Much to the chagrin of radical environmentalists and legacy media, President Donald Trump’s Department of Interior (DOI) largely succeeded in promoting true conservation policies.
Since 2017, the department gave sportsmen and women— the largest drivers of conservation funding— a bigger seat at the table, bolstered relations with landowners out West and strengthened the multiple-use, sustained yield philosophy guiding public lands management.
Post-Trump, DOI could morph into a preservationist, climate-focused agency largely mirroring the House Natural Resources Committee under Chairman Raul Grijalva (D-AZ). This should concern the millions of true conservationists across America.
Who will succeed Secretary David Bernhardt come January, and how will they transform DOI?
Here are four possible contenders.