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Show ( 3 CAPITOL mm ) - Hnism -WATCHDOG ' V J Kv Kill ll.ndrix Westerner under attack U. S. Interior Secretary James G. Watt is under attack for his practical approach to management of federal lands. Of particular concern to Watt's opponents in his recent lack of interest in the purchase of more federal park lands or wilderness designations in the energy rich, overthrust areas of Utah, Wyoming and Idaho. Speaking of Watt's position the Los Angeles Times said "what emerges is a lawyer impatient im-patient with detail, having deep religious and economic conviction, who grew up among small-town Westerners who detest the decadent East and its control over so much of their land." Based on this profile the L. A. Times says "He (Watt) is in the wrong place." In an interview on national television Watt said he was not designating or purchasing any more wilderness or parkland because the Interior Department can't manage what it has now For this reason Watt has moved 50 lawyers from the legal office where their primary purpose was monitoring reported violations of environmental law, to other administrative positions within the department. The newspaper acknowledges, ine United States lives with deep regional animosities and grievances, many ot them justified. Some regions have ample water and others go dry. Some fairly ooze oil, and others import energy at a scalper's price." These regional differences and the traditional tight fisted attitude of the federal government over large portions of western land make Watt's job very difficult. Perhaps his most obvious antagonism is what the L. A. Times calls his, "induldging fellow Westerners Wester-ners in their lust for the riches on public land." In this the publication says, "Watt not only breaks faith with the conservation ethic, he also fans the flames of regional grievance." Watt is a Westerner, and unlike his predecessor in the job, former Idaho Governor Cecil Andrus, Watt is determined to administer his position fairly with a Western perspective. There is no need of a recitation of the inequities of the federal governments dealings with lands in Utah and other western states. The fed's administer only small percentages of land east of Nebraska (average 4 percent) while in the West 60 to 70 percent of the property, rich in much needed natural resources, is locked-up to development. Most in our part of the country will support Watt. That, however, may not guarantee his survival. The eastern aristrocracy will jealously guard the preservation of its Western playground and economic prosperity based on millions of acres of privately developed property which the federal government never got its hands on. |