Kempthorne to lead Interior

Last week the Bush administration announced that Idaho governor Dirk Kempthorne will replace Gale Norton, who recently announced her retirement as Secretary of the Interior. Kempthorne would bring a western perspective to the cabinet post in charge of National Parks, Bureau of Land Management, and National Wildlife Refuges. Environmentalists have been cool to the appointment. The Wilderness Society expresses a skeptical wish that Kempthorne will emulate the last Idahoan to serve as Interior Secretary: Cecil Andrus. That's a pretty high standard, considering Andrus, who served under Carter, protected some 56 million acres of wilderness in Alaska. The Sierra Club charges that Kempthorne "consistently opposed protecting public health and public lands." The usually liberal Seattle P.I. takes a wait-and-see approach.

Kempthorne was a prominent supporter of the administration's efforts to jettison the Clinton-era roadless rule that protected 58.5 million acres of undeveloped National Forest. He favored a weaker plan that grants governors power to protect or develop existing roadless areas in their states. Let's hope Kempthorne will do more than his predecessor on such issues as fixing the backlog of maintenance in National Parks.