Outbound Norton defends Interior record

DENVER – Interior Secretary Gale Norton, criticized by environmentalists as pushing a pro-development agenda by the administration during her five-year tenure, said Friday that she remains proud of her efforts to build consensus on a range of issues.

In an interview with the Associated Press, Norton, who is stepping down Friday for personal reasons, said the department has worked with hunters, anglers, farmers and ranchers on protecting wetlands and endangered species.

A report released by her office Thursday said Interior provided $2.1 billion in grants since 2002 to states, landowners and groups to preserve wildlife habitat and save species.

“We started out with the idea of cooperative conservation and that the federal government could work best as partners with local citizens. We put our money where our money is and increased grant programs that had those goals,” Norton said.

Critics, including some Western wildlife and outdoors groups, have challenged Norton’s assertions that she has sought input from all groups. Some have joined environmentalists in decrying the pace and scale of energy development in the Rockies, where most states are seeing record natural gas drilling rates.

“Under Norton there’s been intense pressure on all the (Bureau of Land Management) field offices to drill more, drill faster and to sweep aside protections for wildlife,” said Erik Molvar a wildlife biologist and executive director of the Biodiversity Conservation Alliance in Laramie, Wyo.

Norton has defended her decisions on energy development, a priority of the Bush administration, saying it is taking place on land designated by Congress for multiple uses.

She said Friday that her department has increased funding for inspections and monitoring to ensure that companies follow environmental laws.

“We want to do a better job of planning to take wildlife and other environmental protection factors into account,” Norton said. “There are improvements we’ve made but it’s something that needs to continue to improve.”

She said the Interior Department is forming a new advisory council to study wildlife issues, including the impacts of energy development.

Norton, a former Colorado attorney general, was the first woman to head the agency that includes the National Park Service and Bureau of Land Management and oversees 507 million acres, or one out of every five acres nationwide.

Norton said she has talked several times with Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne, also a Republican, since President Bush nominated him to succeed her.

“(Kempthorne) is someone I’ve worked with a lot. He cares a great deal about issues important to the West. He has a great background for Interior,” Norton said.

Remaining issues at Interior include the lawsuit over the federal government’s handling of federal royalties owed American Indians.

Estimates of unpaid royalties on oil, gas, timber and other resources from Indian lands range as high as $27.5 billion.