Concerned that the Interior Department might be misusing funds at its disposal, a senator from Oregon has asked the department's inspector general to audit how funds from its Wildlife Fire Management Account have been spent since Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke was confirmed.

Sen. Ron Wyden's request follows news reports that nearly $40,000 from the account was used to fly Secretary Zinke around Nevada last summer, and during the trip the secretary did not visit any fire zones.

"Amidst the most expensive wildfire season in history, it is unequivocally intolerable that the Interior Department could be wasting scarce taxpayer resources that are meant to save lives," wrote Sen. Wyden to Deputy Inspector General Mary Kendall on Wednesday. "This incident, taken with past reports of Secretary Zinke's potential abuse of government-sponsored air travel -- including chartered private flights to his home state and around the U.S. Virgin Islands and helicopter rides around Washington, D.C. -- demonstrate a troubling pattern of disregard for taxpayer dollars."

The $39,295 spent on Mr. Zinke's tour of Nevada was reported by Newsweek late last month. Interior Department staff said the accounting of the travel was made in error, and was later correted.