"Ignoring the concerns of the Interior Department's inspector general, top agency officials are going to keep their access to free concert tickets under a new contract with the Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts in Vienna, Va.

For more than four decades, bosses at the Interior Department have enjoyed a special perk: free tickets to all performances at Wolf Trap.

But the practice caught the eye of the agency's Office of Inspector General last September, when a report said the free tickets raised "ethical concerns" and should be reviewed. At the time, then-Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke had received tickets for eight box seats for each performance, valued at more than $43,000 a year."

Rob Hotakainen reports for Greenwire May 3, 2019. [2]