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Interior Department official assails advisory board members who resigned in protest

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Members of a panel that advises the agency on national parks stepped down after they were unable to meet with Secretary Ryan Zinke.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A U. S. Interior Department official on Wednesday criticized the resignation of most members of a board that advises it on national parks, suggesting that the move was politically motivated and their work was flawed.
Todd Willens, associate deputy secretary of the department, brought up investigations that uncovered sexual harassment at national parks such as the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone and an internal investigative report of a guidebook written by former National Park Service leader Jonathan Jarvis.
“We welcome their resignations and would expect nothing less than quitting from members who found it convenient to turn a blind eye to women being sexually harassed at national parks and praise a man as ‘inspiring’ who had been blasted by the inspector general for ethics and management failures,” Willens said.
Nine members of the 12-member National Park System Advisory Board, including chairman Tony Knowles, a Democratic former Alaska governor, resigned Monday in a letter to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, saying their requests to meet were ignored.
The Washington Post said a 10th stepped down Wednesday, the latest hit to panels that advise the Trump administration.
The congressionally authorized advisory board must meet twice per year by law but has not been called into session by the Interior Department since President Trump took office.
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