Regarding your recent story “the great giveaway,” i retired as national recreation director for the bureau of land management in 2003, because i saw the bush administration consistently subvert the overall mission of the blm through the appointment of politicos willing to overrule professional judgment and substitute white house imperatives (hcn, 10/13/08). I retired earlier than i had planned because i felt i could no longer be part of this. It has been difficult to watch the agency consistently push its land-use planning to the extreme, granting permits without in-depth study and environmental impact analyses that support its decisions.
I appreciate hcn working to keep the blm and other land management agency products consistent with their stewardship requirements and the law.
Rodger schmitt
Port Townsend, Washington
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline An eye on the agencies.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
