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Interior Secretary Deb Haaland gave her first magazine interview since taking charge of America’s public lands in March. In a conversation with Outside’s Emily Pennington, Haaland talked about the Great American Outdoors Act, Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments, and the 30x30 campaign to preserve American lands and waters.
Haaland gave Pennington a preview of how Interior has been assembling a report to the White House on 30x30, saying that “It was put together mostly by talking to folks.” That report is expected to be released to the public in the coming weeks.
“I vowed to make sure that people who haven’t necessarily had a voice in some of these decisions would have a voice,” Haaland said, “so I’m really making sure that we’re out there talking to a vast swath of people.”
Bernhardt and Zinke find the revolving door
Meanwhile, Haaland’s two predecessors at the Interior Department are right back where they started. Former secretary (and walking conflict of interest) David Bernhardt announced he’s returning to the lobbying firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck as “special counsel.” And disgraced former secretary Ryan Zinke, who is still under criminal investigation for his actions at Interior, filed paperwork to run for Congress in Montana’s soon-to-be-created second congressional district.
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When it comes to public lands issues, Utah’s federal and state representatives spend the vast majority of their time trying to disempower their constituents and defund protection of the lands we all enjoy. It should be no surprise when it actually happens.
