Bob Strong / ReutersThe Interior Department’s internal watchdog issued a report Thursday concluding there is “no evidence” that former Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke gave retired Utah state Rep. Mike Noel preferential treatment when he redrew the boundary of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. The months-long investigation by the agency’s Office of Inspector General came at the request of Montana-based environmental group Western Values Project. Late last year, on Zinke’s recommendation, Trump cut the 1.87 million-acre Grand Staircase-Escalante, the largest land national monument in the country, roughly in half. In their seven-page report, investigators said they interviewed Zinke, Noel and several Interior Department officials directly involved in the administration’s review of Grand Staircase-Escalante. ASSOCIATED PRESS Former Utah state Rep. Mike Noel, a Republican, owned land within the original monument boundaries.

Source: Huffington Post February 01, 2019 02:26 UTC