9 Of 12 National Park Advisory Board Members Quit; Zinke Refused To Meet Them, Hold 1 Meeting/Year

[hatrack]

Three-quarters of the members of a federally chartered board advising the National Park Service abruptly quit Monday night out of frustration that Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke had refused to meet with them or convene a single meeting last year.

The resignation of nine out of 12 National Park System Advisory Board members leaves the federal government without a functioning body to designate national historic or natural landmarks. It also underscores the extent to which federal advisory bodies have become marginalized under the Trump administration. In May 2017, Zinke suspended all outside committees while his staff reviewed their composition and work.

In a letter to the secretary, departing board chairman Tony Knowles, a former Alaska governor, wrote that he and eight other members “have stood by waiting for the chance to meet and continue the partnership .?.?. as prescribed by law.” All of the signatories had terms set to expire in May. “We understand the complexity of transition but our requests to engage have been ignored and the matters on which we wanted to brief the new Department team are clearly not part of its agenda,” Knowles wrote. “I wish the National Park System and Service well and will always be dedicated to their success.”

EDIT

In at least two instances, Zinke has disbanded existing advisory bodies — the Wildlife and Hunting Heritage Conservation Council and the Advisory Committee on Climate Change and Natural Resource Science. He replaced the first one with the Hunting and Shooting Sports Conservation Council, which just started soliciting nominations Jan. 9. It will place a heavier emphasis on sport shooting while promoting hunters’ and fishermen’s access to public lands.

EDIT

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/nearly-all-members-of-national-park-service-advisory-panel-resign-in-frustration/2018/01/16/b322ef5e-fae3-11e7-ad8c-ecbb62019393_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-more-top-stories_parkservice-805pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.ff196adfd276

[enough]

1. So Zinke got what he wanted. NT