At a hearing of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Senator John Hoeven urged Interior Secretary nominee Congressman Ryan Zinke (R-Mont.) to help advance a range of priorities for North Dakota and the nation, including:
- Providing more Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) law enforcement officers to work with state and local law enforcement to address the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) protest.
- Ensuring a balanced approach to multiple use on federal lands, including grazing, energy development, recreation and conservation.
- Preventing a one-size-fits-all approach to energy development on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands.
“I encouraged Congressman Zinke to take a balanced approach to managing our national parks and public lands, ensuring multiple uses like grazing, energy development and recreation,” Hoeven said. “We also urged him to provide more federal law enforcement help with the DAPL protests, which he committed to do. That means ensuring BIA law enforcement works with local and state law enforcement to help keep people safe and make sure the rule of law is followed.”
Hoeven said that our state and local law enforcement have worked very hard to keep people safe and ensure the rule of law is followed, but they really need federal support to resolve this situation. Congressman Zinke will be in a position to provide BIA assistance to our law enforcement.
Congressman Zinke currently represents Montana at large in the House of Representative and serves on the House Committee on Natural Resources.
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