A good Interior secretary should have a keen understanding of the need to balance development with environmental protection. In the West, there’s no hotter issue.
The new Interior chief, former Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne, took a smart step in that direction Monday by reversing one of his predecessor’s policies and embracing the preservation of our nation’s treasured resources.
In his first major policy announcement, Kempthorne endorsed a “no impairment” standard that emphasizes protecting national parks’ natural features. It was a signal that Kempthorne’s Interior Department would rather see fewer snowmobiles, off-road vehicles and cellphone towers in America’s national parks. That’s in striking contrast to former Interior Secretary Gale Norton’s effort to loosen the standards used by local managers in deciding what park uses to allow, such as motorized recreation.
Kempthorne, however, was clear: “When there is a conflict between conserving resources unimpaired for future generations and the use of those resources, conservation will be predominant.”
As a recent Cabinet appointee, Kemp- thorne has a clean slate, and we hope he’ll continue to use it wisely. He should not feel wedded to the ill-advised plans pushed by Norton and her deputy Paul Hoffman, who recently was reassigned from supervising parks to overseeing personnel. Hoffman didn’t attend Monday’s ceremony.
Kempthorne’s comments seem to bolster claims that the Bush administration is inclined to moderate some policies in the public-lands debate. The concessions reflect a sense that Congress might consider banning off-road vehicles from some public lands.
Kempthorne’s directive this week gives some comfort to environmentalists who want the administration to restore the ban on snowmobiles in Yellowstone National Park that was originally sought by the Clinton administration. That divisive issue will be handled separately this fall.
We don’t expect Kempthorne to always stand with the National Parks Conservation Association and the Outdoor Industry Association, as he did this week. (Both groups had criticized the park management guidelines proposed on Norton’s watch.) But it is refreshing to see him break free of Norton- era policies and weigh in on the side of conservation.
