ICYMI: Save Our Parks Exposes Unqualified Former Investment Banker Ruining Our National Parks
Jayson O’Neill in SFGATE: “Without an official Secretarial Order by Burgum, all actions taken by Lilly in his current role would be illegal”
HELENA, MT – New explosive reporting from SFGATE has revealed that a former investment banker with “scant background in conservation or land management” is now secretly running America’s National Park Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, acting illegally without proper authorization from Interior Secretary Doug Burgum.
The Trump administration has quietly installed Kevin Lilly, a wealthy executive whose professional experience primarily consists of working for Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, to oversee the nation’s most treasured natural resources and wildlife protection programs. This appointment represents a dangerous pattern of placing unqualified political loyalists in critical positions that require deep expertise in conservation science, environmental protection, and public land management. The secrecy surrounding Lilly’s appointment, potentially others, and the questions about its legality underscore the administration’s broader assault on the federal agencies responsible for protecting America’s natural heritage.
Trump’s billionaire Interior Secretary Doug Burgum’s last Secretarial Order on personnel was issued on June 5th.
Read more below:
SFGATE: Trump admin quietly appoints national parks head with no experience
Lilly, a wealth manager and Army veteran from Houston, is the acting assistant secretary for fish, wildlife and parks for the Department of the Interior. That means Lilly is now in charge of the National Park Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, despite a scant background in conservation or land management.
Lilly’s “acting” title means that under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, his job is a temporary appointment, as he has not been formally nominated by President Trump or confirmed by the Senate. The act governs approximately 1,300 federal offices that can be temporarily filled without a Senate vote.
The Department of the Interior initially declined to confirm Lilly worked for the agency at all. “We don’t have comment on personnel,” spokesperson Elizabeth Peace wrote in an email to SFGATE on July 17. An Arizona radio station mentioned Lilly’s title in a news story about wildfires on July 19; Peace later confirmed Lilly’s title with SFGATE on July 28.
The role is responsible for programs that use, manage and conserve natural resources, including fish, wildlife, recreation and the national park system. Lilly is also expected to identify policy needs and initiate legislation.
Lilly’s professional background has primarily been in the financial services and investment banking industries, according to his board of trustees webpage for Southwestern University. He worked for Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs before founding Avalon Advisors in 2001, the “largest privately owned wealth management firm in Texas,” according to the university.
The previous assistant secretary for fish, wildlife and parks during the Biden administration was Shannon Estenoz, the former chief operating officer of the Everglades Foundation. She came to the position with 24 years of experience working on conservation topics. A news release at the time said her priorities were “to strengthen local economies, tackle the climate crisis, ensure equitable access to the outdoors, and protect and conserve public lands and wildlife.”
Park service and public land advocates said they are concerned about the lack of transparency around Lilly’s position, and at least some advocates are claiming that Lilly’s work may not be legal. “Without an official Secretarial Order by Burgum, all actions taken by Lilly in his current role would be illegal,” said Jayson O’Neill, a spokesperson for Save Our Parks, a recently launched campaign to expose threats to national parks and other public lands.
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