White House Attempt to Soothe Naturalists Fails : Environment: Angry activist charges EPA chief Reilly was excluded from follow-up meeting on Earth Summit.

A White House meeting arranged to soothe bitter differences left by the Rio Earth Summit turned into a fiasco Friday when some participants complained it was a charade and the president of one of the country’s foremost environmental organizations called for the resignation of the man who arranged it, Michael R. Deland, chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality.

Jay Hair, president of the 5.8-million member National Wildlife Federation, walked out of the “Road from Rio” session angrily demanding that Deland step down.

Hair was angered by what he considered Deland’s hypocritical expression of regret that William K. Reilly, who headed the United States’ delegation to Rio, could not be present for the post-summit session. Hair charged that Reilly, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, had been effectively excluded from the Friday morning meeting because Deland had not notified him until Thursday night.

What made the issue of Reilly’s absence so sensitive was the role he had tried to play in the Rio summit.

Environmental activists were furious with the Bush Administration during the two-week summit because it refused to sign a biological diversity treaty designed to protect the habitats of threatened plant and animal species around the world. Reilly worked behind the scenes to resolve U.S. objections so that it could sign the treaty, but he was embarrassed when he was undercut by a confidential cable to the White House that was leaked to the press.

Sources said Hair responded to Deland’s expression of regret at Reilly’s absence from the Friday meeting by accusing the chairman of offering nothing, uttering an obscenity, then walking out.

About a dozen environmental leaders, including Peter A. A. Berle, the chief executive officer of the National Audubon Society, and John Sawhill of the Nature Conservancy, were present at the meeting.

Deland, who was a regional administrator for the EPA, once received the National Wildlife Federation’s Conservation Achievement Award, and his nomination as chairman of the White House’s Council on Environmental Quality was widely applauded by the environmental community.

But hours after the Friday meeting, called by Deland and Robert E. Grady, deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget, Hair accused the Council on Environmental Quality chairman of “blatant lies,” of failing “to provide honorable leadership” and of acting as official apologist for “anti-environmental policies.”

“First,” said Hair, “you attempted to present the Administration as an environmental champion when in fact the record shows it is the environment’s enemy.

“Second, you let the environmental community know of your personal lack of sincerity by apologizing for the absence of Bill Reilly at today’s meeting--when you knew full well that giving him notice of the meeting as late as last night precluded his attendance.”

Deland could not be reached for comment Friday afternoon. An aide said he had authorized the issuance of a one-sentence statement: “These personal accusations don’t merit a response.”