Hi, I’m Secretary Ryan Zinke and I’d like to wish all of you a very Happy Thanksgiving. Throughout our nation’s history, Americans have taken this day to give thanks for the many blessings in their lives. The tradition of Thanksgiving is woven deeply into the fabric of our American heritage.



In 1789, President George Washington called on Americans to acknowledge, with grateful hearts, the opportunity to establish peace “a form of government for their safety and happiness,” and then he wrote the first Thanksgiving proclamation.



Today, we continue this tradition. We give thanks for our great military, and for the men and women overseas fighting everyday to protect our freedoms, making sure the safety and happiness are preserved in the spirit of George Washington.



We give thanks for the privilege of waking up every morning in the greatest country this world has ever known, the United States of America.



And we give thanks for our nation’s greatest treasures, our public lands, and for the shining example that America’s best conservationists, like Teddy Roosevelt, Gifford Pinchot, and John Wesley Powell, all set for us.



As the chief steward of our public lands, we owe each other nothing less than vigilance in the defense of the American conservation ethic.

I’m thankful for each and every one of you, the great public servants at the Department of the Interior. I couldn’t be prouder to be your Secretary. May God bless you and your families, and may God bless the United States of America. Happy Thanksgiving!