Obama May Tap a Strong Progressive to Manage Our Wilderness

By Roberto Lovato, AlterNet. Posted December 6, 2008.

In a recent letter to current DOI Secretary Dirk Kempthorne, Grijalva called on the Bush administration to restore some semblance of the natural balance between the diverse interests DOI must manage:  "Mining at Black Mesa has caused springs on Hopi lands to dry up and jeopardized the sole source of drinking water for many Hopis and Navajos.

This same will to balance informs the National Landscape Conservation System, and the Environment Congressional Task Force Co-Chairman Grijalva's efforts to craft urgently needed legislation to reform the very outdated General Mining Law of 1872. Environmentalists, scientists and other advocates believe this law must be changed if the wilderness of the West and of our national parks, forests and public lands systems are to return to sustainability. Such actions have secured very strong support for Grijalva's DOI bid from environmental, scientific and other groups, including the National Conservation Association, the Coalition of National Park Service Retirees and the U.S. Humane Society, to name a few. A letter to President-elect Obama in support of Grijalva was signed by more than 50 prominent scholars specializing in biology, conservation and other disciplines. In the letter, the scholars called him a "broad thinker" and praised the congressman's "Report on the Bush Administration Assault on Our National Parks, Forests and Public Lands" as the work of "someone who understands and values science."

No less effusive are the statements of support Grijalva is receiving from Native American leaders like Ned Norris, who as tribal chairman of the Tohono O'odham Nation -- one of seven tribes in Grijalva's district -- says he has "enjoyed an extensive and extremely positive relationship with the congressman for many years." Asked what appeals most to tribes like his about a possibility of a Grijalva-led DOI, Norris answered, "He has a deep understanding of and respect for relationship between tribes and U.S. government." Norris also pointed to Grijalva's sophistication and success in settling a 30-year-old water and resource dispute between the Tohono O'odham tribe and the federal government.

In his efforts to foster change and hope with regard to both the stewardship of federal land and the management of relations with Indian nations, Obama will bring urgency and much-needed balance to these important government functions by appointing Grijalva as secretary of the interior.

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Roberto Lovat is a New York-based writer with New America Media.

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