By Rebecca Turner, American Forests, Senior Director of Programs & Policy

Yosemite National Park
Yosemite National Park. Credit: Yinghai Lu.

We are working with our champions on the Hill to fully vet the cabinet picks that have direct influence over the state of our forests. Yesterday, Tuesday, January 17th, the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources held the confirmation hearing for the Secretary of the Interior nominee, Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-MT).

With the amount of forested land that the Department of Interior manages, it is important to American Forests that the person leading the department is fully versed in the protection and restoration needs of the forests under his or her domain. The Department of Interior oversees the management of 58 million acres of public domain forests, 84.9 million acres of National Parks, of which 55 million acres are in Alaska and heavily forested, and more than 150 million acres of wildlife refuges and wetland management districts which also include forests.

Congressman Zinke’s appointment as Secretary of the Interior is one of the least controversial put forward by President-elect Trump, and while he supports many items that American Forests cares about, there are still a number of issues that give us pause.

We appreciate his support of the permanent authorization and full funding of the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), an important piece of conservation legislation that provides funds and matching grants to federal, state and local governments for the acquisition of, and easements on, land and water, in both urban and rural areas. He is a strong advocate for our National Parks, wanting to address the $12.5 billion backlog in maintenance, perhaps through a forthcoming Infrastructure and Jobs bill put forth by the new administration. He claims Teddy Roosevelt as his conservation hero and is against the sale or transfer of our public lands.

However, his responses during the confirmation hearing regarding climate change was a mixed bag. He came out stating that climate change is not a hoax, a position in direct opposition to President-elect Trump. He agrees that it is human caused, and even related a story of watching the glaciers in Glacier National Park literally recede during lunch with his family. But, he put forth the false choice that you cannot address climate change and grow the economy, as well as stating that the science regarding what to do about addressing climate change is unsettled.

While Zinke was non-committal regarding how the increases in funding needed will be garnered, he did indicate his role was to advocate for the Interior budget and its needs. American Forests agrees that the Secretary will need to maintain a commitment to the funding needed for all the agencies to properly restore and manage the forests under the Department’s purview. Zinke will also need to be a strong steward for the restoration of our National Parks, beyond their hard infrastructure needs.

Given how controversial the other cabinet appointments have been, it is very likely that Zinke will be confirmed. Once confirmed, we will work with the Department of Interior to uphold its mission, restore and protect the forests under its purview, as well as advocate strongly against decisions that hurt our forests.