Whitefish, Mont. – Following the confirmation of Ryan Zinke as Interior Secretary, Executive Director of the Western Values Project released the following statement:

“Secretary Zinke will tell anyone who is willing to listen, besides maybe his donors in the oil industry, that he’s just like conservation hero Teddy Roosevelt. Here’s what we have to say to Secretary Zinke: Prove it.”

“President Roosevelt expanded the parks system and decried the outsized political influence of special interests in American democracy. Secretary Zinke has already expressed doubts about newly-protected public lands and taken thousands from the oil industry as a candidate for Congress.”

“If Secretary Zinke wants to be remembered like Teddy Roosevelt, then he’ll have to stand up to his political backers when they ask for free reign over our nation’s public lands heritage. If he doesn’t, Westerners will hold him accountable for putting special interests ahead of our best interest.”

MORE BACKGROUND:

Ryan Zinke has raked in $344,136 from those in the oil and gas industry, his fourth-largest total from any one industry. Some of the top donors to Zinke’s congressional campaigns are oil and gas conglomerates, including Oasis Petroleum, Halliburton, and the Red Apple Group. (Center for Responsive Politics Ryan Zinke Industries, accessed 12/13/16 and Center for Responsive Politics Ryan Zinke Donors, accessed 12/13/16)