“This is a war on transparency,” said Jeremy Nichols, the climate and energy program director at WildEarth Guardians, an environmental group that regularly files Foia requests and which first flagged the interior department’s proposal. Facebook Twitter Pinterest The interior department oversees hundreds of millions of acres of public land, including national parks. Photograph: Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty ImagesThe changes are part of a broader drive to limit public access to interior department records. In October, the Guardian reported on a leaked interior department guidance that directed US Fish and Wildlife Service employees around the country to take a less transparent approach when responding to Foia requests about the agency’s endangered species programs. The public has until 28 January to comment on the proposed revisions.

Source: The Guardian December 29, 2018 07:52 UTC