Bush's Sportsmen Team Faults Drilling, Water Policies

Ouch. 

A team hand-picked by the cosmically self-deluded Gail Norton, former Secretary of the Interior and head cheerleader for the Bush/Cheney Administration's slash and drill energy policy, found serious harm caused to sportsmen and wildlife by the current bAdministration's approach to natural resources management.  To wit, this article from the Jackson Hole Daily in Cheney's home state of Wyoming:

The Bush administration’s policies on energy development and wildlife management threaten hunting opportunities for Americans, according to a draft report commissioned by the president’s own Interior Department.

Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, a watchdog group, released the draft report Wednesday. The 84-page document was compiled by experts selected by Interior Secretary Gale Norton before she retired in 2006.

The Sporting Conservation Council, which oversaw the report, consisted of groups considered friendly to the Bush administration such as the National Rifle Association and Safari Club International. The report criticizes Bush administration policies in areas such as wildlife management, wetlands and energy development.

The folks on this Sporting Conservation Council are hardly the vegan-hippy-can't throw a spiral-enviro stereotype.  Between this and the recent pledge by the Western Governors' Association to protect wildlife corridors from drilling, you've got to wonder if somebody at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue will tap the resident in chief on the shoulder and say "Uh, maybe we should have done this differently."

Of course, I'd advise not approaching Cheney with that opinion.  He shoots his friends.

Other conclusions of the Council include:

• Loss of wetlands due to actions “in 2001 and 2006 by the Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corps of Engineers [which] have had the effect of removing wetlands protections that have been in place for more than 30 years”;
• Politicized science and underfunded wildlife management, causing declines in biodiversity. “Federal land management planning decisions continue to hamper the ability …to effectively implement wildlife management projects” and conservation efforts.

Read the full press release from Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility.