House Committee on Natural Resources Chairman Rob Bishop (R-UT) issued the following statement in reaction to the appointment of Representative Ryan Zinke (R-MT) to head the Department of the Interior.  

“Selfishly, I’m not crazy about this nomination, because Zinke was a bright freshman member of our committee. This will be a loss for us. I was looking forward to working with him on Resources and in the Western Caucus. However, this appointment gives us greater opportunity to help people and solve problems that face the West.

“In our committee, he dealt with many issues including transmission rights-of-way to move power from its production source to where the people are. He experienced firsthand the frustrations associated with an administration that didn’t put its priorities on helping people and effective land management.  

“He also understands our frustrations with Interior’s arbitrary rules and regulations that put dogma ahead of helping people. He clearly understands Speaker Ryan’s Article I initiative. I am excited to have an administration that will now partner with Congress to solve problems created by years of mismanagement at Interior. I look forward to working with Zinke to create new solutions.”