Bureau of Reclamation, the authority of earlier years still rests with the Interior Secretary for water policy.

THE WATT TEAM:

   As much as the forceful leadership of Watt himself, the top-level policy group that James Watt -had largely personally hand-picked constitutes one of the most cohesive and dedicated second-level teams of any Cabinet officer in the Reagan Administration. A brief review of who they are is instructive”

-           Secretary of the Interior: James G. Watt, 44-year old lawyer who served as founder and president of the anti-environmentalist Mountain States Legal Foundation in Denver before becoming Secretary. As head of MSLC, Watt successfully countered anti-development actions of the Sierra Club, the NRDC and his predecessor at Interior, Cecil Andrus, in cases representing independent oil and gas producers, mining, agriculture interests and other developments.

   No Cabinet member comes better equipped to tackle the often awesome federal bureaucracy he inherited. He had served in various policy positions in the Interior Department, including Federal Power Commissioner, Deputy Assistant Secretary, and a variety of posts in that agency.  When he arrived in Washington last January, James Watt knew exactly where the intervention points and problem areas lay.

-           Under Secretary: Donald Hodel, the number two man at Interior is known inside the Department as Watt’s “idea man,” and overall policy strategist. The 46-year old administrator was Watt’s personal choice for number two.  Hodel knew Watt when he served under the Interior Department as Bonneville Power Administrator from 1972-until the Carter Administration forced him out in 1977. A strong advocate of high-technology energy development with strong support for the necessary growth of our nation’s nuclear capacity, Hodel has publicly attacked the zero-growth think-tank Club of Rome and the “prophets of shortage who are dragging our regional energy system to the brink of disaster.”

-           Assistant Secretary for Fish, Wildlife and Parks: G. Ray Arnett, former head of the California Department of Fish and Game during Reagan’s tenure, has been dubbed the “hatchet man” to go after certain environmentalists because of his superb credentials as past president of the National Wildlife Federation and a strong record as a leading “conservationist,” one who believes in sound multiple use of our resources as opposed to ideological zero-growth zealots of the environmentalist movement. The 56-year old geologist from California is a Marine Corps veteran of Korea who served as a petroleum geologist throughout the U.S. His placement as director of the Fish and Wildlife Services is highly significant. Carter environmentalists used this bureau as the vehicle to make massive withdrawals of public oil and gas land. A February 11, 1981 Report to Congress from the Comptroller General of the United States, states that this Service along with the Defense Department were in control of the majority of lands withdrawn from oil and gas exploration during the Carter years, declaring that “these lands deserve early consideration of being reopened.”

-           Director, Bureau of Land Management: Robert F. Burford, a close personal friend of Secretary Watt, served as Speaker of the Colorado House of Representatives where he had the deserved reputation of being a tough-nosed advocate of opening the public lands to development. The 58-year old rancher holds a degree in Mining Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines. He is a Marine Corps veteran of World War II Pacific Theatre action. Burford is superbly qualified by having additionally served as a prominent member of the National Cattlemens’ and National Woolgrowers’ Associations and a district member of the BLM Advisory Board.

-           Solicitor: William M. Coldiron, the Department’s chief legal officer is responsible for advising the Secretary in all legal actions relating to land, water and mineral rights. Another westerner, whom Watt knew previously, Coldiron is a specialist in oil, gas and water resource law who was previously Vice-Chairman of the Montana Power Company. Coldiron was chosen by Watt for his personal commitment and legal background as a key member of the effort to “reverse field,” to use Watt’s words, and untangle years of legal obstructionism to proper resource development.

-           Assistant Secretary, Land and Water Resources: Garry Carruthers, a 42-year old native of New Mexico is an authority on water resource development and agriculture economics. He served as acting director of the New Mexico Water Resources Research Institute and was formerly a Special Assistant to Secretary of Agriculture Earl Butz.

-           Assistant Secretary, Energy and Minerals: Daniel Miller, a former Executive Director of the Geological Survey of Wyoming and Commissioner of the Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, also taught geology at the University of Wyoming. The 57-year old administrator holds a doctorate in geology from the University of Texas and has years of direct experience as an explorationist for independent oil companies as well as a consulting geologist and state official.  He will oversee the vital functions of the U.S. Geological Survey, Bureau of Mines, Ocean Mining Administration, Office of Minerals Policy and the Office of Surface Mining.

There are more than a score of other top-level hand-picked appointees to fill out the Watt team at Interior. The above list will indicate the quality and depth of experience that Watt and the people he has chosen around him bring to what has been rightly termed “the most powerful energy figure in the United States next to the President.” Like Watt, they tend to be exceptional individuals with prior, relevant federal or state experience, a direct involvement with the issues and their impact. There is none of the “flaky” presence in top-levels of the Department of the type of zero-growth ideologues which proliferated during the Andrus years. Within weeks, most had been asked to pack their bags.

   The actions of Interior Secretary Watt within the first six months have been firm and systematic on all fronts. In most of the following cases, the specific decision is important as much for indication of the direction of future policy intent as for the specific decision. We list the most significant below:

Oil and gas leasing accelerated: On April 10, Watt, together with Energy Secretary Edwards, announced the outline of a program to dramatically increase the snails-pace of Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) oil and gas lease sales. The plan calls for making available 200 million acres, in large units, annually for the next five years off California, Alaska and the Texas Gulf primarily. Under Carter, approximately 15 million acres per year in uneconomic quilt pattern were offered. Companies such as Atlantic Richfield and Exxon whose “preferred position” in Alaska oil and gas production stands to be threatened by vigorous competition for the vast, untapped offshore potential elsewhere, have howled protest to Secretary Watt. Watt has remained firm in his commitment,