Zinke reveals new plan for decentralizing Interior
BILLINGS, Mont. — U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke disclosed in an interview that he is revamping an overhaul of his department that is supposed to speed up permitting for development on public lands, but Democrats asserted it was just a ploy to let the energy industry get its way.
The changes follow complaints from a bipartisan group of Western state governors that Zinke did not consult them before unveiling a plan last month to decentralize the Interior Department.
The agency oversees public lands, primarily in the West.
Zinke wants to divide the department into 13 regions, with boundaries that more closely follow state lines instead of the natural boundaries he initially proposed, he said Friday.
“At present we are mismanaging and squandering our assets through a layered bureaucracy that reflects a very old department that really has not reorganized since the turn of the last century,” he said.
Zinke said that his focus was on three areas: improving recreational access, simplifying environmental reviews and speeding up the permitting process for energy exploration and other projects on public lands.
A redrawn map from the agency shows that states such as Colorado, New Mexico and Wyoming would fall within a single region instead of being split among multiple regions. Other states remain divided, including California, Nevada, Montana and Oregon.
“Zinke’s new map shows the same industry-friendly disregard for the Interior Department as his last failed proposal,” said Arizona Rep. Raul Grijalva, ranking Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee.
Among those opposed to Zinke’s original plan was the oil and gas industry. It said a reorganization based on watersheds was too similar to proposals from former President Barack Obama.