Babbitt Retreats From Transferring BLM Director Baca
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WASHINGTON — Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt backed down from a plan to replace one of his senior land managers, agreeing Friday to allow Bureau of Land Management Director Jim Baca to remain in his post.
Babbitt’s about-face concluded an embarrassing and awkward episode for the Clinton Administration during which environmentalists rallied to Baca’s defense and he refused to accept a new post. Although Interior Department officials characterized that new position as a promotion, it was widely seen as a way to isolate Baca, a vocal advocate of fundamental changes in the way the department regulates grazing and mining on public land. Baca is one of the highest-ranking Latinos in the Administration.
Babbitt agreed to let him remain as head of BLM, which manages 260 million acres of land in the West, at a meeting Friday night.
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