Coburn Suggest Interior Dept. To Stop Counting Sheep, Keep Parks Open
Coburn: Interior Dept. should stop counting sheep and keep parks open
Michal Conger
Commentary Staff Writer
The Washington Examiner
Interior Department officials dealing with sequestration could keep national parks open if they’d stop counting sheep and buying hybrid autos, Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., told Interior Secretary Sally Jewell in a letter Tuesday.
A video on the department’s YouTube channel last month warned that sequestration would shorten park hours, close hiking trails and campgrounds and reduce the season of some parks. The U.S. Geological Survey also warned it would be forced to shut down hundreds of flood warning gauges across the country.
Meanwhile, Interior plans to keep spending on low-priority programs that could be cut to spare parks from sequestration, Coburn said.
One program he singled out uses military drones to study pygmy rabbits in Idaho, observe elk in Washington and count sheep in Nevada.