Idaho Has a Hot Potato

No Cabinet choice was easier for Jimmy Carter to make than that of Idaho Governor Cecil D. Andrus, 45, for Interior Secretary. He was the only man ever considered for the job, said Carter. A flamboyant, maverick Democrat, Andrus has built his political career on the bedrock of espousing conservation causes -a subject that much interests Carter. Andrus gained his experience in a mountainous, 83,550-sq.-mi. state, where nearly two-thirds of the land is under federal control and hence subject to intensive pressures from those who want to exploit its natural resources.

Oregon-born, the son of a sawmill operator, and a hard-driving executive who looks older than his years, Andrus served in the Idaho state senate before running unsuccessfully for Governor in 1966. The next time around, he ignored the minuscule local Democratic machine and concentrated on opposing mining interests who wanted to despoil the White Cloud Peaks -a federal recreation area -n search of molybdenum. After his election, he continued to pound at his preservation theme, winning a long and bitter fight to protect a 2,000-sq.-mi. "primitive area" from lumbering interests. Going against the wishes of local power companies, he opposed construction of a giant coal-fired electrical generator not far from the state capital of Boise. He also demanded that Atomic Energy Commission monitoring of radioactive wastes in the state be double-checked, and pushed hard to maintain Idaho's clean air and water. A Sierra Club spokesman once called Andrus' efforts "absolutely excellent."

One Secret. How Idaho's citizens felt was measurable in Andrus' success as a Democrat -he won 70.9% of the vote in his 1974 race for Governor -in a normally Republican state. One secret of that success: his way (election year or not) of dropping in on Idaho's communities and just walking the streets to see how folks were faring.

Andrus' sensitivity to man-made environmental harm was heightened by the Teton Dam disaster in eastern Idaho, which killed eleven people and caused more than $1 billion damage (TIME, June 21). The Government agency that went ahead with the ill-fated project is the Bureau of Land Reclamation -now within Andrus' domain.

New Militancy. Where Andrus may most have to display his compassion and conscience is in coping with the land claims and welfare of the sadly neglected native Americans. About a million strong, with the highest birthrate in the U.S., the Indians are ravaged by illness, alcoholism and despair. Many are also affected by a new militancy. In Maine, the Passamaquoddy and Penobscot tribes have laid claim to 2.5 million acres of land -two-thirds of the state. Claims are pending against other tracts within the original 13 colonies. Dealing with this and other demands for native justice will require all of Andrus' considerable diplomatic ability.

Diplomacy will also loom large in handling the nation's vastly increased offshore area. Last April, the U.S. proclaimed a 200-mile limit in line with the intentions of the European Community and Canada. Differences remain to be ironed out with Russian and Japanese fishermen, who traditionally have prowled just beyond the old twelve-mile boundary. Interior will also be called on to regulate the rush of corporations to conduct possibly polluting searches for oil and minerals in the sea.

Andrus' instincts lie in the right direction for such challenges. The father of three, a cheerful but bumbling golfer, and a pitchman who has used national TV to sell Idaho potatoes, Andrus will bring the flair to his job -and some of the earthy common sense -that has been little seen since the departure of Walter Hickel in 1970.

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