Interior: the Enemy Is Us

The Reagan Administration’s Department of the Interior has opposed the idea of an independent National Park Service run by professionals free from interference by political appointees. Yet Interior officials seem bent on proving the need for an independent park service.

The latest incident involves an oil company’s proposal to conduct seismic tests along an 85-mile stretch of the Big Cypress National Preserve next to the Everglades National Park in Florida. The tests involve explosive blasts within drilled holes and then measurements of seismic patterns to paint a picture of the underground geology. The National Park Service, which administers the preserve, had recommended that the tests not be allowed until a full environmental-impact study had been conducted.

The professional judgment of the service was overruled, however, by park service superiors in Interior. On the basis of a superficial environmental “assessment,” Assistant Secretary William Horn ordered a finding that the drilling would have no significant effect on the swamp and that it could proceed without further study. In a memo to his chief, Southeast Regional Park Service Director Robert Baker wrote: “Certainly the political leadership has the right to override our professional judgments, but I believe there should be a clear record of that decision.”

Thanks to Baker there is, and it is now in public view. The Big Cypress decision follows many others in which the Interior Department has ignored the recommendations of its own resource-protection agencies and directed the cutting of corners and the winking at environmental regulations to assist the exploitation of federal lands by developers. This is not a record of stewardship of the public estate.