Ed. Note: Tune into Native America Calling http://www.nativeamericacalling.com) on Wednesday, April 12, for a discussion on Interior Secretary nominee Dirk Kempthorne.

"Good riddance to Gale Norton, the worst Interior secretary in modern history. Somewhere the ghost of Teddy Roosevelt is breathing a sigh of relief.

After five years as a shameless shill for the gas, mining and logging industries, Norton is hightailing it back to her home state of Colorado to scrape the stink of the Jack Abramoff scandal from her hiking boots.

As her replacement, President Bush has chosen Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne, whose loyalties to special interests are as naked as Norton's. No other Western governor received a higher percentage of campaign donations from the heavy extraction industries than did Kempthorne during his last campaign.

His outspoken criticism of the Endangered Species Act makes him, in the president's eye, an ideal steward of the nation's 390 national parks and 545 wildlife refuges.

Add to Kempthorne's dubious r�sum� his stints as the public affairs manager for a chemical company and executive vice president of the Idaho Home Builders Association, and you've got the perfect Bush environmentalist.

In his nomination announcement at the White House, Kempthorne praised the president's "genuine enthusiasm for this great land of ours and all of its grandeur and its assets.''

Assets being the operative word."

Get the Story:
Carl Hiaasen: Expect little from changes at Interior Dept. (The Miami Herald 4/9)

Relevant Links:
Coeur d'Alene Tribe - http://www.cdatribe.com
Nez Perce Tribe - http://www.nezperce.org
Shoshone-Bannock Tribes - http://www.shoshonebannocktribes.com
Gov. Dirk Kempthorne - http://gov.idaho.gov

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Kempthorne offered DOI post on day of nomination (03/21)
Kempthorne's Senate record scant on Indian issues (3/20)
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