A lawsuit was filed Wednesday to obtain Interior Department records and communications pertaining to Secretary Ryan Zinke's review of 27 national monuments established since 1996. The filing, by the Center for Biological Diversity, claims the department is unlawfully withholding those documents.
“Zinke’s review of these national monuments has been a sham from the start – so it’s no wonder they’re keeping this process out of the public view,” said Meg Townsend, open government staff attorney with the Center. “Why would he hide his emails and his schedule unless he doesn’t want the public to know who he’s talking to? Zinke's deluded if he thinks his Roosevelt image squares with the Trump administration's sellout of our public heritage to oil, gas, mining and timber industries.”
The secretary was directed by President Trump to study the monuments to determine whether they were properly established under the guidelines of the Antiquities Act, which calls for the smallest possible monument in acreage to provide the necessary protection of historic, prehistoric, and scientific settings.
Most of the 27 monuments under review are managed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, though the National Park Service is to provide consultation on Bears Ears National Monument in Utah, while Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument in Maine is a unit of the National Park System.
In April, the Center for Biological Diversity filed two Freedom of Information Act requests with the Interior Department. One sought the communication records -- letters, emails, voice mails, texts, instant messages, phone calls -- of Secretary Zinke, while the other asked for his travel schedules.
In May, the group filed another FOIA request, this one seeking "records that mention national monuments designated since 1996 and records that reference" President Trump's executive order.
So far, none of the requests has been fulfilled, according to the Center.
“Diminishing our natural heritage lands to benefit polluting industries is shameful and misguided,” Ms. Townsend said. “Keeping the decision-making process a secret makes it even worse. The public has a right to know how these decisions are being made and who’s influencing this administration.”
So far, the only national monument that Secretary Zinke said he would recommend for a reduction in size is the 1.35-million-acre Bears Ears, though he has not said how much of a reduction would be appropriate.
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Comments
I applaud this effort, but don't hold out a lot of hope in this least-transparent administration.
The administration might not have a choice. It sounds as if the request is now in a U.S. District Court because the agency didn't respond within the 20 days of the FOIA request.