Made-Up Name For Eco-Balance
Effort Slowly Gaining Support

WASHINGTON —(AP)— The joys of being a governor include a security detail, rides on the state airplane — and the ability to make up a word and have other people use it.

Two Western governors invented a word called ``enlibra,'' which to a lot of people might sound like a disease or a zodiac sign.

But Govs. Michael Leavitt, R-Utah, and John Kitzhaber, D-Ore., see enlibra as a way to reach consensus on some environmental battles that have gripped the West for decades.

As the governors describe it, enlibra represents eight principles that governments, businesses and environmentalists can use to solve problems such as pollution, endangered species and how to best make use of land.

The principles are straightforward, such as focus on results, use credible science and let states decide how to meet federal standards.

Nine months after the word and principles debuted, enlibra draws skepticism from environmental activists, confusion from others and jokes from those who can't resist poking fun at a made-up word.

But there are signs that enlibra is making small gains, too.

The word has been adopted as a philosophy among Utah state officials and has shown up as the ``enlibra alternative'' in a proposed state plan for managing the Great Salt Lake. Leavitt said a couple of dozen counties have adopted enlibra as well.

The U.S. Forest Service has also decided to support the ``enlibra doctrine,'' apparently becoming the first federal agency to do so. ``The agency looks forward to working with the Western governor's Association on enlibra's natural resource conservation elements,'' spokesman George Lennon said in a statement.

And the Western Governors Association, meeting in the nation's capital last month, approved the formation of a task force that will further refine the principles and suggest ways the governors can help spread the principles more broadly.

``There's a lot of confusion about what it is and what it isn't, and there's a lot of skepticism,'' said Kitzhaber, who briefed national environmental leaders on the word last month in the nation's capital. ``But I think we're moving from cynicism to skepticism.''

Leavitt hopes the word, formed from two separate Latin words that roughly translate as ``toward balance,'' will do for the West what perestroika did for the former Soviet Union.

``Most people believe in good stewardship and balance; that is the broad middle of the American mindset on the environment,'' Leavitt said. ``The problem is there is no symbol for that, there are only symbols for the extremes.''

So one morning more than a year ago, Leavitt stopped in a public library to find a Latin dictionary in his quest to create a word.

``I just figured there are so many words that have Latin derivation that if you were going to make up a word, that would be a good language to use,'' he said.

Wyoming Gov. Jim Geringer, a Republican and the head of the Western Governors Association, said the principles were taken from state environmental plans that have been proven to work, such as an Oregon plan for salmon and a plan to clean up air pollution in the Grand Canyon.

``Enlibra calls for people to not be so rigid and only stake out one position,'' he said. ``Recognize that much of moving forward means moving small steps, that you don't achieve it all at one time.''

But environmental activists say they are skeptical, claiming many of the Western governors have fought to protect industry interests in their state and have had run-ins with green groups.

Activists, for instance, have criticized Leavitt for wanting to develop the Legacy Highway next to the Salt Lake. They criticized Montana Gov. Marc Racicot, a Republican, for opposing a ballot measure to ban use of cyanide in certain gold mines. And they wonder whether a statewide plan by Washington state Gov. Gary Locke, a Democrat, will go far enough to restore fish populations in the state.

``We are very suspicious of enlibra,'' said Bill Snape, legal director for Defenders of Wildlife, who contends the doctrine could be used to skirt federal environmental laws.

Ross Vincent of the Sierra Club in Pueblo, Colo., said nothing has changed his mind that enlibra ``was great political rhetoric, but based on the past performance of most of the governors involved, probably not that serious.''

Industry leaders say they are weary of federal solutions being forced on states that are willing and able to solve their own problems.

``People are looking for a different way to solve these problems,'' said Charles Burley of the Northwest Forestry Association, which represents forest product manufacturers. ``We're more than willing to try to give these kinds of things a chance.''

The governors have taken their share of ribbing about the word. Alaska Democratic Gov. Tony Knowles asked Kitzhaber if he could envision Alaskan miners chanting, `Enlibra! Enlibra! Enlibra!''

But Leavitt said the kidding speaks to the charm of the word.

``I tell people my goal for the year is to have it added to spell check,'' he said.