PLOY? California congressman says he's not serious about draft bill, but outraged critics aren't so sure.
WASHINGTON -- U.S. Rep. Richard Pombo, chairman of the House Resources committee, has proposed to raise money by selling off 15 national parks, including seven in Alaska, according to a draft bill circulating Friday.
Park supporters declared themselves outraged.
"Can you believe this Pombo guy?" said Jim Stratton, Alaska director for the National Parks Conservation Association.
But Pombo's spokesman, Brian Kennedy, said the 285-page draft is not to be taken seriously. Its purpose, Kennedy said, was to come up with proposals that would raise as much money for the federal government as oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, which Pombo ardently supports.
Drilling opponents should see that if Congress doesn't open ANWR "it would be outrageous and absurd alternatives, like selling national park units," Kennedy said. "So you see the joke."
The National Parks Conservation Association obtained a leaked copy and rang the media alarm. By Friday afternoon, the story was all over the place.
The 19 million Alaska acres on Pombo's list:
• Aniakchak National Monument and Preserve
• Bering Land Bridge National Preserve
• Cape Krusenstern National Monument
• Kobuk Valley National Park
• Lake Clark National Park and Preserve
• Noatak National Preserve
• Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve
Pombo, R-Calif., included the park sell-off in a draft of the budget reconciliation bill, a tool Congress sometimes uses to reach budget goals. As chairman of the resources committee, he was charged with proposing changes to public land laws to raise or save $2.4 billion. As expected, his draft also includes a plan to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling, which is projected to meet Pombo's revenue requirement on its own.
Kristin Pugh, a spokeswoman for Sen. Lisa Murkowski, said she likes the ANWR part. As for the Pombo's park proposal, "I can definitely tell you that Sen. Murkowski won't be going along with that," Pugh said.
Pete Schaeffer, chairman of the Cape Krusenstern subsistence resources commission in Kotzebue, doesn't think it is a joke. He sees the draft as a threat to the rural Alaskans who depend on hunting in those parks for their food.
The government needs money, and the deficit is ballooning, he said. The rest of the country might think selling Alaska parks is a good idea, he said.
"With our 'bridges to nowhere,' there's probably little sympathy for us," Schaeffer said, referring to the $450 million Alaska got this summer for two mega-spans.
Pombo is a rancher who represents the San Joaquin Valley and believes the government intrudes too much on private property owners. His congressional Web site features photos of him in a cowboy hat as well as recipes for his "BBQ marinade" and guacamole.
ROSE RIPE FOR PLUCKING?
The National Association of Broadcasters is about to pick a new president and, since one of their bigger lobbying targets is Sen. Ted Stevens, they might be wise to pick his beloved former chief of staff, Mitch Rose.
Stevens is pulling for Rose to get the job, according to a story tlast week in the Capitol Hill paper Roll Call.
"Regardless of what the NAB does or doesn't do, Sen. Stevens' go-to guy on broadcasting issues will still be Mitch Rose," Stevens' aide Lisa Sutherland told the publication.
Stevens, as chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, decides things the trade association cares a great deal about, like media ownership limits, indecency rules and the transition to digital television. The communication and electronics lobby is now the biggest contributor to his campaign, with contributions nearing $400,000 since 2001, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
Rose, a former Anchorage boy and now The Walt Disney Co.'s vice president for government relations, said he appreciates whatever kind words Stevens or his people might have put in for him.
"It's very nice of them to be supportive," he said.
Stevens, according to Roll Call, The Wall Street Journal and other publications, has declined to meet with Hollywood's main lobbyist, Dan Glickman of the Motion Picture Association of America. His hard feelings reportedly date to Glickman's Tongass National Forest decisions as President Clinton's agriculture secretary.
FISH FLAP PLAYS IN INDIA
Howard Dean, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, has denounced state Sen. Ben Stevens' Adak fish deal, according to an article in the Hindustan Times.
Yes, the Hindustan Times, which claims to be India's most comprehensive portal on politics. It ran, at least on its Web site, a story about the Ben Stevens flap -- his secret option to buy part of a company that benefited from an exclusive fishing right his father, U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, stuck in a 2003 spending bill.
"Story" might be a bit generous. The HT subscribes to a service that feeds it official press releases, and it was one of very few news outlets to run the Democratic party media announcement, in which Dean decried the Stevens episode as an example of a Republican "culture of corruption."
Ted Stevens has furiously defended his 2003 fishery allocation to the Aleut Corp., saying he pushed for it to help the Aleut people and never discussed the matter with his son.
Washington Notes takes a periodic look at Alaska people and topics in the nation's capital. It is written by Daily News Washington correspondent Liz Ruskin.
