U.S. Department of the Interior
agency
The U.S. Department of the Interior is the federal department responsible for managing and conserving the nation's natural resources, including national parks, public lands, and mineral resources. It oversees agencies including the National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, and Bureau of Indian Affairs. Under Secretary Doug Burgum, the department pursued expanded energy production on public lands and became a focal point of disputes over park access and staffing reductions.
Entries involving this actor (3)
2026
Interior Secretary Burgum unveils a Tom Fazio redesign of D.C.'s East Potomac Golf Links
On May 14, 2026, U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum publicly unveiled, via his official @SecretaryBurgum account, a Tom Fazio design for the federally led renovation of East Potomac Golf Links, a century-old District of Columbia municipal course. Fazio Golf Design is the firm of architect Tom Fazio, who designed President Donald Trump's Trump National Golf Club Bedminster and has worked on multiple other Trump courses; Trump and Burgum will jointly oversee the East Potomac redesign. The arrangement follows the December 2025 termination by the Trump administration of the National Links Trust's 50-year lease covering East Potomac, Langston, and Rock Creek and a May 2026 National Park Service deal placing the East Potomac renovation under an NPS-led group of public and private partners rather than the NLT.
Interior/NPS database flags hundreds of park signs on slavery, civil rights, climate for removal
An internal Department of the Interior and National Park Service database, authenticated by The Washington Post with current federal employees, flags several hundred signs, exhibits, films, and books across national park sites for removal or revision under President Trump's order to scrub "partisan ideology" and content that "disparages" Americans. Flagged materials include exhibits on slavery, the civil rights movement, Japanese-American internment, racial violence, and climate science — among them at least 30 signs at Harpers Ferry National Historical Park. Some materials had already been removed when the database was reported on March 2, 2026, while the department said final decisions on others had not been made.
2025
Interior Department issued memo barring all bureaus from confirming deaths or injuries on public lands
In December 2025, the Department of the Interior issued an internal memo directing all bureaus and offices — including the National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service — not to confirm deaths, serious injuries, or "emotionally sensitive incidents" on federal public lands. The memo, obtained by The Washington Post and reported June 24, 2026, states "Interior shall not confirm a death" and routes all fatality information through the department's Office of Communications. Former NPS officials said the change reversed longstanding practice of quickly informing the public about fatal incidents to prevent further harm.