Interior Secretary Manuel Lujan was criticized Thursday for comments he made in Yellowstone National Park concerning the Church Universal and Triumphant and the effect of forest fires two years ago in Yellowstone.
Lujan said Wednesday that the Montana church group poses no threat to the nation's oldest national park. For the past two years, park officials have made strong public statements that some church activities could degrade the park's geothermal resources and its wildlife.Lujan also said it was his impression that fires in 1988 "devastated" Yellowstone, in sharp contrast to efforts by state and federal agencies to downplay the adverse effects of the fires.
In a letter to Lujan on Thursday, Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., said the secretary's comments "reflect a fundamental misunderstanding of two of the most serious issues facing the land and the people of Park and Gallatin counties."
Baucus said Lujan's comments "were out of line with public statements and professional judgments of your own Park Service land managers."
Lujan met with church spiritual leader Elizabeth Clare Prophet on Wednesday in an effort to hear the church's side of the conflicts with the park and to try and bring the two sides closer to conciliation. He said that many of the conflicts between the two parties are "not insurmountable" and that he believed the park and church could be good neighbors.
Rep. Pat Williams, D-Mont., said he was not surprised by Lujan's comments. "Manny's a good friend, but sometimes he's too easily convinced," Williams said.
Steven Goldstein, a spokesman for Lujan, said Lujan's intentions in meeting with church leaders was to try to provide leadership in bringing the church and the park closer together on negotiating solutions to their problems.
He said there will be no additional direction given to the park on how to interact with the church as a result of Lujan's visit.
"I would urge someone not to take the quantum leap. Don't take the comments of the secretary as support for the church," Goldstein said. "What the secretary was stating clearly was he believes it's important to work together and try and reach conciliation."
In the past, park officials have testified in public hearings and before Congress that some activities by the church pose a threat to the greater Yellowstone ecosystem.
Lujan's comment about fire damage in the park prompted the most pointed criticism.
"He must not understand the issues to make statements like that," said Jeanne Marie Souvigney of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition. "There has been a big educational effort that the park was changed by the fires, not devastated. Obviously it hasn't reached him (Lujan)."
Baucus said that he hoped Lujan's remark did not discourage people from traveling to Yellowstone.