Senate lawmakers bristled on Tuesday at the Trump administration’s opposition to numerous bills focused on public lands, including an expansion of the National Park Service and restoring an Indigenous name to Alaska’s tallest peak.
A hearing before the Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on National Parks — led by Chair Steve Daines (R-Mont.) and ranking member Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) — doesn’t bode well for the future of several measures.
Full committee Chair Mike Lee (R-Utah) has said he wants to follow “regular order” when weighing legislation. But many of the bills considered at hearings last week and Tuesday have little chance of becoming law.
Mike Caldwell, NPS associate director for park planning, facilities and lands, said the administration opposed several bills to create new national park unites because of cost.
