Interior Department Promotes Conservation With Big Buck Hunter

Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke installed “Big Buck Hunter Pro” in the Department of the Interior's cafeteria Tuesday as part of an attempt to promote hunting and fishing.

"Big Buck Hunter" is an arcade game with plastic guns that simulates hunting deer and other animals.

“To highlight #sportsmen contributions 2 conservation I installed Big Buck Hunter in the employee cafeteria. Get excited for #hunting season!” said Zinke in a tweet.

The Interior Department also released a statement about the game.

“Today, on the heels of a groundbreaking directive to expand hunting access on public lands, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke announced his latest initiative to reemphasize hunting and fishing at the Department with a new temporary addition to the employee cafeteria: the arcade game ‘Big Buck Hunter Pro’” the agency said in a statement.

Last week Zinke signed an order that would allow more hunting and fishing on federal lands managed by the Interior Department. The order also asks for agencies that manage federal lands to create a report on how best to streamline allowing more hunting and fishing on federal lands.

The order also increases educational outreach about hunting and fishing for “underserved” communities such as minorities and veterans.

“[This] order is the latest example of how the Trump administration is actively moving to support hunting and other forms of outdoor recreation on public lands,” said Zinke in a statement. “Hunting and fishing is a cornerstone of the American tradition and hunters and fishers of America are the backbone of land and wildlife conservation.”

The Wall Street Journal also uncovered a report last week in which Zinke recommended reducing the size several national monuments which are nature preserves protected by the federal government. Zinke also recommended opening up hundreds of thousands of square miles of protected ocean to commercial fishing.​