In and Out of the Wilderness

Watt angers conservationists, then surprises them

One step forward, one step back. It was that kind of week for James Watt, President Reagan's controversial Secretary of the Interior. First, his department announced plans to lift wilderness protection from more than 805,000 federally owned acres in ten Western and Southwestern states, possibly opening the land to various forms of development. Then, in a move that some conservationists dismissed as more symbol than substance, he laid to rest his longstanding intention of issuing oil and gas leases in existing wilderness areas.

The Interior Department announced its decision to drop wilderness protection for the 805,000-plus acres...

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