Wampum

John Doolittle's in the news again today, and not because tens of thousands of residents of the CA-04 are watching fire crews (staffing on the Agoura fire is now 2,174 -- which is a big fire crew) struggle with 60 mph overnight winds, when fire attack, containment and burn-out should be conducted, and ongoing high winds, high temps, and low humidity.

The estimate is that 800 homes and 275 commercial properties are threatened by the fire, which is burning on the edge of South Lake Tahoe and threatens South Lake Tahoe, Tahoe Valley, Gardner Mountain, Camp Richardson and the Tahoe Keys. The website for the fire is here, and the estimated loss for the almost 200 families already burned out is $141,000,000.

Nope, John Doolittle's in the news today because the DoJ is closing in on his cash cover with Jack Abramoff. The Sac Bee has a nice piece here.

What the SacBee doesn't have is the first page of Gail Norton's daybook. Guess who was first to call Secretary Gail Norton? -- Why yes, it was John Doolittle. Do you suppose he was under the impression that the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit of the Forest Service in the Department of Agriculture actually reported to the Secretary of the Interior, and not the Secretary of Agriculture? Or was he calling on behalf of all the the CA-04's residents who engage in hard rock mining, or drill for oil, or irrigate with federal water? Maybe he was trying to get USGS topo maps at a discount?

I'm sure there was a good reason for a guy with Doolittle's connections to be calling the person Tom Sansonetti, on behallf of the Western States "Wise Use" faction in the Cheney transition, selected for Secretary of the Interior. He needed a recipe for s'mores and instructions on how to start a campfire.