Norton Legacy: Drilling, Land Sale Plans

WASHINGTON (AP) -

Western lands more open to oil and gas drilling and to logging. A greater emphasis on making federal land accessible to the public. Fewer protections for wilderness.

Those are part of the legacy of Gale Norton's five years as interior secretary. While unpopular with conservationists, she has won supporters because of her ability to negotiate delicate compromises by involving the public and local governments in federal decisions. Among her successes is a resolution to a years-long dispute among Colorado River users.

Few federal agencies have as much influence over the western U.S. as the Interior Department, which oversees American Indian affairs, national parks, and mining, drilling and grazing on millions of acres of publicly owned lands.

Norton, citing personal reasons, said Friday she was stepping down at the end of the month. Many of the programs she championed on behalf of the Bush administration were hugely controversial and will have lasting effects in the West.

"She has been an integral part of the most anti-environmental administration we've ever seen," said Elise Jones, executive director of the Colorado Environmental Coalition.

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http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/bw-exec/2006/mar/11/031104196.html

tion on Friday and she never mentioned it to him. He was shocked to hear she left. So I guess her "personal" reasons weren't that well planned, were they?