<\/p>\n
BILLINGS, Mont. \u2013 As former U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke exits Washington chased by ethics investigations and criticism of his actions favoring industry, he told The Associated Press he\u2019s lived up to the conservation ideals of Theodore Roosevelt and insisted the myriad allegations against him will be proved untrue.<\/p>\n
The former Montana congressman also said he quit President Donald Trump\u2019s Cabinet on his own terms, despite indications he was pressured by the White House to resign effective Wednesday.<\/p>\n
During almost two years overseeing an agency responsible for managing 500 million acres of public lands, Zinke\u2019s broad rollbacks of restrictions on oil and gas drilling were cheered by industry. But they brought a scathing backlash from environmental groups and Democratic lawmakers who accused him of putting corporate profits ahead of preservation.<\/p>\n
In his first interview since stepping down, Zinke said the changes he instituted meshed with Roosevelt\u2019s belief in balance between nature and industry. He added that they were needed in part to unfetter energy companies bound by unreasonable curbs on drilling that were largely imposed under former President Barack Obama.<\/p>\n
\u201cTeddy Roosevelt said conservation is as much development as it is preservation,\u201d Zinke said, referencing a 1910 speech by the Republican president. \u201cMuch of our work returned the American conservation ethic to best science, best practices \u2026 rather than an elitist view of non-management that lets nature take its course.\u201d<\/p>\n
Zinke mentioned Roosevelt often during his almost two-year tenure, and historian Patricia Limerick said it\u2019s accurate that the former president talked of development as a component of conservation. But Limerick said Zinke\u2019s recommendations to Trump to reduce the size of national monuments in the West and elsewhere were in direct contrast to Roosevelt\u2019s embrace of the law that allowed their creation, the Antiquities Act of 1906.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t get to call yourself a follower of Roosevelt if you\u2019re really chiseling away at one of his principal heritages,\u201d said Limerick, who is chairwoman of the board of the Center of the American West at the University of Colorado, where she\u2019s a history professor.<\/p>\n
House Democrats plan to put Zinke\u2019s policies under the spotlight with oversight hearings beginning next month, said Adam Sarvana, a spokesman for Rep. Raul Grijalva of Arizona, the Democrat in line to lead the House Natural Resources Committee.<\/p>\n
The hearings initially will focus on policy changes such as \u201cgiveaways\u201d to the oil and gas industry under the leadership of Zinke, Sarvana said. He added they later could be expanded to include the various ethics investigations pending against Zinke, a former Navy SEAL and avowed Trump loyalist.<\/p>\n
The investigations have ranged from a probe into a land deal involving Zinke and the chairman of energy services giant Halliburton, to questions about his decision to reject a casino in Connecticut sought by two tribes.<\/p>\n
During his interview with the AP, Zinke denied a Washington Post report that Interior Department investigators believe he may have lied to them, which has reportedly prompted an examination of potential criminal violations by the U.S. Justice Department\u2019s public integrity section.<\/p>\n
Several other investigations into Zinke concluded with no findings of wrongdoing. In one case, he was faulted by investigators for violating a department policy by allowing his wife to ride in government vehicles with him. That report also said the Interior Department spent more than $25,000 to provide security for the couple during a vacation to Turkey and Greece.<\/p>\n
For the energy industry, Zinke brought relief from rules imposed under Obama that were meant to limit drilling in sensitive wildlife habitat, curb emissions of the greenhouse gas carbon monoxide and protect water supplies.<\/p>\n
Despite the Democrats\u2019 newfound power in Washington after taking control of the House of Representatives, industry representatives said Zinke\u2019s impact will be lasting. That\u2019s because they involved agency regulations rather than congressional action and came at the order of Trump, said Dan Naatz, vice president of government relations for the Independent Petroleum Association of America.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlthough Secretary Zinke was effective at what he was doing, the policy really came from the president,\u201d Naatz said.<\/p>\n
Until Trump nominates and the Senate confirms a permanent replacement, Zinke\u2019s shoes will be filled on an acting basis by his deputy, David Bernhardt, a former lobbyist for the oil and gas industry. Left-leaning groups that campaigned against Zinke already have turned their attention to Bernhardt with claims that his previous work leaves him compromised.<\/p>\n
\u201cDavid Bernhardt is too conflicted to serve him in any position, whether it\u2019s deputy, acting or full Interior secretary,\u201d said Aaron Weiss with the Center for Western Priorities. Weiss also suggested the pending investigations against Zinke are likely to continue and said the former secretary \u201ccan\u2019t make his trouble go away by simply walking away.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, who is chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, said Zinke worked closely with western states and respected their priorities. Barrasso said it was important for the next secretary to likewise pursue Trump\u2019s American \u201cenergy dominance\u201d agenda while following sound environmental practices.<\/p>\n
In his resignation letter, Zinke said he was compelled to step down because the political attacks against him had created a distraction from Trump\u2019s drive to boost U.S. energy production.<\/p>\n
He told the AP that the allegations fit into a \u201cplaybook\u201d used by the administration\u2019s critics to stifle Trump\u2019s energy agenda, smear Zinke\u2019s name and undercut any future bid he might make for public office. He said he won\u2019t run for Montana governor in 2020, but did not rule out a future run.<\/p>\n
In the weeks leading up to his resignation, the White House concluded Zinke was likely the Cabinet member most vulnerable to investigations led by newly empowered Democrats in Congress, according to an administration official not authorized to publicly discuss personnel matters who spoke on condition of anonymity.<\/p>\n
In Zinke\u2019s telling of events, Trump remained fully supportive to the end and it was the secretary himself who made the decision to go.<\/p>\n
His departure comes amid a partial government shutdown in which Zinke ordered many national parks to stay open, saying visitors shouldn\u2019t be penalized for the political feud centered on Trump\u2019s proposed border wall with Mexico.<\/p>\n
With reports of overflowing trash bins spurring calls for the parks to be closed until the shutdown ends, Zinke offered some parting advice as he prepared to head back to his hometown of Whitefish, Montana, just outside Glacier National Park: \u201cI would encourage everyone that visits their parks to help pitch in, grab a trash bag and take some trash out with you,\u201d he said. \u201cPack it in, pack it out.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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