Post Register editorial board members are Roger Plothow, acting publisher; J. Robb Brady; Marty Trillhaase; and Dean Miller.
Idaho Sen. Larry Craig is trumpeting the idea of injecting more politics into local field and regional offices of the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management. Now that his party controls the White House, the Idaho Republican wants to impose an "attitude change" in federal land management policies.Forest Service and BLM supervisors who don't cooperate with the Bush administration line - which includes assertively battling lawsuits filed by environmentalists - will be replaced with those who will.
It's not surprising, given the relative disdain Bush has shown for environmental regulations - and the cause of conservation in general. But this precedent means more, not less, political influence over managing public lands. Bush, Craig and even the Idahoans who agree with them ought to show caution. Two can play this game. This season's purge of people Republicans consider unfriendly could lead to something equally extreme when the next Democratic administration takes office.
Every new president appoints top agency people who agree with his philosophy. For instance, Bill Clinton named Mike Dombeck to rule the Forest Service. Bush appointed Dale Bosworth to replace him.
But regardless of who was the top appointee, professionals would remain at the local, state and regional levels.
That's changing. Local officials are being yanked out of their chairs.
The most blatant example occurred at the Bureau of Land Management where Idaho Director Martha Hahn was reassigned to the New York Harbor of the National Park Services. Hahn resigned instead.
Also gone are Kate Cannon, who was manager of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in southern Utah, and Tim Salt, manager of BLM's California desert district.
In Idaho, the congressional delegation forced the Ketchum forest ranger to draw back from canceling a damaged grazing allotment after allotment users made their usual fire call to Washington, D.C.
Then Sawtooth National Forest Supervisor Bill LeVere was transferred to the regional office in Ogden, Utah, after Idaho's congressional delegation stepped in to block LaVere's grazing reform plan.
Now Craig, in an article by the Challis Messenger, has contended the government hasn't "forcefully opposed" lawsuits filed by environmental organizations. Craig says that's why the environmentalists have prevailed in court. The simple fact is the government wasn't following the law, but Craig believes moving land managers elsewhere and bringing in a new cadre of "skillful" government legal staff can change that record.
In any event, Craig's tactic invites a new magnitude of interference in public land management. Not everyone needs to be replaced. Many of those who remain will simply follow political expedience. The number of professionals who serve the land first is low already. It's bound to drop even more.
But why should any of this matter to people who support resource industries? What about those who like Bush's environmental policies and applaud Craig for bringing political muscle to bear on local decisions?
They should care because Republicans have no monopoly on power. Someday, a Democrat will sit in the White House. He - or she - will look at the record of Bush political appointees and ideologues running BLM and Forest Service agencies. And that new president may consider some of these ideas:
n Appoint John Marvel of Hailey to a prominent Forest Service job. Marvel is the Western Watersheds Project leader who wants cattle removed from federal lands.
n Hire Mark Solomon of Moscow as a top BLM official. Solomon is a former Latah County commissioner and former executive director of the Lands Council.
n Put these people in regional BLM or Forest Service offices: John Osborn of Spokane, founder of the Lands Council, and Marv Hoyt of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition.
Think it can't happen because these people are partisans who lack professional credentials? It already has. Interior Secretary Gail Norton's pick as wildlands fuel coordinator, Allan K, Fitzsimmons, has no experience in forestry, fire management or forest ecology. But his views fit nicely with Norton's policies.
In a spoils system, patronage and political pedigree - not professional experience and knowledge - make the difference.
Craig and people like him are taking us closer to that day
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