Department of Interior

Watchdogs open a second ethics probe of top Interior Department officials

By Ellen Knickmeyer, Associated Press

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke (C) talks to National Park Service Rangers, while traveling for his National Monuments Review process in Boston last year. Photo by Brian Snyder/Reuters

Outgoing Interior secretary Ryan Zinke defends legacy as he leaves

As former U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke exits Washington amid a cloud of unresolved investigations and criticism of his actions favoring industry, he told The Associated Press that the myriad allegations against him will be proven untrue.

By Matthew Brown, Associated Press

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke speaks at the Interior Department in Washington, D.C., in April 2017. Photo by Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

Zinke unveils new plan for decentralizing Interior Department

The changes follow complaints from a bipartisan group of Western state governors that Zinke did not consult them before unveiling his original plan last month.

By Matthew Brown and Dan Elliot, Associated Press

Trump administration proposes a vast expansion of offshore drilling

The Trump administration on Thursday moved to expand offshore drilling from the Atlantic to the Arctic oceans with a plan that would open up federal waters off the California coast for the first time in more than three decades.

By Matthew Daly, Associated Press

U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management trail marker is shown along the Arch Canyon trail in Bears Ears National Monument, New Mexico, U.S., October 27, 2017. REUTERS/Andrew Cullen

Interior Department says 1 in 3 employees report being harassed

The Bureau of Indian Affairs and National Park Service reported the most incidents.

By Associated Press

Democrat urges probe of Puerto Rico power contract to Zinke neighbor

By Matthew Daly, Associated Press

A Democratic congressman on Tuesday called for an investigation into a $300 million contract awarded to a small company based in Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke's hometown of Whitefish, Montana.

Interior Department calls for changes to national monuments but offers no details. Here’s how we got here

By Nsikan Akpan

Interior secretary Ryan Zinke called Thursday for a “handful” of changes to 27 national monuments that have been under review since this spring. The 120-day review, set in motion by an executive order from President Donald Trump, was due…

Interior Department scraps Obama-era rule on coal royalties

By Matthew Daly, Associated Press

Repealing the rule "provides a clean slate to create workable valuation regulations," said Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, adding that the repeal will reduce costs that energy companies would otherwise pass on to consumers.

Interior to give states economic flexibility on sage grouse

By Matthew Daly, Associated Press

WASHINGTON — The Interior Department on Monday unveiled a plan to protect the threatened sage grouse that gives Western states where the bird lives flexibility for economic development. Miners, ranchers and some Western governors had argued Obama-era policies jeopardized logging…

Interior secretary tours Bears Ears, hotly contested monument in Utah

By Michelle L. Price and Brady McCombs, Associated Press

U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke took an aerial tour Monday of one of America's newest and most hotly contested monuments — one of 27 he's been ordered to review by President Donald Trump to determine if they were properly established.