"See No Wild Lands, Speak No Wild Lands"

"Writing about the environment does make one think about the costs and benefits of recycling. But let it be noted that, despite the temptation, this blog did not recycle the December headline that read 'Bush Policy on Wilderness Is Reversed.' All of the words in that headline above my colleague’s article in December could have been reused, in their original order — save one.

Where the original headline said 'Bush,' this one would have said 'Obama.'

A little more than five months after scuttling the Bush administration’s pledge not to set aside more federal land as potential wilderness, and six weeks after Congress passed a measure forbidding him to carry out the pledge, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar issued a memo on Wednesday scuttling his own decision.

The memo said that Interior officials would have discussions with congresspeople, local politicians and federal land managers about lands with wilderness potential and would keep inventories of various parcels of lands and how they might be used, but would follow Congress’s command and not try to declare any of its holdings as 'wild lands.'"

Felicity Barringer reports for the New York Times' Green blog June 1, 2011.

SEE ALSO:

"Obama Gives Up Wilderness Protection Plan" (AP)