Republicans objected most vigorously to the portion of the administration's road ban that extended protection even to the sprawling Tongass National Forest in Alaska, which had been excluded from earlier proposals in deference to GOP concerns about the effect on the timber industry there. At the same time, so alarmed are some Democrats and environmental groups at the prospect of big reversals that they are scrambling to head off the emerging Republican campaign. They first may battle to block Norton's nomination on grounds that she is not a fitting steward for the nation's public lands. It just goes to show that Mr. Bush is incapable of being a compassionate conservationist. He's not even going to try.
Presidents often leave office with a flurry of executive orders and rule changes.
But in Clinton's case, it's been a blizzard. But that's Bill Clinton. He's going to squeeze as much out of his presidency as he can. He's going to stay busy, right up until the last day. Bush would have a more difficult time overturning the new forest regulations that Clinton imposed Friday.