BATTLE GROUND, WA, Jan. 8 The national environmental community has opened a second battle front against Interior Department nominee Gale Norton, this time from within the Bush transition team.

Assuming Norton gains confirmation in the Senate, the plan is to Appoint liberal Republicans to key Assistant, Deputy Secretary and Director posts within Interior. This will enable the environmental left to gut Norton's initiatives and undercut her authority. They will also benefit by keeping the flow of grant money heading out to their favored non-profit land trusts.

Central to this plan are attempts to name John Turner, President and CEO of the Conservation Fund, to the second most powerful post in the department, Assistant Secretary for Fish, Wildlife and Parks. This office chairs the Land Policy Group within the Executive branch, which directs land acquisition for much of the federal government, including agencies outside Interior such as the Forest Service, part of the Agriculture Department.

Why is Turner in line for such a powerful post? Turner is a lifetime close personal friend of Vice President Dick Cheney. Cheney had Turner appointed to the Interior Department Transition Advisory Team along with several allies such as Tom Kiernan, President of the National Parks Conservation Association (NCPA).

Turner's land trust is notorious for training cadres of environmental activists at its Conservation Leadership Network schools, which have been subsidized by Interior Department grant money under the Clinton Administration. Network graduates are trained in combining regulatory threats from federal agencies with the money of land trusts to harass property owners. The goal is to financially drain families and force them to sell their land at greatly reduced prices.

Despite being part of the team, Kiernan criticized Bush, Norton and another transition team member last week in separate interviews. He said it is "profoundly unfortunate" Bush has not named more environmentalists to the transition, views Norton "with caution" and said fellow transition team member Terry Anderson "has taken disturbing environmental positions."

"John Turner's nomination would cut Gale Norton off at the knees," said Chuck Cushman, Executive Director of the American Land Rights Association (ALRA), who supports Norton. "It would defeat the purpose of naming Norton in the first place. Because of his personal friendship with Cheney and his environmental allies, Turner would have a separate power base independent of Norton, and could ignore and reverse her directives," Cushman continued.

"Naming a Clinton Administration ally like John Turner to this key post would be a tragedy for private property rights, and would mean a continuation of Bruce Babbitt's land grabbing policies," Cushman continued.

Turner ally Tom Kiernan's involvement with the transition is "truly incredible," said Cushman. "His organization is adamantly opposed to broad based recreational use of the federal lands. NCPA's Annual Report proudly boasts of shutting down use of snowmobiles, tourist aircraft and automobiles in the parks. This greatly restricts families and senior citizens, and benefits only the environmental elite who can afford lengthy, expensive trips such as eco-tourist tours."

SOURCE American Land Rights Association