Report: Draft Recommends U.S. Open Land to Drilling April 5, 2001 3:28 am EST

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Draft recommendations by the U.S. Department of Interior for boosting energy production include releasing millions of acres of federal wilderness land for development, USA Today reported on Thursday. The draft proposals, obtained by USA Today, are part of a report being prepared for a Bush administration task force working on developing a national energy policy, the newspaper said.

The preliminary proposals recommend that the administration push Congress to decide how much of the 17 million acres of federal "wilderness study areas" would remain protected and how much would be opened for oil and gas drilling, USA Today said.

Under the draft recommendations, the administration would speed up applications for construction of a natural gas pipeline to deliver gas from Alaska's North Slope, according to the report.

The draft recommendations also urge modification of Forest Service land-use plans that restrict energy development, the newspaper said.

Some Interior officials also have proposed consolidating power over energy exploration decision on federal land within Morton's office and the Bureau of Land Management.

USA Today said Interior Secretary Gale Norton declined to comment on the recommendations before the administration finalizes its energy plans.

"It would be premature for me to talk about any specific proposals," she told the newspaper.

Echoing the energy policy goals of President Bush Norton said in a speech on Wednesday that the U.S. must take a hard look at drilling for oil and gas inside Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Reserve (ANWR), which has been vehemently opposed by environmentalists.

"To avoid unduly betting America's future on Middle East politics, we need to keep finding and opening up new sources of oil and gas," she told an audience of oil and gas executives at the Mineral Management Service's annual awards luncheon in Houston.

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-- Anonymous, April 05, 2001