U.S. Department of the Interior
Office of the Secretary

Contact:
Paul Bledsoe (202) 208-3171
James Workman (202) 208-6416


For Immediate Release: October 13, 1995

Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt will visit five Virginia cities October 18-20 to discuss environmental success stories in the Old Dominion and to warn Virginians of Congressional attacks on the nation's environmental and natural resource laws.

Babbitt will visit Norfolk, Richmond, Lynchburg, Charlottesville and Old Town Alexandria in the three day sweep, discussing Republican measures in Congress to close national parks, allow billion-dollar giveaways of taxpayer mineral rights, weaken Clean Water Act protection, and eviscerate the Endangered Species Act.

"From the Blue Ridge to Tidewater, Virginia is a glorious land that has been helped by environmental protection," Babbitt said. "Unfortunately, the current Congress has mounted an assault on our natural resources, planning to close parks and dismantling the law that cleans up waters like the James River and Chesapeake Bay. People need to know that this is happening. No one campaigned to close parks and pollute watersheds last November, and somehow I don't think that's what people voted for."

Babbitt kicks off the tour on Wednesday, October 18, at 10:00 a.m. in Norfolk. The Secretary will tour Naval conservation programs and then discuss efforts by the Navy to increase wildlife habitat protection and its role as the lead Defense Department agency in the clean-up of the Chesapeake Bay.

That afternoon, at 1 p.m., Babbitt will hold a roundtable discussion with local business and civic leaders on Belle Island on the James River in Richmond. The discussion will focus on the remarkable clean-up of the James River, which has led to increased recreational and business opportunities along its banks. Republican leaders in Congress are drastically weakening the key law, The Clean Water Act, which has helped restore hundreds of rivers nationwide over the last twenty years.

On Thursday, October 19, at 10:00 a.m, Secretary Babbitt will hold a press conference at Appomattox National Historic Park outside Lynchburg. This historic site, like many others throughout Virginia, is in danger of being closed by a park closure commission bill pending in the House of Representatives.

Later that day at 1 p.m., Babbitt will address students, faculty and other guests from the steps of the rotunda at the University of Virginia campus in Charlottesville. Babbitt's remarks will emphasize the spiritual value of our natural landscape and the way in which its protection can bring Americans together.

The final event on the tour will take place Friday, October 20, at 10:00 a.m. in Old Town Alexandria. Secretary Babbitt will meet local citizens and business people to discuss the tremendous boost the restoration of the Potomac River has given to tourism and recreation in Old Town.

"The Clean Water Act has created new, democratic, public commons on the Chesapeake, James River, and Potomac waterfronts," said Babbitt. "It has opened up new opertunities, and brought us closer to waters that we grew up alongside. I can't understand Congress' obsessive rush to tear it all apart."