He later went to Washington, D.C., where he was chief of staff in Owens' office for a short time before leaving to join the Utah wilderness wars as a Moab field representative for SUWA.

Groene says he was just not cut out for life in Washington, D.C. "I struggled with living in a basement apartment and wearing a tie everyday," he said.

Moab in the late 1980s was a battleground over wilderness, road construction and oil and gas development. And more often than not, Groene was the hero or the villain of those skirmishes, depending on your point of view.

When local commissioners referred to "damned environmentalists," chances are they were referring to Groene.

But it's nothing personal, says San Juan County Commissioner Ty Lewis. It's simply SUWA's stubbornness on issues that drive them apart, he added.

"I wish it wasn't that way," Lewis said. "But I don't think it matters who's in charge. It's their philosophy (that) it's either their way or no way."

Mark Walsh of Utah Association of Counties isn't sure what to make of Groene.

"Scott Groene has been around awhile. I would hope new leadership brings a new attitude, one that's more refreshing, along the lines of working together on solutions to benefit the common good and not get into the same old fights," Walsh said. "But I don't know where he's coming from."

Over the years, Groene worked as SUWA's staff attorney, conservation director and most recently as a staffer researching rural counties' claims over dirt roads across public lands. He also took time out to work in the National BLM Wilderness Campaign to inventory lands across the West for wilderness designation, he measured beaches to gather data for a Glen Canyon environmental study, and he worked a spell for the Greater Yellowstone Coalition.

Groene comes highly recommended by Utah's environmental community.

"Scott embodies the essence of America's redrock wilderness," said author and naturalist Terry Tempest Williams. "He is charismatic, he is passionate and he is incredibly smart and agile in his defense of these vulnerable public lands."

Ted Wilson, former Salt Lake mayor and SUWA board member, said Groene was selected to lead SUWA for his experience, dedication and friendly nature.

"He's a man who has been around," Wilson said. "He's a reasonable guy . . . he's got a good demeanor about him. He doesn't say bombastic things."

Heidi McIntosh, Groene's partner in the wilderness battles and current SUWA conservation director, says she cannot think of a better person to lead SUWA into the next generation.

"We've started to grow old together," she said. "He's got institutional history and he's developed great instincts."