U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke disclosed Friday in an Associated Press interview that he's revamping a sweeping overhaul of his department that's supposed to speed up permitting for development on public lands, but Democrats asserted it was just a ploy to let the energy industry get its way. The changes follow complaints from a bipartisan group of Western state governors that Zinke did not consult them before unveiling a plan last month to decentralize the Interior Department.

U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke revamped a plan for a sweeping overhaul of his department Friday with a new organizational map that more closely follows state lines instead of the natural boundaries he initially proposed. The changes follow complaints from a bipartisan group of Western state governors that Zinke did not consult them before unveiling his original plan last month.

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke is pressing ahead with a massive overhaul of his department, despite growing opposition to his proposal to move hundreds of public employees out of Washington and create a new organizational map that largely ignores state boundaries. Zinke wants to divide most of the department's 70,000 employees and their responsibilities into 13 regions based on rivers and ecosystems, instead of the current map based mostly on state lines.

Members of the House and Senate Agriculture Committees are starting to shape the 2018 farm bill - a comprehensive food and agriculture bill passed about every five years. Most observers associate the farm bill with food policy, but its conservation section is the single largest source of funding for soil, water and wildlife conservation on private land in the United States.

DENVER>> From its headquarters in Washington, D.C., the U.S. Bureau of Land Management oversees some of the nation's most prized natural resources: vast expanses of public lands rich in oil, gas, coal, grazing for livestock, habitat for wildlife, hunting ranges, fishing streams and hiking trails. DENVER>> From its headquarters in Washington, D.C., the U.S. Bureau of Land Management oversees some of the nation's most prized natural resources: vast expanses of public lands rich in oil, gas, coal, grazing for livestock, habitat for wildlife, hunting ranges, fishing streams and hiking trails.

From its headquarters in Washington, D.C., the U.S. Bureau of Land Management oversees some of the nation's most prized natural resources: vast expanses of public lands rich in oil, gas, coal, grazing for livestock, habitat for wildlife, hunting ranges, fishing streams and hiking trails. But more than 99 percent of that land is in 12 Western states, hundreds of miles from the nation's capital.

The Nature Conservancy of Canada says it is expanding a wetland conservation area in southern Quebec that is home to several bird and wildlife species. The conservation group says it's adding 25 hectares to its 305-hectare preserve on Ile de Grace, about 95 km northeast of Montreal.

President Donald Trump's repeated clapping throughout his first State of the Union drew reactions from amusement to derision on social media. Massachusetts gambling regulators are holding a special meeting to discuss sexual misconduct allegations against casino magnate Steve Wynn, whose company is building a $2.4 billion casino outside Boston.

A plan by the conservation and hunting organization Ducks Unlimited to purchase three parcels of land with the intent of donating them to the Minnesota Department of Resources is expected to bring in more revenue to Lincoln County, according to a report delivered to the board of commissioners. Ducks Unlimited biologist Kassy Hendricks and Minnesota Conservation Manager Jon Schneider gave their report at the Jan. 15 board meeting.

PRATT, Kan. - - At the Jan. 11 Kansas Wildlife, Parks and Tourism Commission meeting in Milford, seven lucky conservation organizations drew Commissioner Big Game Permits as part of a unique program that raises funding for conservation.

Alaska's senior senator, Lisa Murkowski, has accomplished one goal that no other Alaskan senator, despite incredible efforts, ever achieved. Not the longest serving Alaskan senator, the legendary "Uncle Ted" Stevens; not her own father, Frank, during his time in the Senate; not the egotistical and shameless Democrat, Mike Gravel; nor Alaska's junior senator, Dan Sullivan; nor Alaska's only other Democratic senator, Mark Begich.

With the number of endangered Puget Sound orcas at a 30-year low, state lawmakers want to protect the fish-eating killer whales that spend time in the inland waters of the Salish Sea. The measures range from boosting hatchery salmon production to increasing marine patrols so that boats keep their distance from the whales.

DOVER, Del.- As the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management held a public meeting on proposed offshore drilling, environmentalists from across Delaware held a press conference next door. "It would be devastating if there were an oil spill," says MERR Institute Executive Director Suzanne Thurman.

An iconic reminder of the Great Lakes' rich natural heritage, the 68-acre Bay Point property along the Lake Erie shore has been acquired by the nonprofit Western Reserve Land Conservancy. Known locally as the "Sandbar," the Ottawa County property consists of a narrow peninsula that extends south from the Marblehead Peninsula into Sandusky Bay.

This is the second quarry permit application that the company, a subsidiary of Chicago-based Continental Materials, has filed for the property. The first was denied by the MLRB, despite staff recommendations for approval.

Sen. Dan Sullivan speaks to constituents after addressing the members of three Kenai- and Soldotna-area Rotary Clubs at Froso's Restaurant on Monday in Soldotna. Sullivan, entering his third year as U.S. Senator for the state, said he found reasons to be optimistic about federal actions regarding the state in 2018.

Gov.-elect Phil Murphy's plan to halt the bear hunt could double the bear population by 2022, according to a report from state wildlife officials. A status report on the state's 2015 bear management policy was finalized Jan. 4 and provided Thursday to NJ Advance Media, five days before Murphy will be sworn in as governor.

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