At Petroglyph National Monument in Albuquerque, Jan.
21, Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt tripped on a rock and fell on
his face, requiring several stitches on his head at a local
hospital. Barely an hour later, he was back at the monument,
telling the press that he was ready to negotiate with Albuquerque
Mayor Martin Chavez over the proposed six-lane road called Paseo
del Norte through the petroglyphs (HCN, 11/1/93). Babbitt said he
is willing to consider all options for the road, including running
Paseo through the monument – the first time anyone from Interior
has been remotely receptive to the idea. Business interests were
pleased. “He wasn’t like the National Park Service – every time we
met with them it was no, hell no,” said Bob Hoffman, director of
the Economic Forum. Some environmentalists kept a stiff upper lip;
others were mortified. “What’s Babbitt going to do? Hand them the
keys to the bulldozers?” asked David Simon of the National Parks
and Conservation Association. A few days later, the Albuquerque
Tribune editorialized over Babbitt’s fall. The secretary “ought to
consider that somebody – or some spirit – was trying to tell him
something.”
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Babbitt takes a fall.
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