Secretary has said that he does not support the sale of America’s public lands

In a dramatic policy shift from repeated claims by Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke, the administration’s new budget and infrastructure proposal would open the door to selling off America’s public lands.

As reported by Politico, the White House’s infrastructure plan would authorize Interior to sell off federal land through the Federal Land Transaction Facilitation Act.

Statement on the proposal by the Executive Director of Western Values Project Chris Saeger:

Much like the horse Secretary Zinke road in on, it was all a grand show until the pen hit the paper and public lands became disposable assets to a Manhattan developer whose balance sheet is underwater. At this point, after rolling back protections, silencing public participation, ushering in the largest reduction of national monuments in history, and letting special interests take the reins of the department, should we expect anything less from the Secretary? What little credibility Secretary Zinke might have had left before this budget and infrastructure proposal should be completely gone now. Just like the last budget proposal by the administration, Congress should wholeheartedly reject it.”

The Trump administration is now proposing a 17 percent cut to Interior’s budget, up from the 12 percent reduction they proposed last year that would have severely undermined our national parks and public lands.

Western Values Project, based in Whitefish, Montana, defends America’s public lands through research and public education in order to hold policymakers and elected leaders accountable for jeopardizing the West’s outdoor heritage.