Friends Of The Earth

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The worldwide organization that's called Friends of the Earth is one of the most effective environmental groups in existence today. However, although FOE publishes its own journal — the monthly tabloid titledNotMan Apart — fartoo few MOTHER readers regularly get a chance toseethat publication . . . and that's why we've arranged to bring you this bimonthly column, which is prepared by the staff of FOE/NMA.

These are truly odd times for the environmental movement: Unprecedented bumbles and disasters are being hatched almost daily in Washington . . . while public support for environmental protection is growing at never-before-seen rates. The Reagan administration's emerging policies are threatening to undo nearly a century of hard-won progress .. . yet at the same time conservation groups are enjoying dramatic surges in membership and contributions. In the light of such developments, perhaps we should take a look at the Reagan appointees who are—by and large—responsible for the strengthening of positions on both sides of the environmental fence.

WATT'S UP AT INTERIOR

The Secretary of the Interior is the chief conservation officer of the United States. He's responsible for managing nearly 25% of the nation's lands ... including our national parks, wildlife refuges, some recreation areas, the outer continental shelf, and the vast tracts of western acreage that are controlled by the Bureau of Land Management. For decades—whether Republicans or Democrats were in power—our Interior Secretaries have pursued a policy of protecting the territory under their control.

But in James Watt we have a new breed of manager, a man who believes that the public lands exist to support the freeenterprise economy of our country . . . as espoused by his boss, the President. For example, the new Interior Secretary proposes to turn substantial parts of the management of national parks over to private interests. He also wants to "inventory", as he says, public lands for their mineral content ... expecting us to believe that corporations intend to spend millions of dollars on such exploration and then wait happily in the wings until those resources are "really needed".

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