The Obligatory

First, the President declares the world's largest marine reserve a National Monument, creating a preserved area larger than all our National Parks put together ... then his new Secretary of the Interior does a complete 180 on his predecessor's policies, declaring "When there is a conflict between conserving resources unimpaired for future generations and the use of those resources, conservation will be predominant."

I'm not complaining ... I'm just ... I don't even know what this feeling is. Can I be ... PLEASED with something the administration is doing?

Wow.

The new Secretary of the Interior is especially surprising. The previous Secretary took money from Jack Abramoff, opened up parks to snowmobiles and ATVs, allowed more logging with less public notice in National Forests, and severely slashed Park budgets.

New Guy is all about - gasp - actually protecting and maintaining the environment in the Parks, even at the cost of recreational benefits. I know he's got a pretty spotty voting record on environmental bills, but it seems like he's serious about not screwing up our National Park System. I hope he can pull it off. And I hope he gets the funding to do it.

Kudos to you, Secretary Kempthorne!