"The National Park Service (NPS) plans to pay the salaries of full-time staff from the money it collects from entrance fees, a move that is likely to enrage Democratic lawmakers who chastised the agency for dipping into the coffers to keep parks open during this year's partial government shutdown."
"The Department of the Interior will be able to treat members of Congress and the executive branch to free concert tickets under new rules released Tuesday."
SEJ joined with several dozen other journalism groups to support the right to film police activity in a public place, and bills to block information of importance to environmental reporters failed in Louisiana, California and Iowa, but a Colorado paper was blocked from covering a wild horse roundup. All that in this month’s WatchDog Tipsheet.
"Three Senate Democrats are requesting an investigation into a former lobbyist, now an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) employee, who met with her former boss as well as members of the trade group she once worked for."
"The Environmental Protection Agency should consider recovering nearly $124,000 in improper travel expenses by former EPA chief Scott Pruitt, the agency’s inspector general recommended Thursday."
"House Democrats this afternoon proposed to increase spending for the Interior Department while rejecting some of the administration's key plans."
The leasing of public lands to drill for oil and gas may seem a labyrinthine topic. But it could be time to get wonky and, ahem, drill down on it, as the politics of 2020 bring the controversial practice to the fore. The latest Backgrounder helps get you up to speed on the story.
Happen to have any air breathers in your audience? Then the latest State of the Air Report will give you fodder to cover the persistent pollution problems that plague the skies. This week’s TipSheet has the backstory on the fight against air pollution and five smart ways to tell the story from a local-regional context.
"Democrats blasted Daniel Jorjani, the nominee to serve as the Interior Department’s top lawyer, during a confirmation hearing Thursday for his 2017 email telling agency colleagues that “our job is to protect the Secretary” from ethics probes and bad press."
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