All of the falsehoods in Ryan Zinkes leaked national monuments report-at least 30 so far........

[riversedge]

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The Center for Western Priorities promotes responsible policies and practices to protect the West
Sep 26



All of the falsehoods in Ryan Zinke’s leaked national monuments report


https://medium.com/westwise/all-of-the-falsehoods-in-donald-trumps-secret-national-monuments-report-4f62904b9275
The Interior Secretary made at least 30 false and misleading claims to President Trump
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke wags his finger at a supporter of Bears Ears National Monument, May 8, 2017

In the week since the Washington Post published Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s secret final report on national monuments, a staggering number of falsehoods and misleading claims have come to light. The errors, taken in whole, suggest the entire report is nothing more than a pretext to open protected public lands and waters to extractive industries like coal, oil, timber, and industrial-scale fishing, with little attention paid to scientific accuracy.

Senator Martin Heinrich kicked off the fact-checking during an Environment and Natural Resources Hearing in which the Acting Deputy Operations Manager at the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) admitted his department was not asked to fact-check the report before Secretary Zinke submitted it to the president, despite the fact that most of the monuments in question are managed by BLM.

We now know that Zinke’s report is riddled with factual errors large and small, along with highly misleading claims which omit relevant facts that President Trump would need to know in order to make informed decisions about the future of America’s national monuments.

For example, Zinke’s recommendation for every land monument says:

“The proclamation should be amended, through the use of appropriate authority, including lawful exercise of the President’s discretion granted by the Act, to protect objects and prioritize … traditional use; tribal cultural use; and hunting and fishing rights.”

This recommendation, which Secretary Zinke copied and pasted seven times in his report, is both false and unnecessary. The Antiquities Act is a “one-way” statute; it only grants presidents the authority to protect or expand existing monuments. Legal scholars point out that presidents have no discretion to modify existing monuments — Congress reserved that power for itself. Furthermore, all of the monument proclamations Zinke reviewed already protect traditional uses and tribal cultural uses, as well as recreational hunting and fishing access.

Here are the most egregious errors the Center for Western Priorities has identified so far:



Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument, Oregon
Bureau of Land Management

CLAIM: “Motorized transportation was prohibited in the original CSNM designation.” (page 11)

VERDICT: False
Motorized transportation is allowed on roads within the monument by the original proclamation. Only off-road motorized transportation was restricted. There are hundreds of miles of roads within Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument.

CLAIM: “Due to poor maintenance, remaining usable roads in CSNM are unpassable and unsuitable for use.” (page 11)

VERDICT: False
Dave Willis, chairman of the Soda Mountain Wilderness Council told the Associated Press, “There are hundreds of roads inside this monument. I live on private land inside the monument. Do we walk or ride horses?”

CLAIM: “The proclamation should be amended…to protect objects and prioritize…hunting and fishing rights.” (page 11)

VERDICT: False
President Clinton’s monument proclamation specifically recognizes “the jurisdiction of the State of Oregon with respect to fish and wildlife management.” President Obama’s expansion proclamation does the same, while adding the state of California.
Gold Butte National Monument, Nevada
Bureau of Land Management

CLAIM: “The boundary should be revised…to protect historic water rights.” (page 12)

VERDICT: False


The monument proclamation says “the monument is subject to valid existing rights, including valid existing water rights,” and the general manager of the Virgin Valley Water District admits his agency has enough water rights to meet projections through or beyond the year 2080, including rights to springs located within the national monument.

CLAIM: ..............................

[Me.]

1. Lots Of Media Attention On Zinke This Week

From this, his using taxpayer money to hire jets from oil industries and a quite damning article about his thievery, outright lies and lack of morality by the man who was in charge of the seal team.

[SunSeeker]

2. Zinke is a lying piece of shit. That's why Trump hired him. nt

[roscoeroscoe]

3. Hire a liar

What a little servant of wealth.

[Hortensis]

4. Corrupt, willing to serve wealth. But he was chosen by the Kochs,

who presented him to a totally lost rump who knew basically nobody.