IDAHO GOVERNOR NOMINATED AS INTERIOR SECRETARY

(ENS) WASHINGTON -- President Bush Thursday announced his intention to nominate Idaho Governor Dirk Kempthorne to be Secretary of the Interior. If confirmed by the Senate, Kempthorne would replace the present secretary, Gale Norton, who announced earlier this month that she is leaving to return to the private sector.

Governor Kempthorne has served as Idaho's governor since 1999. He has served as chairman of the National Governors Association, chairman of the Western Governors Association, and president of the Council of State Governments. Governor Kempthorne was also a member of the Columbia River Basin Forum, which established a regional plan to save wild salmon in the northwest.

Prior to serving as Idaho's Chief Executive, Governor Kempthorne was a member of the United States Senate. During that time, he served as Chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Drinking Water, Fisheries and Wildlife. He also served as Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Personnel.

Born in San Diego, Kempthorne attended the University of Idaho. Kempthorne served seven years as the mayor of Boise. He was elected to the U.S. Senate in November 1992 and served one six year term.

Governors and members of Congress of both parties voiced their support of Kempthorne to head the Interior Department, but environmentalists were less pleased.

Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid said, "I have known Dirk Kempthorne for many years, serving with him in the House and on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, and I have great respect for him. Dirk and I both come from Western states, so I know he understands the issues facing our region.

"I hope that together we can improve on the Bush Administration's public lands policies of the last five years, and especially that we can protect the intent of the Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act," said Reid.

Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano, a Democrat who currently chairs the 18 state Western Governors' Association (WGA), and Vice Chair Governor Mike Rounds of South Dakota, a Republican, said in a statement, "We are pleased to see our colleague, Gov. Dirk Kempthorne of Idaho, a former chairman of the Western Governors' Association, nominated as the next Secretary of the Interior. Dirk has helped lead WGA's successful, collaborative efforts to improve forest and rangeland health in the West."

"He has been tireless in working to improve the Endangered Species Act as a Governor and as a former U.S. Senator. WGA valued his leadership as we developed our recommendations for streamlining the Act, making it more workable, increasing the role of the states, and providing greater certainty for and more technical assistance to landowners and water-users," the two governors said.

But Earthjustice staff attorney Todd True expressed the opposite opinion. "Governor Kempthorne has built his career by pushing an anti-environmental agenda and catering to the oil, mining, and timber industries. Kempthorne is cut from the same cloth as Gale Norton. He will be a cheerleader for the Bush administration's efforts to open public lands to industrial development.

"As governor, Kempthorne led the charge to strip protection from 60 million acres of America's last wild forests and he's consistently fought against protection for wildlife like grizzly bears and salmon in his home state of Idaho," said True. "He's openly hostile to America's natural areas and wildlife -- which puts him outside the mainstream of what people want to see for their children and their future."

As Senator, Kempthorne cast one pro-environmental vote in six years, according to the League of Conservation Voters Scorecard.

He also introduced a bill to undermine the Endangered Species Act that was unanimously opposed by conservation and scientific groups.

Philip Clapp, president of the National Environmental Trust, said, "Governor Kempthorne was the obvious choice to succeed Gale Norton. He's a Western Republican politician and he has a 20- year track record of trying to open public lands to oil and gas drilling, logging and mining companies."

"He also has something Gale Norton didn't -- a tight web of relationships with the restive Republican majority in the Congress, where the Bush White House badly needs help," Clapp said. "At a time when these controversial issues need a leader who can find common ground, the president could not have chosen a more divisive nominee."