work on any sort of grazing policy at Interior, she would be in a position to further enrich herself," said Aaron Weiss, deputy director of the Center for Western Priorities.
Report: Integrity of national parks depends on the Land and Water Conservation Fund
A new report by the Trust for Public Land highlights the importance of the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) for buying private property from willing sellers, including parcels within national parks, so that those parcels can become public lands. The Trump administration has floated using those dollars for maintenance instead, which would be inconsistent with the law that created LWCF. The report presents data that show the extent of private inholdings within national parks, and urges Congress to protect LWCF funds for their original intended purpose.
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Park Service staff should be managing parks, not censorship campaigns.”
