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Trump’s DOI Torches Advisory Board Members Who Complained About Being Ignored

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Chris White Tech Reporter
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The Department of Interior (DOI) blasted several members of the National Park Service (NPS) advisory board Wednesday for quitting after agency chief Ryan Zinke supposedly refused to meet with the group throughout the year.

Nine out of 12 NPS board members claim Zinke’s refusal to meet with them led them to resign the board. DOI spokeswoman Heather Swift called the outgoing members quitters who ignored women that were allegedly harassed at national parks.

“We welcome their resignations and expect nothing less than quitting from members who found it convenient to turn a blind eye to women being sexually harassed at National Parks and praise a man as ‘inspiring’ who had been blasted by the inspector general for ethics and management failures, all while taking credit for the extensive work of private companies during the NPS centennial celebration,” Swift told The Daily Caller News Foundation.

She referenced former NPS Director Jonathan Jarvis, who was criticized during the Obama administration for not firing agency employees accused of withholding food and groping and taking photos under the dresses of female employees who refused sexual solicitations. A former Grand Canyon employee detailed incidents of sexual harassment waged against her at one of the NPS locales, including one instance where she caught a male park employee watching her shower.

One of the board members argued that he and others were being systematically ignored. Departing board chairman Tony Knowles, for instance, wrote in a letter to the DOI that his colleagues “have stood by waiting for the chance to meet and continue the partnership…. as prescribed by law,” but have yet to hear from the Interior secretary.

“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, a Democrat and former Alaska governor, told reporters at The Washington Post. Their decision to bow out of the board could present problems for the agency – Zinke cannot establish new historical and natural landmarks without the board’s approval.

The signatories, who serve as unpaid volunteers, had terms set to expire in May. Swift called their claims an outrageous “political stunt,” especially considering their unwillingness to see reappointment. “Their hollow and dishonest political stunt should be a clear indicator of the intention of this group,” she said, adding that the DOI worked with the board as early as Jan. 8 to renew their charter.

Zinke disbanded the Wildlife and Hunting Heritage Conservation Council and the Advisory Committee on Climate Change and Natural Resource Science earlier this year, and replaced the former with the Hunting and Shooting Sports Conservation Council. Democrats have criticized the Montana Republican in the past for not taking the advisory board seriously.

Washington Sen. Maria Cantwell, a Democrat who sits on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, questioned Zinke’s reticence to nominate a director.

“I call on Secretary Zinke to personally reach out to each member of the National Park Service Advisory Board and tell them their counsel is valued and that this administration respects local voices,” Cantwell said in a statement late Tuesday.

Zinke, meanwhile, has etched out plans of his own for the NPS. He announced a policy early last year designed to combat the “widespread and pervasive culture of harassment and discrimination” at the NPS.

Zinke and NPS acting director Mike Reynolds held an all-staff meeting in October 2017 at Grand Canyon National Park where they unveiled a series of policies aimed at preventing and rooting out sexual harassment.

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