- United States
- Idaho
- Letter
Doug Burgum must be impeached and removed from office. In less than two years, he has systematically dismantled the nation's environmental protections, slashed 3 million acres from Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante, and on September 14 directed the Fish and Wildlife Service to gut the Endangered Species Act so that corporations can legally wipe out protected species as long as the killing isn't "intentional." That is not governance. That is corruption in plain sight.
Burgum sold himself to the Senate as a Teddy Roosevelt conservationist and won confirmation 80 to 17. Instead, he handed out drilling permits at rates not seen since George W. Bush, eliminated the Intertribal Bears Ears Commission in a direct blow to tribal sovereignty, and funneled tens of millions from national park budgets into Trump vanity projects. Within one week of the new Bears Ears boundaries taking effect, 13 new mining claims had already been filed.
This is a pattern of betrayal, not policy disagreement. Burgum made explicit promises to protect national parks and monuments, then broke every one of them to serve corporate cronies and hold onto his job. That is exactly the kind of conduct impeachment exists to address. Start the process now.