Photo: AP
Like most of Trump’s cabinet, Secretary of Interior Ryan Zinke is uniquely unqualified for his job. He doesn’t really give a shit about conserving federal lands — his primary mission. And today he demonstrated his own weird internal logic by installing Big Buck Hunter, an arcade game where you’re given plastic shotguns to blast computer-generated animals, in the employee lunchroom as a touching tribute to hunting.
Since joining the Trump administration, Zinke has demonstrated nothing but contempt for the environment. His first action as secretary was to rescind a ban on lead ammunition and fishing tackle that was designed to prevent lead contamination in plants and animals. Having settled into the office, however, Zinke is now crafting more ambitious plans. Yesterday, the Washington Post leaked a draft memo by Zinke that outlines coming changes to 10 national monuments. He plans to dramatically shrink the boundaries of four of the monuments and make it easier for corporations to lease land for mining, drilling, and chopping.
“These are lands and waters that belong to all of us, and we’ve entrusted them to both President Trump and Secretary Zinke to act as stewards for us,” Sharon Buccino, director of the land and wildlife program at the National Resource Defence Council, told Salon. She added, “the priority that this administration has placed on them is to be used for the profit of a few.”
In a gesture that perfectly encapsulates this useless man and his half-assed approach to conservation, Zinke unveiled a worn-out edition of the bar room classic Big Buck Hunter for his employees on Yuesday, framing it as highlighting “#sportsmen contributions 2 conservation.”
To highlight #sportsmen contributions 2 conservation I installed Big Buck Hunter in the employee cafeteria. Get excited for #hunting season! pic.twitter.com/gLxpAqEzpm
— Secretary Ryan Zinke (@SecretaryZinke) September 19, 2017
At the very least, Zinke is leading by example. He’s encouraging his employees to fake being hunters as they implement his fake contributions to conservation.
[Twitter]