University of Virginia Library

Cabinet Renegade Hickel
To Address Law Forum

By LAURA HAMMEL

The last member of President
Nixon's cabinet to be sworn in
and the first to be fired, former
Secretary of the Interior Walter
J. Hickel will speak tonight in
Cabell Hall at 8:30 p.m. in an
appearance sponsored by the
University's Student Legal
Forum.

When Mr. Hickel was chosen
for the Cabinet he was virtually
unknown outside of his home
state of Alaska. However, it did
not take him long to become a
household word.

It was his personal letter to
President Nixon that gained
Mr. Hickel nation-wide
attention. The letter was
written in the wake of the
campus protests following the
Cambodian invasion.

Protest Leads To War

"About 200 years ago there
was emerging a great nation in
the British Empire and it found
itself with a colony in violent
protest by its youth–men such
as Patrick Henry, Thomas
Jefferson, Madison, and
Monroe. Their protests fell on
deaf ears and finally led to war.
If we read history, it clearly
shows that youth in its protests
must be heard."

Mr. Hickel said the
Administration seemed "to
lack appropriate concern for
youthful complaints." "I
believe we are in error if we set
out consciously to alienate
those who could be our
friends."

Dismissal From Post

His private letter to Mr.
Nixon found its way to the
press and his continuing
emergence as a critic of certain
Administration policies won
him plaudits from the young,
but set in motion the chain of
events culminating in his
dismissal from his Cabinet
post.

A White House statement on
Hickel's removal said "essential
elements of mutual
confidence" did not exist
between the President and Mr.
Hickel.

Elaborating on the dismissal
a White House aide said,
"Essentially, Wally Hickel just
isn't a team player–and that is
one thing the President won't
tolerate for very long."

Mr. Hickel had been bitterly
opposed by conservationists
when he was nominated for the
Cabinet post, and he was
approved only after five days

of grilling by the Senate
Interior Committee. Ironically,
it was his position as protector
of the environment that led to
the accusation that he was
hindering industrial progress.

Mr. Hickel was not for
"conservation just for
conservation's sake." He
believed that there should be a
balance of developing resources
and protecting them.

"I think the federal
government has the duty to
figure out what is the wisest
use of a stretch of beach, a
body of water, or sections of
public domain."

"A program of all
preservation is obviously
wrong. We have to use our
resources in order to live," Mr.
Hickel stated.

Mr. Hickel was concerned
with minimizing chances of
pollution from off-shore gas
exploration and operation and
exploring oceans for maximum
future utilization of their
fisheries, minerals, and other
resources.

A Man Who Acts

Describing himself as "a man
who likes to act rather than
react to solve a problem before
it becomes insurmountable,"
he launched his department
into the business of supporting
conservation efforts and
working to halt pollution.

Mr. Hickel wanted to enlist
public support for
restructuring his department
by getting a wider range of
citizens involved in Interior
activities. His "Bring the Parks
to the People" program, a
project to build new recreation
grounds near urban centers,
reflects a move toward this
goal.

Work With Indians

He wanted the American
Indians to have a full share of
the responsibilities in
developing their own programs.
Under his direction, a team of
American Indians led the
Bureau of Indian Affairs and
settled land claims, including
the return of the sacred Blue
Lake lands to the Taos Pueblo
Indians of New Mexico.

The Department of the
Interior, under Mr. Hickel's
direction, sponsored the first
environmental "teach-in."
Federal water pollution control
officials spoke to student
seminars on what the
government was doing to
combat water pollution.

Mr. Hickel was instrumental
in halting construction of a