Idaho Official to Head BLM

WASHINGTON – President Bush said Wednesday he is nominating James Caswell, a public land official in Idaho, to head the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management.

The appointment requires Senate approval. Caswell, who now runs Idaho’s Office of Species Conservation, would succeed Kathleen Clarke, who resigned in February. Jim Hughes has served as acting director since then.

Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne, a former Idaho governor and senator, praised Caswell.

“I’ve known Jim Caswell personally and admire his ‘can do’ attitude, pragmatic leadership style and outstanding management skills,” Kempthorne said in a statement. “His proven expertise in coordinating endangered species programs on public lands and his ability to build strong, effective partnerships make him well-qualified for this position.”

Under Caswell’s leadership, the Office of Species Conservation won the Idaho legislature’s approval for two politically charged issues – a wolf management plan and a Yellowstone grizzly bear management plan.

Caswell previously spent roughly three decades in various positions with the Bureau of Land Management, Bonneville Power Administration and the U.S. Forest Service.

BLM manages 258 million acres, about one-eighth of the land in the United States. Most of that land – grasslands, forests, high mountains, arctic tundra and deserts – is in the West. It also oversees about 700 million acres of minerals below the land’s surface.

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On the Net:

Interior Department: http://www.doi.gov