They are stewards of our national environmental treasures. The National Parks Advisory Board is charged with designating historic and national landmarks. Or they were. Nine of the 12 board members resigned this week, which is most likely what Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke wanted anyway. Donald Trump’s administration seems more interested in shrinking existing landmarks, such as those in Utah, rather than finding new ones.
Besides designation landmarks, The National Parks Advisory Board, established in 1935, is imperative to managing, protecting, and advancing the nation’s parks.
Tony Knowles, the former Governor of Alaska and seven-year board member, penned the resignation letter that was signed by eight other members. Carolyn Hessler Radelet, chief executive of Project Concern International, submitted a separate resignation letter. The two remaining members include Harvard University public finance professor Linda Bilmes and University of Maryland marine science professor Rita Colwell.
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According to NPR, the nine members cited Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke’s refusal to meet with them as the final push that lead to this mass resignation. “For the last year, we have stood by waiting for the chance to meet and continue the partnership between the NPSAB and the DOI as prescribed by law,” Knowles wrote. “We understand the complexity of transition, but our requests to engage have been ignored and the matters on which we wanted to brief the new department team are clearly not part of its agenda.”
If you want to read the full resignation letter you can find it here.
Over a year into his term, President Trump has not nominated a director to lead the National Park Service. The advisory board, although required to meet twice a year, has not convened since Trump’s inauguration.