BREATH OF FRESH AIR: President Obama's selection of a mountain-climbing chief executive of an outdoors-goods retailer FOR Interior Secretary underscores the growing influence of outdoor recreation.

COVERING GROUND: Sally Jewell, the chief of Recreational Equipment Inc., also has experience in the oil industry and as a banker. She is expected to be confirmed in coming weeks to head the department, which manages 780,000 square miles of public lands.

UP A TREE? Critics complain that the outdoor industry has worked to lock up valuable lands and stymie development in the West and that Jewell will favor her own industry over others.