Anchorage, Alaska • Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke is calling for states to be primary managers of wildlife and fish on federal lands within his department unless federal law specifically supersedes state policies
Zinke in a memo Monday said that has been Interior Department policy for 35 years. He instructed offices to prepare a review of federal regulations if they're more restrictive than state provisions.
The memo was condemned by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, a nonprofit group that advocates for the environment and protects federal whistleblowers.
Executive director Jeff Ruch (ruk) says the order would allow policies such as the killing of predators to enhance game populations.
He says federal parks, preserves and refuges have a mission to protect biodiversity and should not be reduced to game farms.