Nevadan Bob Abbey confirmed to lead BLM

By Lisa Mascaro

Friday, Aug. 7, 2009 | 9:51 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- After a brief confirmation battle, Nevada’s Bob Abbey was confirmed today as the Interior Department’s director of the Bureau of Land Management.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid personally recommended Abbey, the former state BLM director in Nevada, to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar for the post.

“No one is more qualified for this position,” Reid said in a statement.

“Bob understands the challenges that our state can sometimes face,” Reid said. The senator said he looks forward to working with Abbey “to preserve Nevada’s natural resources and to responsibly and rapidly develop our renewable energy potential.”

Abbey had been the top pick for the job, but his nomination was stalled after Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona announced his opposition because of an Interior Department dispute over a copper mine proposed for a national forest in his state.

Abbey served eight years as the bureau’s director in Nevada, a state with nearly 90 percent federal lands. He led the Great Basin Restoration Initiative, which added resources to restore the area. More recently, he was in private practice as a consultant in Nevada.

Salazar praised Abbey as a veteran public lands policy leader.

“Bob has more than 32 years of experience working with states and federal land management agencies,” Salazar said in a statement. “He has a proven record of strong leadership and accomplishments and will be an outstanding Director of the Bureau of Land Management.”