U.S. Senate Confirms David Bernhardt as Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior
Upcoming Events
Related News
Key Takeaways
On April 11, the U.S. Senate voted 56-41 to confirm David Bernhardt as Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI). Prior to his confirmation, Sec. Bernhardt served as Deputy Secretary of the Interior under Secretary Ryan Zinke, becoming Acting Secretary in January 2019 after Sec. Zinke resigned. Secretary Bernhardt also served at DOI during the George W. Bush Administration from 2000-2009, including as the department’s solicitor.
As Secretary, Bernhardt will play a leading role in overseeing the roughly 500 million acres of public land under DOI’s jurisdiction. Nearly 62% of America’s counties contain federal public lands, and we rely on a strong partnership with federal land managers to ensure that our public lands counties remain strong, stable and economically vibrant.
Counties look forward to working with Secretary Bernhardt and DOI to address the priorities of America’s public lands counties and ensure that counties have a seat at the table throughout DOI’s decision making process.
Attachments
Related News
U.S. Forest Service seeks comment on proposal to rescind 2001 Roadless Rule in National Forests
On August 20, the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) published a notice of proposed rulemaking to rescind the 2001 Roadless Rule. The rule prohibits road construction, reconstruction and most timber management on almost 45 million acres of National Forest land, and its repeal would give federal forest managers significant flexibility to manage forests in accordance with local need.
Senate Agriculture Committee passes Farm Bill
On September 16, the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee held a markup of the Agricultural Act of 2026, the Senate's version of the 2026 Farm Bill.
