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Nominee for Interior Vows to Preserve, and Develop, Public Lands

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The nominee for secretary of the interior was asked in a Senate hearing whether he supported Donald J. Trump’s views on climate change.CreditCredit...Al Drago/The New York Times

WASHINGTON — Representative Ryan Zinke, Republican of Montana, pitched himself on Tuesday as a serious steward of federal resources in his confirmation hearing for interior secretary, frequently bucking conservative orthodoxy on ownership of public lands, federal funding for preservation and even, briefly, climate change.

But Mr. Zinke also emphasized his support for drilling, mining and logging on federal lands, activities strongly opposed by many environmental groups.

In wide-ranging testimony before a Senate panel that lasted nearly four hours, Mr. Zinke, a former member of the Navy SEALs who just finished his first term in the House, tried to balance the importance of preservation with use of the nation’s public lands and waters.

He expressed admiration for Gifford Pinchot, the first United States Forest Service chief, who advocated planned use and renewal. Mr. Zinke also said he supported energy development on federal lands. Recreational activities and mining, for instance, are not mutually exclusive, he said.

“It doesn’t have to be in conflict,” he said.

Mr. Zinke broke with President-elect Donald J. Trump and even his own past statements on climate change, disagreeing with Mr. Trump’s assertion at one point that it is “a hoax.” Having once said that climate change was “not proven science,” Mr. Zinke said it was “indisputable” that the climate is changing and that humans are having an effect on it.

“I think where there’s debate is what that influence is, what we can do about it,” Mr. Zinke said. “I don’t believe it’s a hoax,” he added. He later appeared to try to temper his statement, emphasizing the need for “objective science.”

Democrats pressed Mr. Zinke, who grew up near Glacier National Park in Montana, about whether he would shield federal lands from being sold, one of their primary concerns.

“With a new administration, are these public lands going to face an unbelievable attack by those who would like to take these public lands away from us and turn them over back to states?” asked Senator Maria Cantwell of Washington, the panel’s top Democrat. “Or are we going to continue to manage these resources for the incredible investment that they are and continue to improve them, so we get even more economic return?”

Mr. Zinke was unequivocal: “I am absolutely against transfer and sale of public lands. I can’t be more clear.”

Asked about his vote on a House rule that would make it easier for the government to cede control of federal lands, he acknowledged that he would not vote for it again.

“That’s a great answer,” said Senator Martin Heinrich, Democrat of New Mexico.

Mr. Zinke said one of his priorities as interior secretary would be to address an estimated $12.5 billion backlog of maintenance and repairs in the national parks system. He also stated his support for fully funding the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which takes money from offshore oil and gas leasing to protect federal natural resources.

In one of his few references to the president-elect, Mr. Zinke said Mr. Trump supported moving toward energy independence. He described his own approach as “all of the above,” explicitly mentioning solar and wind power, as well as fossil fuels.

Republicans expressed their own concerns — about the need for a break from what they saw as an era of over-regulation under the Obama administration. In her opening statement, Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, the panel’s chairwoman, called her state “the poster child” among the many that suffered under the current Department of the Interior.

“For eight years, it seemed that this administration has taken the approach that Alaska has to be protected from Alaskans,” she said, “and they acted accordingly.”

Senators praised Mr. Zinke’s 23-year career in the Navy SEALs as an asset, with Senator Jon Tester, Democrat of Montana, calling him a “well equipped” candidate.

But Mr. Zinke’s time in the military was not without controversy. While serving as a midlevel SEAL Team 6 officer in the 1990s, Mr. Zinke improperly sought government reimbursement for travel to his home, a decision that resulted in some of his superiors’ questioning his judgment and apparently prevented him from being entrusted with a senior post, a New York Times investigation showed.

His military background was referenced in a testy exchange with Senator Tammy Duckworth, Democrat of Illinois and a fellow veteran. She pointed to the fact that Mr. Zinke embraced Mr. Trump’s defense of his 2005 statements about sexually assaulting women, caught on a hot mike, as “locker-room talk” and questioned whether he was equipped to handle the problem of sexual harassment and assault, also a problem in the military, in the agency he seeks to lead.

Mr. Zinke, who served with Ms. Duckworth in the House until recently, said he would have a “zero tolerance” approach to sexual harassment, which he said was “killing morale” at the agency.

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A version of this article appears in print on  , Section A, Page 15 of the New York edition with the headline: Vowing to Preserve, and Develop, Federal Lands. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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