Interior secretary's decision on gray wolves triggers discord

WASHINGTON — Interior Secretary Ken Salazar's decision to stick with a Bush administration move that took gray wolves off the endangered-species list in most of the northern Rockies reflects the independent streak that has defined his career. But it has alienated key Obama administration allies, including environmentalists and some lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

Salazar's surprise March 6 decision provoked a protest letter from 10 senior House Democrats and a literal howl of delight from Idaho Republican Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter.

While White House officials declined to comment on Salazar's move, it has clearly caused a headache for the administration. Lawmakers called senior Obama aides to question the decision, environmental groups filed a Freedom of Information Act request to investigate the decision, and experts inside and outside the administration predicted the issue will end up in court.

If the episode highlighted the delicate path Salazar, a former senator, is navigating in his new job, it also illustrated the learning curve that Cabinet members face when joining another politician's administration.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, a former House member from Illinois, veered off message last month when he suggested the administration might tax motorists for every mile they drive. White House officials made clear the idea was not under consideration.

The wolf proposal was published just weeks before Bush left office and then suspended under a broad directive by White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.

Interior spokeswoman Kendra Barkoff said Salazar had followed the unanimous recommendation of Fish and Wildlife Service scientists in setting the new policy. "This was a decision based on science," she said.

The move pleased many elected officials in Idaho and Montana, whose states have the largest numbers of gray wolves and who had pressed the Interior Department to turn management of the animals over to them. Interior kept wolves on the endangered list in Wyoming, saying the state's management plan failed to pass muster, while also taking them off the list in parts of Washington, Oregon and Utah.

"It was a good sign for folks out here who were a little worried about having a Democratic administration hit the restart button on the conservation and environmental wars of the 1990s," said John Foster, spokesman for Rep. Walt Minnick, D-Idaho. "I can't emphasize how important it is to have a Western rancher as secretary of the interior."

Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Wash., who chairs the House Appropriations interior and environment subcommittee, led nine other House members in asking Salazar last week to postpone finalizing the delisting rule for at least 60 days. "I don't think they took enough time to evaluate the science," Dicks said.

But Barkoff indicated Salazar plans to let Idaho and Montana take control of the wolves' welfare.