Hunters, fishermen, hikers and other outdoors enthusiasts, as well as the many businesses that cater to them, too often were left out of the national forest equation. Bush might want to move slowly in this area. Certainly he has plenty of better things to do. Too, we are uncertain about the nomination of Gale Norton to head the Department of Interior. And she has defended the controversial concept that government should be forced to compensate affected industries when it adopts antipollution rules.
Property rights have a central place in the fabric of American capitalism.
Properly understood, a property right is a kind of human right - an idea disagreeable to many environmentalists. Nevertheless, property rights are not boundless. Norton's supporters say she will be more moderate than her rhetoric. The nation will listen closely to the evidence against her, as well as to her explanations. The appointment is causing anxiety in Florida because the interior secretary oversees federal offshore drilling, and the oil industry desperately wants to drill off the state's coast.