Bush Waves Goodbye to Another State

New Mexico is supposed to be a battleground state, which, like say, Iowa is given clout well beyond its electoral votes because of just how close the election is going to be.

In 2000, New Mexico went Gore by 366 votes. If Bush could win it, he would make Kerry's job that much more difficult.

But apparently, Bush has given up on that idea.

Overriding the opposition of the U.S. Forest Service and New Mexico state officials, a White House energy task force has interceded on behalf of Houston-based El Paso Corp. in its two-year effort to explore for natural gas in a remote part of a national forest next door to America's largest Boy Scout camp.

Forest Service officials discouraged efforts to drill in the Valle Vidal at least three times since the agency acquired the land in 1982, citing concerns about water pollution, wildlife and recreation if a large-scale energy project were approved...

Home to 200 species of birds and 60 types of mammals, including one of the state's largest elk herds, the "Valley of Life," as it was named by Latino pioneers, has been a proving ground for generations of young men and women in a wilderness training program run by the Boy Scouts of America.

Since 1938, the Boy Scouts have operated a national training center on the 200-square-mile Philmont Ranch southeast of the Valle Vidal. Each year some 25,000 young people converge on the ranch for a host of outdoor activities.

But when the Forest Service, in consultation with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, rejected El Paso Corp.'s request in 2002, the company appealed to the administration.

Believe it or not, there are a number of conservatives and independents who like to hunt, fish, and camp in their home state of New Mexico.