Ryan Zinke Refuses to 'Weaponize' Public Lands During Government Shutdown  Touts Efforts to Keep Parks Open
Ryan Zinke
Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke  spoke to Breitbart News Sunday on SiriusXM and praised  his  departmentâs efforts to keep Americaâs public lands open during the âgovernment shutdown.â
Today we are at the Lincoln  WW2 and Washington giving out maps greeting visitors pic.twitter.com/3hqTE4FDlI â Secretary Ryan Zinke (@SecretaryZinke) January 21  2018
Thanks to Jeff from our Parks concessionaire/vendor Guest Services Inc. for donating porta-johns and keeping visitor services open during the #schumershutdown pic.twitter.com/dtT08eVC7z â Secretary Ryan Zinke (@SecretaryZinke) January 21  2018
Breitbart News Deputy Political Editor Amanda House asked  Zinke  to compare that experience to this shutdown  where he has been able to keep open a comparatively much larger amount of public land.  Zinke  made headlines Saturday for welcoming visitors to keep the Washington World War II Memorial open.
âI canât think of a [bigger] difference [than] in how we view our public lands. Our public lands and monuments are the peopleâs and not the governmentâs â  Zinke  told House  directly comparing the Trump administrationâs approach to earlier policies. âAnd so weâve given a directive to  wherever possible  make sure our public lands remain open. â¦ Where we can  weâve opened up our parks.â
 Zinke  claimed  he  wanted to avoid politicizing the parks and other public lands. âWeâre blessed with our park system  BLM [Bureau of Land Management lands] and great public lands and treasures. â¦ To weaponize those lands for a political purpose  I think  quite frankly  is unamerican â  he  told House.
âWeâre even negotiating with New York on the Statue of Liberty â  Zinke  added about the famous landmark now slated to reopen Monday.
Still   Zinke  reigned in his enthusiasm to emphasize the hardship his employees might face if the shutdown continues. â[The Department of the] Interior has a really noble mission: being the stewards of our greatest treasures â  Zinke  said. âThese are middle-class American families that work hard  that love our country  and they have mortgages. â¦ So to use our personnel as â somehow â a bargaining chip for political purposes  quite frankly  is disgraceful.â
Secretary of the Interior  [TGT]   spoke to Breitbart News Sunday on SiriusXM and praised  his  departmentâs efforts to keep Americaâs public lands open during the âgovernment shutdown.â
Today we are at the Lincoln  WW2 and Washington giving out maps greeting visitors pic.twitter.com/3hqTE4FDlI â Secretary  [TGT]  (@SecretaryZinke) January 21  2018
Thanks to Jeff from our Parks concessionaire/vendor Guest Services Inc. for donating porta-johns and keeping visitor services open during the #schumershutdown pic.twitter.com/dtT08eVC7z â Secretary  [TGT]  (@SecretaryZinke) January 21  2018
Breitbart News Deputy Political Editor Amanda House asked  Zinke  to compare that experience to this shutdown  where he has been able to keep open a comparatively much larger amount of public land.  Zinke  made headlines Saturday for welcoming visitors to keep the Washington World War II Memorial open.
âI canât think of a [bigger] difference [than] in how we view our public lands. Our public lands and monuments are the peopleâs and not the governmentâs â  Zinke  told House  directly comparing the Trump administrationâs approach to earlier policies. âAnd so weâve given a directive to  wherever possible  make sure our public lands remain open. â¦ Where we can  weâve opened up our parks.â
 Zinke  claimed  he  wanted to avoid politicizing the parks and other public lands. âWeâre blessed with our park system  BLM [Bureau of Land Management lands] and great public lands and treasures. â¦ To weaponize those lands for a political purpose  I think  quite frankly  is unamerican â  he  told House.
âWeâre even negotiating with New York on the Statue of Liberty â  Zinke  added about the famous landmark now slated to reopen Monday.
Still   Zinke  reigned in his enthusiasm to emphasize the hardship his employees might face if the shutdown continues. â[The Department of the] Interior has a really noble mission: being the stewards of our greatest treasures â  Zinke  said. âThese are middle-class American families that work hard  that love our country  and they have mortgages. â¦ So to use our personnel as â somehow â a bargaining chip for political purposes  quite frankly  is disgraceful.â