In 2017, the Department of the Interior announced a new initiative to “reemphasize hunting and fishing” at the DOI: “Secretary’s Shotgun Showdown,” a video game tournament in which employees would take on then-Secretary Ryan Zinke in a game of “Big Buck Hunter Pro” for the chance to win “bragging rights” and a “Beverage on the Balcony.” Just days before the game was dropped off, key details had yet to be finalized.

MuckRock asked Russ Kick, the investigative archivist behind the Memory Hole and AltGov, to offer his thoughts on the Department of the Interior’s proposed changes to how it would handle FOIA requests - and what we can do to push back against it.

Buzzfeed and Pacific Standard Magazine report on questionable meetings by the state of Missouri to acquire lethal injection drugs and industry groups influencing government officials regarding a bird species in peril. Plus, a tool often used in the movies for keeping people quiet can also serve as a method of redaction!

According to records obtained by the Washington Post, the Bureau of Land Management is recommending new legislation that would limit the number of FOIA requests individuals and agencies could file with the agency, create stricter criteria for fee waivers, and increase fees for “search and redaction.”