Not only is it great to hear the Democrats have taken back the House of Representatives, a capture that will swing the chairmanships of committees key to the national parks, such as the House Resources Committee and the House Parks Subcommittee, it's great to hear that Richard Pombo has been told to head back to his ranch.
    Despite living in a district that was tailor-made for Republicans, Pombo was ousted by Democrat Jerry McNerney, who won 53 percent of the vote.
    Pombo has been chairman of the House Resources Committee and as such has worked to dismantle the Endangered Species Act and open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil exploration. He even suggested at one point that some national park units be sold off to generate revenue for the government.
    As Resource Committee chair Pombo also picked Stevan Pearce of New Mexico to head the House Parks subcommittee, and as such Pearce has looked at whether the National Park Service Organic Act needs to be tinkered with and took it on his own shoulders to tell former National Park Service Director Fran Mainella how to rewrite her agency's Management Policies.
    Unfortunately, Pearce was re-elected. But under the Democratic control of the House, he'll lose his chairmanship.