Billings Gazette - 8/30/01
Norton won't alter plans for Breaks
By Jim Gransbery of the Gazette Staff

Interior Secretary Gale Norton says her department does not have the authority to shrink the size of new national monuments established by President Clinton.

Nor does the Bush administration intend to rescind any of the Clinton-established monuments, Norton said at the Western Governors Association annual meeting in Idaho two weeks ago.

Norton's comments, in response to a question after her keynote speech, were reported by The Oregonian newspaper on Aug. 13.

Nevertheless, the Upper Missouri River Breaks Task Force, appointed last summer by Gov. Judy Martz, recently recommended that the governor tell Norton to reduce the Upper Missouri Breaks National Monument boundaries by 75 percent.

The group recommended that the boundaries keep to those designated for the Upper Missouri National Wild and Scenic River established in 1976. Such a change would reduce the new monument's area to about 90,000 acres.

Martz, who attended the meeting in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, said Wednesday, "We did what we were asked to do."

She was referring to a letter from Norton to her in March that asked, "Are there boundary adjustments that the Department should consider recommending?"

"I was there (at the governors' meeting). I don't remember the question, but after hearing her response my first thought was, 'If this is the case, if she has no mind to change, why has she asked for us to go through this process?' "

The governor said she did not believe Norton was the kind of person to ask for a recommendation "if she has no intent to do any thing about it."

Martz said she did not question Norton later for clarification but had spoken to the secretary earlier about the transfer of federal coal tracts to Montana.

Art Kleinjan of Chinook said Wednesday that the task force was aware of Norton's Idaho statements.

"It was our understanding that the recommendations to her (the governor) were to be passed on to higher power," Kleinjan said.

Congress granted presidents the power to designate national monuments under the Antiquities Act of 1906. Legal questions remain as to whether a president can rescind a previous designation or whether Congress can rescind a presidential designation. Interior has endorsed a U.S. House bill that would give Congress a voice in the designation of future monuments.

During the Idaho meeting, Norton said, " 'We as an administration are not planning to rescind any of the monuments. What we are trying to do is incorporate input from local communities in the management plans.' "

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management's State Director's Guidance for Managing the Upper Missouri Breaks National Monument outlines how the area is to be managed for the next several years until a final monument resource management plan is completed. That document will be subject to public input in the same manner as the designation proposal and the task force's public hearings before its recommendations to the governor.

Martz said the task force's report, about an inch and half thick, was in her hands and was to be read Wednesday night. She said her recommendations to Norton must be sent to the secretary before the Sept. 5 deadline.

"We are moving with some haste," Martz said. "We did what was asked, and I hope that it was not in vain."

Jim Gransbery can be reached at (406) 657-1288, or by e-mail at jgransbery@billingsgazette.com