Statement from U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke upon conclusion of his meeting with California Governor Jerry Brown:
"I had the opportunity to meet this morning with California Governor Jerry Brown to discuss public lands, water infrastructure, and projects throughout California that are managed by the U.S. Department of the Interior. I appreciated the positive and productive conversation with the governor.
"As Secretary, I am committed to ongoing conversations with state and local leaders particularly in areas surrounding federally-managed parks, refuges, water infrastructure, and other holdings. We spend more than a third of our Bureau of Reclamation budget in the state and close coordination is essential to ensure reliable water supplies to communities, farmers and businesses.
"I shared my intent to work with the Governor to help prevent and reduce risks that wildland fires can pose to homeowners, watersheds, and businesses in California communities. This includes strong management of federal land holdings. We also discussed ensuring a first-rate experience for the more than 40 million visitors expected to visit national parks in the state this year.
"With more than 23 million acres of federally managed land in the state and Bureau of Reclamation projects that supply water and electricity to cities, farmers and businesses, it is clear that we will be talking often."
Background
The Department of the Interior manages 23 million acres of federal land in California, including 28 national parks units and 39 national wildlife refuges. National Park lands in the state hosted 42 million visitors in 2016.
The Bureau of Reclamation’s Central Valley Project supplies water to 3 million acres of farmland (a third of all farmland in the state), drinking water to more than 2.5 million people, and electricity to meet the needs of 416,000 customers.
Source: Department of Interior
