Republicans cheer, environmentalists criticize change in wilderness rules

 

 

Posted 01 June 2011, by Staff, KLEWTV.com, klewtv.com

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans are cheering the Obama administration’s decision to back away from a plan to make millions of acres of undeveloped land in the West eligible for federal wilderness protection.

Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch hailed Interior Secretary Ken Salazar’s reversal of what he called a “misguided” policy that would have harmed Utah’s economy.

Idaho Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter said he was grateful that Salazar was “stepping back to reconsider the implications of his wild lands policy.”

Environmental groups had a different reaction. The Wilderness Society president William Meadows said the decision ignores the Bureau of Land Management’s obligation to protect wilderness values.

The Wyoming Outdoor Council called for the Obama administration to “stand up to the energy lobby” and continue the wild lands policy.

 

http://www.klewtv.com/news/local/123004178.html