Grijalva

As president-elect Barack Obama begins to fill out the lower-profile seats in his cabinet, one choice could draw particularly high interest in St. Louis.

Obama has yet to chose his Interior Secretary, whose purview spans the country’s national parks and memorials — including the Arch grounds.

One name apparently on the short list for the post is Arizona congressman Raúl Grijalva, who chairs the House National Parks Subcommittee.

Elected to his fourth term last month, Grijalva is the son of a Mexican immigrant. He represents a vast desert district that is as new as it is big — it was created after the 2000 census, and has a land area greater than the state of New Jersey.

If indeed Grijalvais is the choice, former Sen. John Danforth — who has been leading the push to improve the Arch grounds — may have trouble compelling the Interior Department to make it a priority.

The current Interior Secretary is Dirk Kempthorne of Idaho, who served in the Senate with Danforth. (Danforth recently wrote Kempthorne a “heads up” that, because of the souring economy, his family endowment might not be able to cover the $50 million initially pledged towards the Arch project.)

Doesn’t seem likely that Danforth, a Republican, would have a similar rapport with Grijalvais.

Not only did Danforth leave Capitol Hill before he arrived, but the Arizonan is a staunch environmentalist, currently tussling with the Bush Adminstration over mining on public lands.

Getting him to back more building on the open Arch grounds — as Danforth has proposed — could be a tough sell.