Regarding your recent story "the great giveaway," i retired as national recreation director for the bureau of land management in 2003, because i saw the bush administration consistently subvert the overall mission of the blm through the appointment of politicos willing to overrule professional judgment and substitute white house imperatives (hcn, 10/13/08). I retired earlier than i had planned because i felt i could no longer be part of this. It has been difficult to watch the agency consistently push its land-use planning to the extreme, granting permits without in-depth study and environmental impact analyses that support its decisions.

I appreciate hcn working to keep the blm and other land management agency products consistent with their stewardship requirements and the law.

Rodger schmitt
Port Townsend, Washington