Rep. Ryan Zinke accepts nomination as Secretary of the Interior

Ryan Zinke, the Republican Congressman representing Montana’s at-large U.S. House district, on Dec. 15 announced he had accepted President-elect Donald Trump’s nomination to serve as the next Secretary of the Interior.

“As inscribed in the stone archway of Yellowstone National Park in Gardiner, Montana, I shall faithfully uphold Teddy Roosevelt’s belief that our treasured public lands are ‘for the benefit and enjoyment of the people,’” Zinke said in a press release Thursday morning.

In his statement formally announcing Zinke’s nomination, Trump praised the Whitefish native’s record on “regulatory relief, forest management, responsible energy development and public land issues.”

“America is the most beautiful country in the world and he is going to help keep it that way with smart management of our federal lands,” Trump’s statement added.

Montana’s other statewide officials offered support for Zinke’s nomination, including Sen. Jon Tester and Gov. Steve Bullock, both Democrats.

“I’m pleased the President-elect nominated someone from the West for a post that’s critically important to Montana’s outdoor economy and way of life,” Tester stated in a press release.

“Montanans know how important the U.S. Department of Interior is to protecting our natural resources and outdoor heritage and it is reassuring that a Western voice is being advanced for a post that is critical for Western states,” Bullock said in a statement.

Zinke still faces confirmation by the Senate before he can take the helm of the Department of the Interior, which manages the majority of the federal government’s land holdings and oversees the Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Indian Affairs, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and other natural resource agencies.

IF CONFIRMED, the congressman would also help drive policy for and direct funding decisions within the National Park Service.

With Glacier National Park providing much of the tourism appeal of Zinke’s home of Whitefish and other gateway communities in the region, National Parks Conservation Association program manager Michael Jamison views the appointment in a positive light.

“He’s tied to this town in some pretty profound ways and I would argue that Whitefish is tied to this park in some pretty meaningful ways as well,” Jamison said Thursday. “It would be really hard to be from here and not understand the importance of national parks to gateway communities.”

The National Park System has a $12 billion deferred-maintenance backlog, which continues to grow as the agency’s budget limits the amount of year-to-year maintenance that gets completed. A report published by the Park Service earlier this year estimated Glacier’s backlog at $179.8 million.

“That’s absolutely a place where a Secretary Zinke could really excel,” Jamison said. “Part of the Secretary of the Interior’s job is to help set the priorities. You only have a certain number of dollars to work with, how do you spend them? ... The other part is working with Congress to increase, decrease or maintain the dollars that are coming.”

GIVEN THE Bureau of Land Management’s vast holdings of mineral-rich public land in the American West, Zinke would have a powerful voice on natural resource development on public lands.

Zinke has remained a staunch supporter of fossil fuel extraction, and has frequently criticized policies by the Obama Administration to limit those activities, notably the president’s moratorium on federal coal leasing.

In September, Zinke visited a pair of idled mining projects in Northwest Montana recently acquired by the Coeur d’Alene-based Hecla Mining Company.

Noting Zinke’s academic background in geology, Hecla spokesman Luke Russell told the Inter Lake Thursday that the company was pleased Trump chose a nominee familiar with the natural resource industry in Montana and the Western U.S.

“He doesn’t have to learn the West as if Trump had picked somebody from not the West, Russell said. “I think he’s demonstrated this balanced, collaborative approach that there are different issues and viewpoints that need to move forward in a collaborative way,” Russell said. “That’s the approach that will be refreshing and very positive for the Secretary of State’s office and I anticipate that’s the type of approach he would take.”

Most of the federal government’s public-land footprint in Western Montana is managed by the U.S. Forest Service, housed within the Department of Agriculture. But Zinke’s critics noted that the congressman would have decision-making authority through the BLM, which manages natural resource development beneath those lands.

“He will be the administration’s voice and leader on decisions over millions and millions of acres of public land, so his perspective is going to be critical, not just on where and how lands are developed but where and how lands are protected,” John Todd, conservation director for the Montana Wilderness Association, said in an interview Tuesday. “Leading up to his re-election as a congressman, he spent a lot of time talking about being a ‘Roosevelt conservationist.’ I hope his future actions match his past rhetoric.”

SWAN VIEW Coalition President Keith Hammer expressed concern over the impact that a Secretary Zinke would have on the fate of federally protected species in the state.

“He’ll be in control of the Fish and Wildlife Service, and we’ve seen lots of political interference under the Bush Administration and even under the Obama Administration, and we can expect it to get worse,” Hammer said.

He noted Zinke’s opposition to a recent District Court decision that favored stronger protections for Canadian lynx, listed as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act. He also suspects the nominee would resist efforts to establish federal protections for wolverines and more aggressively work to remove Yellowstone-area grizzly bears from the list.

“The Fish and Wildlife Service is being pushed by Montana and other states to get with it and expedite the de-listing in Yellowstone” and other ecosystems, he said. “We would expect, with Zinke at the helm of the Interior, that pressure would increase and this would end up full-steam ahead.”

SALLY JEWELL, Obama’s current Interior Secretary, earlier this year canceled more than a dozen controversial oil and gas leases approved under the Reagan Administration in the Badger-Two Medicine Area, located on BLM land south of Glacier National Park and near the Blackfeet Reservation.

In announcing the decision, Jewell cited the area’s cultural ties to the Blackfeet Nation, who consider the land sacred. Zinke had previously told the Inter Lake he preferred an agreement that would satisfy both parties.

“I don’t support arbitrarily canceling leases, because that’s a contract,” he said. “I understand the tribe and the sensitivity of that area, and if the government is going to pull out of the leases, they would have to either provide compensation or make other leases available with similar prospects.”

As interior secretary, Zinke would manage the Bureau of Indian Affairs, giving him broad influence over U.S. policy toward tribal nations within its borders.

In an interview Thursday, Blackfeet Chairman Harry Barnes called Zinke’s appointment “a great day for Montana” and noted Zinke’s role in getting the House to pass the tribe’s water compact last month.

“We looked to him to get it not only introduced, but then to marshal it through a somewhat dysfunctional Congress,” Barnes said. “For us to actually have an ear at that level, it’s very promising.”

Zinke’s appointment still leaves a number of question marks in Barnes’ mind, but he said the Blackfeet have strong working relationship with the congressman and noted that at the very least, Montana’s reservations would have a bigger voice in the White House.

“What you’ve got to remember is we’re pretty much a fly-over state,” he said. “... We’ve certainly had people of the caliber that should be sitting in high, decision-making roles, and as I said, we’ve always been passed over.”