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Zinke Memo: Interior Will Defer To States For Wildlife Management

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

A leaked memo this week from the Interior Department shows Secretary Ryan Zinke wants to give states more clout over wildlife management on public lands, unless it conflicts with federal law.

 Click 'play' to hear the audio version of this story.

"The 50 state governments have extensive capacities and competencies to exercise their responsibilities to serve as trustees for fish and wildlife species in the respective States," Zinke wrote in the document. Environmentalists expressed some alarm with the memo. Aaron Weiss is with the Center for Western Priorities in Denver. Weiss says state priorities don’t always align with federal mandates to protect wildlife. 

"State wildlife agencies in some cases are funded in part or in large part by hunting and fishing licenses," Weiss says. "So you end up with this push/pull of an incentive to create and generate more revenue, because that’s what keeps them afloat as a state agency, versus the need to protect wildlife."

In the memo Zinke asked Interior bureaus to examine and contrast state versus federal policies over the next month and a half, and then provide recommendations for policy changes that defer to states within 90 days. 

Zinke’s office did not return a request for comment.

The memo to Interior Department bureau heads and offices was provided to Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. The environmental group blasted the change in policy direction.

“Mr. Zinke says that he does not want to give away ownership of federal lands but happily cedes their management,” says Jeff Ruch with PEER. 

Find reporter Amanda Peacher on Twitter @amandapeacher.

Copyright 2018 Boise State Public Radio

This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, Yellowstone Public Radio in Montana, KUER in Salt Lake City and KRCC and KUNC in Colorado.

Copyright 2021 Boise State Public Radio News. To see more, visit Boise State Public Radio News.

Amanda Peacher is an Arthur F. Burns fellow reporting and producing in Berlin in 2013. Amanda is from Portland, Oregon, where she works as the public insight journalist for Oregon Public Broadcasting. She produces radio and online stories, data visualizations, multimedia projects, and facilitates community engagement opportunities for OPB's newsroom.
Amanda Peacher
Amanda Peacher works for the Mountain West News Bureau out of Boise State Public Radio. She's an Idaho native who returned home after a decade of living and reporting in Oregon. She's an award-winning reporter with a background in community engagement and investigative journalism.

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