CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) _ Western leaders were split on whether the GOP vice presidential choice of Wyoming's Dick Cheney would help or hurt the region, particularly on long-disputed land and environmental issues.
Democrats fear Cheney could favor more grazing and mining on public lands, while Republicans say he would give Westerners a needed voice.
"I don't think Governor Bush could have found a better running mate," Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said in a statement. "I believe we can count on him to be an effective advocate for issues that are unique to rural states such as Utah."
Those issues worry Larry Mehlhaff, Wyoming regional director the Sierra Club. He said Cheney's ties to the oil industry, most recently as chairman of a Texas-based oil engineering and construction, could prove damaging to the environment.
Cheney's congressional record also includes votes against the Clean Water Act and requiring oil companies to report toxic emissions, Mehlhaff said.
Former Utah Democrat Rep. Wayne Owens, who served on a House environmental committee with Cheney, said a Bush-Cheney administration would likely slam the brakes on any resolution for contentious issues involving Utah's wilderness.
But he praised his former colleague's temperament and levelheadedness, even though he disagreed with his politics.
"I'd think it would be a stronger ticket if he were at the top," Owens said. "He fills so many of the weakness that the head of the ticket has in terms of international relations and defense policy."
Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance spokesman Mike Reberg said the environmental movement would be under fire from a Bush-Cheney White House.
"With George Bush and now Dick Cheney as vice president we're assured a two-pistoled assault on environment," Reberg said. "It's obvious Bush isn't looking for help from conservation-minded voters."
Nevada Sen. Harry Reid, the second-ranking Senate Democrat, said Bush's pick was a typical concession to the Republican right.
"He wants to make sure he doesn't offend anybody in the right, right wing of the Republican Party," said Reid.
Reid said he doubts Bush ever considered moderate candidates, like Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge, who was rumored on the short list.
"It shows they know they have a bunch of crazies in their party and they can't do anything to lose any support within the party. If they do that, it's history for them," said Reid.
"I think it just shows how out of touch George Bush is," said Utah Democratic Party Chairwoman Megan Holbrooke. "We're going into the new millennium and George Bush is going backward. ... It looks like its 'Back to the Future' with him."
Area Republicans disagreed.
Utah Sen. Bob Bennett called Cheney a "superb pick," and said Bush based the decision on Cheney's talent, rather than political geography. Bush joked that he hadn't picked Cheney "because of Wyoming's three electoral votes."
Cheney was deputy assistant to President Ford in 1974-75, White House chief of staff 1975-76 and served in Congress for Wyoming from 1979 until 1989, when he accepted the secretary of defense post under President George Bush.
"Dick Cheney is a conservative. There is no question about that," said Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources subcommittee on forests. "For the West, it is an extremely important choice."
(Copyright 2000 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
