WASHINGTON -- The National Park Service has several problems with National Rifle Association-backed legislation that would restrict the agency from regulating hunting and fishing within park boundaries. But according to a leaked memo, President Donald Trump's administration has prevented the agency from voicing such concerns.
National Park Service acting Director Michael Reynolds prepared a June 30 memo detailing his agency's objections to the draft legislation, the Sportsmen's Heritage and Recreational Enhancement Act.
Under the bill, the National Park Service would be prevented from regulating the hunting of bears and wolves in Alaska wildlife preserves, including the practice of killing bear cubs in their dens. It also would be prevented from regulating commercial and recreational fishing within park boundaries and from commenting on development projects outside park boundaries that could affect the parks.
Reynolds objected to these and other parts of the bill in a memo sent to the U.S. Interior Department's legislative counsel. The Park Service later received a response from the Interior Department, with sections of Reynolds' concerns crossed out, next to the initials "C.H."
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Agency officials were told that they could not repeat their concerns to Congress, according to Jeff Ruch, executive director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, who obtained the memo and provided a copy to McClatchy.
"It appears the national parks are no longer allowed to give Congress their honest views about the impacts of pending legislation," said Ruch, whose organization serves as a support network for environmental agency employees and whistleblowers.
Heather Swift, an Interior Department spokesman, rejected that claim. In an email, she said: "At no point did the Department tell the NPS not to communicate with Congress. In fact, the document in question is not even addressed to Congress. The document was an early internal draft meant to express the Department's position on a legislative proposal."
Ruch said it was his understanding that the "C.H." stands for Casey Hammond -- an Interior Department political appointee and former House Natural Resources Committee employee -- but that could not be verified.
The June memo is not the first instance in which the Trump administration's interactions with the Park Service have raised concerns.
The day after he was sworn in, Trump reportedly called Reynolds and urged him to release additional aerial photographs of the inauguration, to counter imagery suggesting that crowds were sparse. More recently, the Trump administration overturned a National Park Service policy that allowed 20 parks to ban sales of plastic water bottles to reduce litter.
It is not unusual for an administration to muzzle the Park Service when it is concerned about certain legislation, said Kristen Brengel, vice president for government affairs at the National Parks Conservation Association.
"This is an issue with every administration, including the [Barack] Obama administration," she said, noting that both the Interior Department and the Office of Management and Budget often reject proposed agency comments.
In this case, the Trump administration is adopting a stance similar to that of the NRA and sporting groups that have close ties to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and Trump himself.
"Expanding access to national parks and public lands for hunting, fishing and recreation is and remains a top priority of this administration," Swift said.
A Section on 08/24/2017