U.S. Interior Secretary Norton Resigns; Served 5 Yrs

U.S. Interior Secretary Gale Norton, whose agency oversees one out of every five acres of land in the nation, will resign at the end of the month after serving five years in the Bush administration. Norton, who helped champion drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, faced criticism for efforts to give oil, mining and timber companies greater access to federal lands. Congress is investigating her agency to see whether it is collecting all the royalties oil and gas companies should be paying for drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. ``There will never be a perfect time to leave,'' Norton said in the letter, dated March 9. ``There is always more work to do,'' she told Bush. ``My leaving now gives you the opportunity to appoint a new secretary to accomplish the goals you set for the rest of your administration.'' Norton, who was sworn in on Jan. 31, 2001, is the first woman to serve as interior secretary. The department manages 504 million acres of federal lands, operates the National Park Service and oversees relations with 562 American Indian tribes through its Bureau of Indian Affairs....