The Sierra Club finally has decided to take a stand
on the touchy issue of immigration. The club currently has a
neutral policy, but in March, members will be asked to vote on
endorsing a drastic reduction in immigration. Pushing for this
switch are “restrictionists’ who say that all environmental issues
hinge on population size, and that immigration increases pollution,
traffic and demands on open space. But many Sierra Club members
balk at being linked to groups that want to deny public benefits to
immigrants, and warn that by endorsing such a stance the club could
be seen as elitist and racist. …
The Forest
Service has a new employees’ association for Christians. In its
charter application, ACROSS, Association of Christians Reaching Out
in Service and Support, says it is following the examples of the
Hispanic Employees Association, and the Association of People with
Disabilities in Government. The group’s purpose includes “praying
for our local and national leaders’ and “interacting with
management to ensure that the Christian perspective is considered
in the development and implementation of policy.”
…
President Clinton has picked Kevin Gover, a
member of the Pawnee tribe, to head the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
If the New Mexico lawyer and lobbyist for Indian gambling is
confirmed, he will replace Ada Deer, who resigned in January.
…
Never mind that dinosaurs died 65 million
years ago; since Tyrannosaurus Sue was unearthed from Sioux Indian
land in 1990, she has had a full life. The commercial
paleontologists of the Black Hills Institute, who dug up Sue, were
charged with failing to obtain permission from federal agencies to
remove a fossil from an Indian reservation, although they had the
permission of landowner Maurice Williams. The National Guard seized
Sue and locked her in a furnace room. After countless lawsuits, the
fossil bones were finally returned to Williams, who put them up for
auction. Now Sue has a final resting place at the Field Museum of
Natural History in Chicago. It bought the bones at Sotheby’s
auction house for $8.36 million. …
In an
elaborate game of musical chairs, Colorado’s politicians are
beginning to sort out who will try to unseat
former-Democrat-now-Republican Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell.
Democrat Rep. David Skaggs announced that he won’t run for
Campbell’s seat and also won’t run for re-election to the House
after six terms. Democrat Dottie Lamm, a writer and the wife of
former governor and presidential candidate Dick Lamm, announced
that she’ll run for Campbell’s seat. Republican Rep. Scott McInnis
has not decided whether to challenge Campbell in a primary,
although House Speaker Newt Gingrich has asked him to let Campbell
stay put. “I love each of them in their current positions,” says
Gingrich. …
About a year ago, Charles “Chip”
Cartwright, the Southwest Regional Forester for the Forest Service,
was threatened with contempt of court. The nation’s first black
regional forester had let loggers cut trees in northern Arizona
despite an injunction to protect spotted owls. Cartwright is under
public scrutiny again – this time for charges of sexual harassment
and creating a hostile work environment. …
Albuquerque’s new mayor is no stranger to
politics. Democrat Jim Baca has already served as New Mexico state
land commissioner and Bureau of Land Management director. Baca was
the only one of six candidates who promised not to cut a road
through Petroglyph National Monument in order to ameliorate the
city’s traffic congestion. …
Idaho Gov. Phil
Batt’s recent announcement that he will not run for re-election has
left politicians – and a podiatrist – scrambling. Republican Sen.
Dirk Kempthorne says he will vie for the seat, and Republican Rep.
Mike Crapo is expected to seek the vacated Senate spot. The only
other person to announce a bid for governor is Peter Rickards.
After spending years criticizing Batt for the way he handles
Idaho’s National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory, the Twin
Falls foot doctor has decided to see if he can do it better.
Rickards will run as an independent.
*Heather
Abel
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline The Wayward West.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
