Ex-cabinet members criticize Bush over national parks jobs

[LauraK]

"The national parks are not a shopping mall to be privatized," said Udall, who was appointed to head the Interior Department by President Kennedy in 1960 and served until 1969.

"I'm appalled at the direction this administration has taken. This is the first administration in the last century that is clearly anti-conservation," Udall said Tuesday during a news conference at the Rio Grande Nature Center.

Babbitt, who served under President Clinton, said that under current Bush administration policy, up to 70 percent of National Park Service jobs are at risk of becoming privatized next year.

He said an Interior Department appropriations bill approved by the House would reject privatizing jobs at national parks, but the White House has threatened to veto the measure.

"The last wild places are up for grabs," Udall said.

"This president, with the records he has set so far, makes his father look like a knight in shining armor," Udall said.

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