WASHINGTON - The Interior Department is running the old-fashioned way, a month after a federal judge pulled the plug on the department's Internet connections. Piles of paper have taken the place of e-mails, and phone call queries have replaced clicks on a Web site.

The situation is causing headaches for the public and agency employees, most of whom have lost their Web access.

"I think we're all working very hard to try to deal with these problems," said Interior spokesman Hugh Vickery. "We're in the 21st century now and when your e-mail and Web get taken away, it's a real challenge." Computer users no longer can look for information on endangered species from the Fish and Wildlife Service Web site or get campground information for the Grand Canyon from the National Park Service site.

Information on leasing land or adopting a wild horse from the Bureau of Land Management no longer is available via the Internet. Even the recruitment of BLM's summer firefighters has been hindered, said bureau spokeswoman Celia Boddington.

The Fish and Wildlife Service can't distribute wetlands conservation grants because it can't receive online applications, spokesman Mitch Snow said. And state planners and developers can't get the service's endangered species list or wetlands maps.

The disruption also has affected 40,000 Indians who normally get royalty checks from the Interior Department for leases on their land, but haven't since the computer blackout.

It's a strange twist, since U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth shut down the agency's computer system on Dec. 5 so the department could fix security problems that he said threatened the Indians' money.

Lamberth is presiding in a 5-year-old lawsuit brought by Indians over the Interior Department's acknowledged century-long mismanagement of a trust fund for royalties from their land.

"This is clearly a problem of Interior's creation," said Keith Harper, an attorney with the Native American Rights Fund. He said Interior's extraordinary efforts to make sure its employees get paid while 40,000 Indians go without - despite Lamberth's instructions to pay the Indians - "is just appalling." "Some of these are for the poorest people in the country. We're talking about folks who are using this money for basic, basic needs: keeping electricity on, buying heating oil, buying jackets for their kids," Harper said.

Portions of the department's communications are being restored, under strict oversight by court-appointed investigator Alan Balaran. Systems for law enforcement and Indian welfare services have been restored and the U.S. Geological Survey's Web site can again be accessed.

But nobody knows how long it will take to install necessary security systems so the rest of the operation can be brought back online.

Balaran said he wants the reconnection done quickly. "I will not, however, accept any shortcuts which could ultimately compromise trust data," he said in a letter to Interior lawyers sent Friday.

Denver Post

-- Anonymous, January 05, 2002

Answers

Agency struggles without computers

By The Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Because of a court ruling, the Interior Department is running the old-fashioned way: computerless.

Piles of paper have replaced e-mails, and telephoned queries have replaced clicks on Web sites.

A month after a federal judge pulled the plug on the department's Internet connections, the situation is causing headaches for the public and agency employees alike.

``I think we're all working very hard to try to deal with these problems,'' Interior spokesman Hugh Vickery said Friday. ``We're in the 21st century now, and when your e-mail and Web get taken away, it's a real challenge.''

Computer users no longer can look for information on endangered species from the Fish and Wildlife Service's Web site or get campground information for the Grand Canyon from the National Park Service's site.

Information on leasing land or adopting a wild horse from the Bureau of Land Management no longer is available via the Internet. Even recruitment of the bureau's summer firefighters has been hindered, bureau spokeswoman Celia Boddington said.

At the Fish and Wildlife Service, spokesman Mitch Snow said wetlands conservation grants can't be distributed because the service cannot receive online applications. And state planners and developers can't get the service's endangered species lists or wetlands maps.

The disruption also has affected 40,000 American Indians, who normally get royalty checks from the Interior Department for leases on their land but have received none since the computer blackout.

It's a strange twist that U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth shut down the agency's computers so the department could repair security problems he said threatened the Indians' royalty money.

Lamberth is presiding in a 5-year-old lawsuit brought by Indians over the Interior Department's acknowledged centurylong mismanagement of a trust fund for royalties from their land.

``This is clearly a problem of Interior's creation,'' said Keith Harper, an attorney with the Native American Rights Fund. He said Interior's extraordinary efforts to make sure its employees get paid while 40,000 Indians go without, ignoring Lamberth's instructions to pay the Indians, ``is just appalling.''

``Some of these are for the poorest people in the country. We're talking about folks who are using this money for basic, basic needs: keeping electricity on, buying heating oil, buying jackets for their kids,'' Harper said.

Portions of the department's communications are being restored, under oversight by court-appointed investigator Alan Balaran. Systems for law enforcement and Indian welfare services have been restored, and the U.S. Geological Survey's Web site can again be accessed.

But nobody knows how long it will take to install necessary security systems so the rest of the operation can be brought back online. Balaran said he wants the reconnection done quickly. ``I will not, however, accept any shortcuts which could ultimately compromise trust data,'' he said.

Register Guard

-- Anonymous, January 10, 2002