The Clinton administration is planning broad steps to protect public land in the West during Pres. Clinton’s remaining time in office. In the coming months, the administration hopes to declare 1.5 million acres in Alaska as a wilderness area; 2.6 million acres in Utah as a wilderness study area; more than 500,000 acres in Arizona as a national monument; and several miles along Montana’s Upper Missouri River as a national park, conservation area, or wildlife refuge. Western GOP lawmakers are not happy about the trend. Forest Service Chief Mike Dombeck is also ruffling feathers by trying to steer his agency toward conservation and away from a narrow focus on chopping down trees.
