Forwarded by Jane Clark
I missed this announcement about Griles -------------------------------

Bush's statement comes on the heels of a White House announcement that
energy industry lobbyist J. Steven Griles will become the second in
command at the Department of Interior, with broad authority over national
parks, national monuments, wildlife refuges, and BLM lands. Griles, a
former Assistant Secretary of the Interior in the Reagan Administration,
was hailed by the oil, gas and coal industry, which ironically
characterized the appointment as "a breath of fresh air." Another
candidate, Conservation Fund President John Turner, had been widely
expected to gain the job.  But Interior Secretary Gale Norton pushed for
Griles, and a major campaign mounted by property rights advocates
succeeded in swaying the White House's decision.
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* WILD ALERT (from The Wilderness Society)
* Friday, March 16, 2001
****************************
If you had any doubts about what will happen to your public lands under
George Bush and Gale Norton, you only have to look at what they said in
the last week:
   1. GEORGE BUSH: "We'll be looking at all public lands" for oil and gas
development.
   2. GALE NORTON: Said she will consider rolling back protections for
National Monuments designated by the Clinton Administration.

Read all about it at http://www.wilderness.org/eyewash/bush0316.htm, where
you can send a message to the Administration that their policies to undo
protections of our public lands are just plain wrong.
***************************************************************
1. BUSH SAYS ALL PUBLIC LANDS COULD BE OPENED TO DEVELOPMENT
In an interview with several reporters this week, Pres. Bush made clear
that his administration will consider oil and gas drilling on "all public
lands."

"We're dismayed that Pres. Bush wants to turn the oil and gas industry
loose on virtually all the lands in our national forests, national
wildlife refuges, and other public systems," said Wilderness Society Bill
Meadows.  "We're beginning to wonder if James Watt is whispering in his
ear," he said, referring to the Reagan-era Interior Secretary who urged
drilling in Wilderness areas.

A phenomenal amount of federal land is already available to oil and gas
drilling, including 95% of the lands administered by the Bureau of Land
Management (BLM) in Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming, and Montana.  And
under the Clinton Administration, oil and gas leases were granted on over
26 million acres of federal lands. In fact, there are nearly 50,000
producing oil and gas wells on public lands, and last year alone the BLM
issued 3,400 new drilling permits for new wells on federal lands.

Bush's statement comes on the heels of a White House announcement that
energy industry lobbyist J. Steven Griles will become the second in
command at the Department of Interior, with broad authority over national
parks, national monuments, wildlife refuges, and BLM lands. Griles, a
former Assistant Secretary of the Interior in the Reagan Administration,
was hailed by the oil, gas and coal industry, which ironically
characterized the appointment as "a breath of fresh air." Another
candidate, Conservation Fund President John Turner, had been widely
expected to gain the job.  But Interior Secretary Gale Norton pushed for
Griles, and a major campaign mounted by property rights advocates
succeeded in swaying the White House's decision.
***************************************************************
2. GALE NORTON TAKES AIM AT NATIONAL MONUMENTS
Interior Secretary Gale Norton last week said she intends to consider
rolling back protections of national monuments designated by the Clinton
Administration, in an apparent reversal of what Sec. Norton had led the
American public to believe.

Instead of seeking to undo national monument designations, which were very
popular across the western U.S. where most of the monuments were
designated, Sec. Norton appears to be focusing on eliminating protections
for the new monuments, such as changing boundaries and allowing new
destructive practices -- in effect, allowing the monuments to exist in
name only.

In response, the Denver Post editorialized against her on March 12th,
stating:
"Interior Secretary Norton should not undermine ... new national
monuments.  ...  Unfortunately, the Bush team may be hearing only from a
vocal faction opposed to any effort to update the stewardship of our
public lands.  Norton, who promised to administer her department as a
moderate, should listen to many voices, not just a few die-hard whiners."

Some of our greatest national parks were first protected as national
monuments. If Gale Norton had been Interior Secretary 90 years ago, after
many of those monuments were designated, national parks like Grand Canyon,
Olympic, and Zion, among others, might be oil fields and mining pits, not
the treasured places they are today.

TAKE ACTION
George Bush's and Gale Norton's strategy to undermine (literally!) our
country's public lands is just plain wrong.  Send them a message today
from http://www.wilderness.org/eyewash/bush0316.htm or tell them directly:

- Rolling back protections of our national monuments and other public
lands is not what the American people want from those who are supposed to
be stewards of our natural heritage.  I call on you to protect our public
lands, including our newest national monuments.

- 95% of BLM lands in the Rocky Mountain states are already open to oil
and gas development.  Opening up what little is left of our public lands
will unnecessarily destroy the few remaining wild landscapes of our
nation's natural resource heritage.

Send your comments to:
Interior Secretary Gale Norton
U.S. Dept. of Interior, 1849 C Street, NW
Washington, DC  20240
Email: [log in to unmask]

and

Pres. George W. Bush
The White House, Wash, DC  20500
FAX: (202) 456-2461
Email: [log in to unmask]

FOR MORE INFORMATION
Latest from the Bush Administration:
http://www.wilderness.org/eyewash/

National Monuments:
http://www.wilderness.org/standbylands/national_monuments.htm

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