The head of the Bureau of Land Management, Dept. of Interior's primary agency for the stewardship of public lands - and the minerals & energy under them, has resigned. Like Gale Norton, her former boss, Kathleen Clarke is looking forward to "spending more time in the West" - a variant on the more time with my family resignation fig leaf. From the Houston Chronicle (via the AP):
BLM manages 258 million acres, about one-eighth of the land in the United States. Most of that land -- grasslands, forests, high mountains, arctic tundra and deserts -- is in the West. It also oversees about 700 million acres of minerals below the land's surface.
Cross-posted to ePluribus Media
Environmentalists often refer to the BLM as Bureau of Livestock & Mining, while the Sagebrush Rebellion "property rights" crowd of the 70s & 80s were inclined to call 'em Bastards, Liars & Motherfuckers. BLM has had primary responsibility for implementing Cheney's Energy Plan domestically. For example, USFWS manages the surface at ANWR; BLM the oil underneath. BLM is the bureaucratic home of Minerals Management Service, one of the richest fiefdoms in the Federal Government (outside of Defense, that is).
Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne said Clarke had created more recreational opportunities for Americans and sped up "environmentally sensitive" oil and natural gas production on federal lands since taking over the agency in January 2002.
There's got to be more to this story. For one thing, there's the timing: I've heard it said that Thursday is the new Friday for news dumps, because people watch Friday afternoons too closely these days. And this one also comes during the holidays, and in the wake of an ex-President's recent death - a veritable trifecta of "hiding in plain sight".
CONTROVERSIAL AGENCY RESHUFFLING
A quick search tells me there's been some controversy over efforts to reorganize the BLM lately. Last week, Rep. Raul Grijalva (D, AZ-07) was joined by Republican Rick Renzi (AZ-01) in objecting to a reorganization underway at the agency. From the Tucson Citizen:
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management's budgets are stretched and the agency is considering an internal restructuring that Grijalva and others fear may threaten the lands set aside for conservation. The National Conservation Land System contains all national monuments, national conservation areas, wilderness areas and scenic rivers. Ironwood Forest west of Marana is part of this system.
And from the Denver Post - a city that stands to gain jobs as the Bureau proposes to consolidate many operations in the mile-high city:
Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill also are raising concerns about the reorganization, which critics charge was hatched in secret and has had no public airing.
Last week, leaders of the National Landscape Conservation System Caucus delivered a letter to BLM director Kathleen Clarke asking that the changes not be adopted until Congress has had a chance to review them.
"These national monuments, wilderness areas, scenic rivers and trails provide uniquely American experiences, valued by millions of our constituents," according to the letter.
The BLM hasn't publicly released details of its proposed reorganization. There's no mention of the proposed reshuffling on the agency's website.
A National Wildlife Federation representative questions the logic of the reshuffling:
"Why would you put alternative disputes resolution into the National Landscape Conservation System?" she asked. "Is the Bush administration putting these components of the BLM in the same boat so that they can sink it later?"
The Sacramento Bee suggests another possibility. With some extra drama suggested for the California portion of the plan:
The proposal would bring under the umbrella of the NLCS a variety of unrelated programs that, on paper, could make it seem as though substantially more money is being spent on conservation when on-the-ground spending is actually shrinking.
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The proposed reorganization comes at a time when tens of thousands of acres of the conservation lands in California are in transition.
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In the Carrizo Plain [National Monument], the process of writing a management plan is about to resume after a tumultuous year following the suicide of its manager, who in a note blamed her death on a difficult relationship with her superiors. At the heart of the dispute was a difference of opinion over the future of cattle grazing in the national monument.
SUNLIGHT IS THE BEST DISINFECTANT
Is the controversy about the reorganization behind this resignation? It's raised the ire of normally "rubber stamp" Republican Represenatives like Rick Renzi, and even Mary Bono (CA-45). So, perhaps so. But I wouldn't be surprised if there's more to it than that. For starters, there's the little matter of a FUBAR situation on royalty payments for oil & gas extracted from the commonwealth of public resources, depriving the federal treasury (already in deep deficit) of billions in revenue. From the Wilmington (NC) Star (via AP):
In the first weeks of the new Congress, House Democrats plan to establish a dedicated fund to promote renewable energy and conservation, using money from oil companies.
Will the GOP filibuster? Will Dubya veto? Tune in - this could get as exciting as the new season of 24, also being launched next month.
Whether the issue is rolling back tax breaks - some approved by Congress only 18 months ago - pushing for more use of ethanol and other biofuels instead of gasoline, or investigations into shortfalls in royalty payments to the government, oil industry lobbyists will spend most of their time playing defense.
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But the oil issue likely to be first out of the legislative block in January concerns the ability of the federal government to recover royalties many lawmakers believe have been unfairly avoided by oil and gas companies drilling in deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
For one thing, there's that "honor system" for declaring how much was owed instituted under Secy. Gale Norton, replacing a more robust audit procedure previously in place.
With the authority to hold hearings on the agency's operations passing from Richard Pombo (R, CA-11) to Nick Rahall (D, WV-03), oil industry handmaidens probably do have a thing or two to worry about. Rahall's already announced that our nation can't drill its way out of our energy problems, and must get serious about conservation and alternative energy.
I'm guessing that once the 110th starts turning over a few rocks, all kinds of slimy stuff is going to slither into light. (My apologies, as I do not mean to demean worms by saying that.)
"There will be a new cop on the beat to force every big oil company that is currently lining its pockets with taxpayer dollars to come back to the negotiating table," Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., declared.
GALE NORTON GOES TO WORK FOR BIG OIL
In a related story, former Interior Secretary Gale Norton has just found a new job. From Bloomberg:
Royal Dutch Shell Plc said Gale Norton will join the world's second-largest publicly traded oil company as a general counsel, 10 months after she resigned as U.S. Secretary of the Interior.
Norton, 52, who resigned in March after five years with the Bush administration, will work for Shell's exploration and production unit in the U.S., primarily from Colorado, The Hague- based company said today in an e-mailed statement. She will take the position in mid-January.
Rep. Markey, who at one time said he might contest Rahall for the chairmanship of the House Natural Resources Committee, spoke to the reporter for this story, too:
The appointment of Norton by Shell proves the "hand in glove relationship" between oil companies and the Bush administration, said U.S. Representative Edward Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat and member of the House energy committee.
I like those sound bites from Markey (MA-07), and am definitely looking forward to more.
UPDATE: Someone sent this by e-mail, rather than commenting in the diary. From the Denver Post, 12/17/06:
The U.S. Justice Department has begun two criminal investigations into the Interior Department's Minerals Management Service over possible ethics violations.
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The investigations mark the first time that federal officials are targeting possible criminal activity at the Minerals Management Service.
The agency already has been the subject of noncriminal federal inquiries and audits alleging problems in its mission to collect royalty payments on oil and gas production from federal property.
Allegations of criminal ethics violations are unrelated to the previous inquiries and audits, the agency said in a statement.