Environmentalists hope Bush’s BLM choice is better for Nevada

Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2001 | 10:46 a.m.

SUN STAFF AND WIRE SOURCES

WASHINGTON -- Las Vegas Bureau of Land Management officials and Nevada environmentalists are reserving judgment on President Bush's choice to lead the federal agency that oversees 264 million acres of public land, mostly in 12 Western states.

Kathleen Burton Clarke, Utah's natural resources manager, is Bush's choice to head the Bureau of Land Management. The White House on Monday announced Bush's intention to nominate Clarke, who, if confirmed by the Senate, would become the first woman in the Interior Department job.

"Let's hope she is better for Nevada," Kalynda Tilges, nuclear coordinator for Citizen Alert, a statewide watchdog organization, said.

Mark Morris, BLM field manager for Las Vegas, said the agency needs a facilitator who can work with Congress, as well as competing interests seeking to use public lands.

"Not only does the BLM manage a lot of land, the communities that are the fastest growing -- St. George, Las Vegas, Phoenix -- are next to public lands," he said.

Clarke said she was honored to be chosen and will bring to the job management and organizational skills and a proven ability to bring together disparate groups.

"The challenges are finding a balance. We have to always find balance between using the public lands and conserving the public lands. The conflicts are inherent," Clarke said in an interview.

Interior Secretary Gale Norton, likewise a Westerner, from Colorado, said Clarke has broad experience to help her fulfill BLM's mission to protect public lands, protecting the Great Salt Lake and $3 million for endangered species protection in Utah.

The 51-year-old director of the Utah Department of Natural Resources is a lawyer who began her government career as a receptionist for the late Republican Sen. Wallace Bennett, who represented Utah from 1951 through 1974.

From 1987 to 1993 she directed constituent services for Rep. Jim Hansen, R-Utah, now chairman of the House Resources Committee, and ran his office in Ogden, Utah. Clarke joined Utah GOP Gov. Mike Leavitt's administration in 1993, working with then state Natural Resources Department director Ted Stewart, now a federal district judge in Utah.

Clarke, born and reared in the Salt Lake City area, also has been co-owner with her former husband of a residential construction and real estate business in Kaysville, Utah.