The Next Interior Secretary

Walter J. Hickel confounded his early critics by becoming, in Ecologist Barry Commoner's words, "too effective." Now conservationists wish they could be sure that the next Interior Secretary will be even a half-Hickel. Indeed, many fear that Rogers C.B. Morton, 56, President Nixon's Secretary-designate, is not really qualified for the job. In an interview with TIME Correspondent Hays Gorey last week, Morton admitted: "I can understand the apprehension."

One alleged problem is Morton's past two years as chairman of the Republican National Committee. "He knows too well where the G.O.P. gets its campaign funds," says John Esposito, a leader of Ralph Nader's Raiders, implying that Morton may be soft on big industrial polluters. On the other hand, Chairman Morton has proved himself an able administrator and skillful politician--qualities that Hickel tended to lack.

Another worry is Morton's voting record on environmental matters as a four-term Congressman from Maryland. According to the scorecard kept by the League of Conservation Voters, Morton rates -- 14 on a scale that goes from a perfect + 25 (Representative Henry S. Reuss of Wisconsin) to a miserable --25 (Representative Page Belcher of Oklahoma). Morton voted against highway beautification and for the SST, which environmentalists consider a disaster. Except for fostering the Assateague Island National Seashore, his attention to bills relating to wildernesses and national parks was spotty. He missed the roll call on proposals to preserve areas in San Rafael, Calif., Biscayne, Fla., and the Great Swamp, N.J.

Eastern Advantage. For all that, the huge (6 ft. 7 in., 285 lbs.) Morton is not without defenders. They stress that he is an Easterner. Traditionally, Interior has gone to Westerners, who tend to be under intense home-state pressure to develop natural resources, not conserve them. In theory, Easterners can escape that pressure.

For his part Morton makes no secret of the fact that he has long wanted the job. "It's a tremendous opportunity to move the power of the bureaucracy," he says. Morton has always been a mover within established systems. A Yale graduate, he successfully managed his Kentucky family's milling business and one of his older brother Thruston's campaigns for Senator. In the early 1950s, he moved to Maryland to be a gentleman farmer, but in 1962 he decided to run for Congress. Affable and articulate, he soon became a popular legislator, serving first on the Interior and later on the Ways and Means committees. In those jobs, he says, he became a confirmed believer in the "committee system," a faith that is likely to help him get new legislation approved on Capitol Hill.

Special Pressure. Morton has firm ideas about the job ahead. He feels that the new Environmental Protection Agency (TIME, Nov. 23) will take care of law enforcement. Conservation, he says, will be his major responsibility. "It is a discipline. It must be practiced by all if it is to succeed. I hope I can make people aware of the problems and their solutions." Among his other thoughts:

THE ALASKA PIPELINE. "There is no dispute about its need. It is a very complex engineering problem, and it is up to us to indemnify in every way against design failure."

WILDERNESS AREAS. "I want more of them, particularly on the East Coast, where people can get to them." OIL SPILLS. "I am a man of the sea. I'm not prepared to say now how we should draft a national policy, but I've been incensed by oil spills in Chesapeake Bay." LAND-USE PLANNING. "We are going to have to control population density. We cannot afford a hodgepodge of local, state and federal approaches to land use. We must develop a long-term national policy."

There is little doubt that Rogers Morton today looks a great deal better than Wally Hickel did at a comparable time in his career. Nobody expects Morton to match Hickel's gusto, drive and independence. But many predict that he will be more politically effective. According to one of his friends, "Rog feels the pressure of Hickel's record. He will not want it said that when Hickel stood up, Morton caved in to special interests."

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