New Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke rode a horse to work today, per source over there.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

New Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke rode a horse to work today, per source over there. Yeah, that happened.

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BSEE is pleased to welcome the new Department of the Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke. "Lets get to work!"

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Honored to stand with the brave officers of @USParkPolice - these professionals put their lives on the line for us

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To put this in perspective:

The Department of the Interior (and I'm looking this up) is at 19th and C Streets NW, basically directly across Constitution Avenue from the Mall. There's a pond there just north of the Reflecting Pool. The U.S. Park Police stables are on the other side of the Reflecting Pool, so this is actually an easy commute on a horse. The Reflecting Pool is shallow enough that the horse could have waded across, but I suspect that horse and rider followed a land route and went around the Reflecting Pool.

Full disclosure: I usually wear a cowboy hat to work (true story), but it was so blustery this morning that I left it at home. Zinke must have had his hat jammed on really tight to keep it from getting blown off his head.

One of the design elements of cowboy hats is that they generally have 4" brims, though some are a shade narrower. Those wide brims act like airfoils in any breeze.

I was in Ballston yesterday afternoon, going to the new Total to stock up on wine. The tall buildings there create ground level vortices that can easily strip the hat off your head. I was holding on to my hat with my left hand and carrying a tote bag with my right hand. With my left hand so positioned, my peripheral vision was compromised. I nearly stepped into the path of a car exiting a garage, but we saw each other in sufficient time that we could each stop in our paths.

I still wore a hat to work. The brim is narrower than that of a cowboy hat, and I don't have to take Bernoulli's Principle into consideration when I'm out in the elements.

[CincyDem]

1. OK - so they're all still asshats...but still...this is a pretty cool stunt. n/t

[rzemanfl]

2. Bringing his own version of shit. At least it will be a change from bull. n/t

[C_U_L8R]

3. Nice PR stunt

Now go do something about our streams being poisoned
and the insane damage fracking is causing

[Tanuki]

4. Per Shoshana Weisman, Day 2:

[mahatmakanejeeves]

6. Only if it's a service animal. Otherwise, live animals are prohibited on the Metro. NT

[Tanuki]

7. Ok then......

[MontanaMama]

5. I'll tell you right now

That this is a distraction from Zinke's shady character. Progressives in Montana are cringing. We're well acquainted with this a-hole.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

8. The new interior secretary just rode into work on a horse

[div class"excerpt"]The new interior secretary just rode into work on a horse

By Juliet Eilperin March 2 at 1:24 PM

Arriving on horseback Thursday, newly minted Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke pledged he would devote more resources to national parks, boost the morale of department employees and bolster the sovereignty of American Indian tribes. ... Zinke who was confirmed by the Senate on Wednesday by a 68-to-31 vote rode with a nine-person mounted police escort to the Interior Departments downtown headquarters on Tonto, an Irish sport horse. The horse, a bay roan gelding standing just over 17 hands tall, is normally kept in stables on the Mall and is owned by the U.S. Park Police. ... While the Park Police serve as the interior secretarys regular security detail, officers are typically not mounted.

Within hours of his arrival Zinke signed two secretarial orders, including one that overturned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services guidance to agency managers to phase out the use of lead ammunition and fishing tackle on national wildlife refuges by 2022. Several gun rights and hunting groups had objected to the policy, which was instituted just before Barack Obama left office, on the grounds that non-toxic copper and steel shot is somewhat more expensive.

In the new directive, Zinke wrote, I have determined that the Order was not mandated by any existing statutory or regulatory requirement and was issued without any significant communication, consultation, or coordination with affected stakeholders.

Advocates of the previous order, however, noted that it set in motion a five-year consultation process between federal officials and the states. Lead poisoningwhich takes place when fragments of shot are consumed by scavengers or absorbed into the surrounding environmentis estimated to kill between 10 and 20 million birds each year, along with other species. ... Zinkes second order aims to expand access to public lands for outdoor recreation and fishing.
....

Juliet Eilperin is The Washington Post's senior national affairs correspondent, covering how the new administration is transforming a range of U.S. policies and the federal government itself. She is the author of two booksone on sharks, and another on Congress, not to be confused with each otherand has worked for the Post since 1998. Follow @eilperin