CONSERVATION CORNER
April 10, 2006
Bush Nominates Kempthorne As Interior Secretary
by James L. Cummins

President George W. Bush has nominated Governor Dirk Kempthorne of Idaho to be the next Secretary of the Interior. The Department of Interior is responsible for managing our national parks and national wildlife refuges, conserving our natural resources and pursuing energy development on federal lands and waters.

In doing so, Bush stated, "I've nominated Dirk to succeed an outstanding public servant, Gale Norton. As the Secretary of the Interior for the past five years, she was instrumental in establishing the Healthy Forests Initiative, to protect communities from catastrophic wildfire and to improve habitat. When Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast region, she helped lead the efforts to restore offshore energy production, so that Americans would not suffer further supply disruptions and price increases. Future generations of Americans will be able to enjoy our great national parks and wildlife refuges because of Gale's untiring work. Gale was one of the original members of my Cabinet, and the first woman in American history to hold the post of Secretary of the Interior. I appreciate her dedicated service."

As Secretary of the Interior, Kempthorne will continue the Bush Administration's efforts to conserve our land, water and air resources, reduce the maintenance backlog of our national parks, support historic and cultural sites through our Preserve America Initiative and develop the energy potential of federal lands and waters in environmentally sensitive ways.

Kempthorne has served as Mayor of Boise, as Governor of Idaho and as a United States Senator. While in the Senate, he chaired the Subcommittee on Drinking Water, Fisheries and Wildlife. He has a passion for helping people, finding solutions to complex problems and making our country a better place to live, work and raise a family. One of Kempthorne's strong points is his ability to bring people to the table and to work together to build consensus. I fully expect him to reach out to all constituent groups, seek bipartisan support, to find common ground and to build consensus.

While in the U.S. Senate in 1996, he introduced legislation to provide numerous tax benefits, including tax credits, to private landowners who protect, restore and/or enhance habitat for threatened and endangered species. Senator Thad Cochran was a co-sponsor of this important bill.

I certainly appreciate his willingness to continue serve our nation, this time as the 49th Secretary of the Interior. It is my hope that the U.S. Senate will promptly confirm him to continue the much needed work at the Department of the Interior. He will be a great Secretary.