Conservation groups have said they are “weighing options” about what to do next. Ranching and cattle groups applauded the decision, saying more predators present challenges for their members.Read More
Around 450 people filed into the AgriComplex building at the Okanogan County Fairgrounds Monday night. They wanted to voice their opinions on a draft plan to relocate grizzlies to the North Cascades.Read More
U.S. Judge Michael H. Simon issued a temporary restraining order, blocking the grazing permits issued to Dwight and Steven Hammond by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke before he left the Trump administration at the beginning of this year. Read More
Environmental groups sued this week over a federal decision allowing two Eastern Oregon ranchers to graze cattle on the same land they were convicted of burning in 2012. Prison sentences for ranchers Dwight and Steven Hammond sparked protests, leading to the 2016 standoff at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.Read More
During a testy confirmation hearing on Thursday, President Donald Trump's pick to be the nation's largest land steward told senators that he would take steps to prevent conflicts of interest and to improve ethics guidelines at the Interior Department.Read More
Park Superintendent Christine Lehnertz has been cleared of allegations of creating a hostile work environment in a report by the Inspector General of the Interior Department. Read More
A new rule proposed by Interior in December appears designed to make it harder for public interest groups like Western Values Project to get public records. The rule would give the agency greater discretion over how it handles public records requests. Read More
Since being listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, grizzly bear populations in northwest Montana and the Greater Yellowstone Area have more than tripled in size. That tolerance, scientists and wildlife officials say, is key to the grizzly bears' future as the effects of climate change harden, the West gets more crowded, and bears spreads into areas they Read More
As Ryan Zinke steps down amid a string of ethics investigations, his deputy David Bernhardt — a former oil-industry lobbyist and a polarizing figure — will take over at the Department of the Interior.Read More
A controversial plan to reintroduce grizzly bears to Washington’s North Cascades will not be finished by the end of the year. Federal officials had pushed to bring grizzlies back to wilder parts of the state. Those efforts have stalled.Read More
Ryan Zinke is out as secretary of the Interior. Zinke will be leaving the Trump administration at the end of the year; his successor is expected to be announced next week. Washington Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers was considered a top candidate for the job before Zinke was named in 2017.Read More
While deciding whether to shrink Oregon’s Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument, Interior Department officials focused on the land’s logging potential. The information was revealed in mistakenly-released documents.Read More
An amendment to prevent the relocation of grizzly bears to Washington’s North Cascades has passed the U.S. House. The move is opposed by conservation groups, which say more grizzly bears are needed in the state.Read More
People in Montana say what’s happened with grizzlies in their state could be a guide for Washington, where the bears are in big trouble but on the verge of getting reinforcements.Read More
The National Park Service will increase entrance fees at 117 national parks by at least $5. The increases are far smaller than had previously been proposed by the Trump administration.Read More
In congressional testimony Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke said he has heard the strong opposition from the West Coast to the Trump administration's plan for offshore oil and gas drilling. He expressed doubt drilling would ever happen along the Pacific Northwest coast.Read More
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke came to Washington’s North Cascades Friday to make one thing clear: He wants his agency to get back to work deciding by year’s end whether to reintroduce grizzlies to the North Cascades.Read More
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke is heading to the North Cascades Friday to speak on reintroducing grizzly bears in that part of Washington. His agency had previously suspended controversial efforts to bolster the bears in the area.Read More
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke told Washington Sen. Maria Cantwell that his proposal for offshore oil and gas drilling will reflect the “interests of Washington.” “You should know off the coast of Oregon, Washington, most of California, there are no known resources of any weight,” Zinke said. Read More
The U.S. Interior Department plans to expand energy development on public lands and offshore to pay for the National Parks’ maintenance backlog. Read More
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke is taking input on the administration’s plan to open waters of the Pacific, Atlantic and Arctic Oceans to oil drilling. Oregon Senator Ron Wyden says that would endanger the Oregon Coast’s environment, tourism and fishing industry.Read More
Oregon Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden is calling for an investigation into Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s use of wildfire preparedness funds after news reports revealed Zinke used the funds for unrelated travel.Read More
