By
Jessica Lee
Many Arizonans cannot wait for their local political hero, Bruce Babbitt, to return home. The now former Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, the environmentalist right-hand man to President Clinton, wrapped up business in Washington last week and will be looking for new projects.
In 1993, Republicans and businessmen alike protested his appointment as Secretary of the Interior. His selection signified a shift in philosophy for the Department of the Interior, a position that has been traditionally held by individuals who advocate the rape, pillage and sale of our natural resources.
Bruce Babbitt was Arizona's governor from 1978-1987 and has fought for a balance between land preservation and the urban sprawl that has been stalking the West for years. Babbitt's legacy can be discerned all across our state.
Babbitt helped impose strict flight regulations over the Grand Canyon so that aircraft would not be heard every 40 seconds. The reintroduction of wolves into Eastern Arizona has led to them now reclaiming the land they once lost to the bullet. California condors live again in the wild, and the bald eagle and peregrine falcon have been removed from the Endangered Species List.
Babbitt also convinced the business bozos in Congress, when they met to change the Endangered Species Act, that the constitutional law still is vitally important to the natural well-being of our country.
Bruce Babbitt infuriated mining companies when he attempted to amend the Mining Law of 1872, an honest endeavor to make businesses responsible for the devastation they caused lands. Evidence of the need to change this intolerable - but legal - resource pillaging is scattered throughout the poisoned land and tailing piles in silver and copper mining boom towns throughout Arizona, as well as the staggering Super Fund clean-up costs. He worked with ranchers and herders to try to fix problems such as over-grazing and erosion and tried to make the use of federal lands more equitable by raising cattle grazing taxes.
Up in Northern Arizona, Babbitt facilitated the integration of adaptive management practices into the operation of the Glen Canyon Dam in the attempt to enhance the health of the Grand Canyon downstream. He also used his federal leverage to protect the San Francisco Peaks, an area sacred to many local Native Americans, from further destruction from pumice mining.
Arizona is a place where water is more precious than whiskey. Babbitt's interests and wisdom rescued the state from a greedy California, the state who loves to overuse its Colorado River allocation by "stealing" Arizona's surpluses. He has also worked closely with the Native American tribes to settle ugly water rights claims.
By using the Antiquities Act, Babbitt succeeded in protecting 1,979,000 acres of land in Arizona. Five new national monuments established in the last year now defend the exotic and unique areas of Arizona from capitalistic developers and egocentric (not eco-centric) resource marauders.
At times, it seemed like a constant uphill battle for Babbitt. He unremittingly had to justify his honest intentions to the nagging Governor Jane D. Hull, malevolent developers, pissed off cowboys, land destroying CEOs, a conservative Congress and the race of Southern Californians who envision Phoenix as their next L.A.
The new census announced a 40 percent growth in Arizona in the past decade. This is a mathematical cry for rescue. We need Babbitt's continued efforts in Arizona. Now that he is no longer employed at the White House, Babbitt has a vast canyon of opportunities to carry on his rally for an environmentally-amiable West. Or maybe he will put more time into his leadership within the League of Conservation Voters, a national organization that failed this year to elect any pro-environmental officials.
Or better yet, he could begin thinking big for 2004...
Jessica Lee is an environmental science sophomore. She can be reached at perspectives@wildcat.arizona.edu.
