Nearly all members of the National Park Service Advisory Board have resigned in protest after they said Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has repeatedly failed to meet with them.
Nine out of the 12 members of the board, which is responsible for advising the director of the National Park Service and the Secretary of the Interior on matters related to the preservation of natural and cultural resources, resigned Monday night, according to the Washington Post.
Board member and former Alaska governor Tony Knowles wrote in a resignation letter, published by the Post, that he’s worried Zinke and the Department of Interior have neglected the park’s mission of “stewardship, protection and advancement of our National Parks.”
Zinke, who took office in March, has repeatedly refused to meet with the board, according to Knowles, which is required to convene twice a year.
“The matters on which we wanted to brief the new Department team are clearly not part of its agenda,” Knowles continues in the letter.
Even without the resignations, Zinke would have had to select new board members this year as all but one of the 12 members’ terms were set to expire in May. The president has not yet nominated a director of the National Park Service.
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