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Medford welcomes Dick Cheney photo by Bob Pennell V.P. hopeful speaks out on monuments, abortion By Dani Dodge CENTRAL POINT � President Clinton has created national monuments "willy-nilly," and a Bush-Cheney administration would consider possibly rescinding the designations, Republican vice presidential candidate Dick Cheney said Thursday. "I certainly believe we will review those," Cheney said of the new monuments, including the 52,000-acre Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument created in Southern Oregon this summer. Cheney, speaking during a campaign trip to the Rogue Valley, noted that a final decision would belong to Bush. "I�d have to look at it on a case-by-case-basis." Cheney�s Southern Oregon visit Thursday was meant to garner support for the ticket in rural America by highlighting Bush-Cheney policies on education and agriculture. But questions at a press roundtable centered on natural resource issues: water, oil, dams and national monuments. Cheney was quick to point out that he comes from rural stock. His earliest memories, he said, are of growing up on a Nebraska farm. At 13 he moved to Wyoming, where he eventually became the state�s six-term congressman before serving as President George Bush�s secretary of defense. As a Wyoming lawmaker, he said, he faced many of the natural resource issues Oregonians face today. "You have to strike a balance," Cheney said. "Most people move to the West because they have a great love of the natural environment. But we also have an economy we want to see flourish. "He called Clinton�s energy policy "incoherent. "In response to a question about the future of declining Northwest fish stocks and the effects of hydroelectric dams, Cheney said he doesn�t believe in breaching dams because it means less electricity. The reason gas prices are high, he said, is because production isn�t meeting demand, suggesting that instead of relying on foreign oil, American companies should be developing American reserves. He said one good place would be in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. He said oil exploration doesn�t equal environmental degradation: Technology has decreased the "footprint" of oil exploration. When it comes to environmental initiatives such as creating new national monuments, Cheney said President Clinton has used his executive authority "willy-nilly all over the West." He said Clinton has failed to consider and consult the people affected. "What Bill Clinton is doing is totally ignoring any sense of what people want done," Cheney said. Clinton has created or added to 10 national monuments covering almost 4 million acres during his presidency. Although the monuments are celebrated by environmentalists, they have been decried by others who are concerned they will hurt the economy by removing land from grazing, logging and mining uses. In June, Clinton created the 52,000-acre Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument with Soda Mountain at its center. The area is about 10 miles southeast of Ashland on the Oregon border. The declaration bans commercial logging, except when it benefits the environment; prohibits mining; and places livestock grazing under close scientific scrutiny that may lead to an eventual ban on that historic practice as well. Cheney said he remembers being offended by out-of-staters trying to make wilderness policy for Wyoming. A Bush-Cheney administration would mean a "great change," he said: Policy-makers would "listen to people at the local level." In Wyoming, Cheney said, he helped create a million-acre wilderness area. But only after years of study in which everyone got their say. "We ultimately got a consensus," he said. That would contrast with an Al Gore presidency, said Cheney, who called Gore�s style "antithetical to building coalitions" and cited Gore�s attacks on pharmaceutical companies. On the other hand, Cheney said, Bush will be able to work with Congress and others to get things done. "Bush can build those coalitions," Cheney said. In a brief interview with the Associated Press after leaving Southern Oregon, Cheney said a Bush administration wouldn�t seek out abortion foes to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. "We don�t have any litmus test when it comes time to pick judges," Cheney said, confronting Democratic claims that a Bush presidency would erode abortion rights. He and Bush would favor a ban on partial-birth abortion, Cheney said, but "there�s not a majority in Congress to support a Human Life Amendment" to ban abortion outright. Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA