Utah woman who headed Bureau of Land Management resigns

WASHINGTON — Kathleen Clarke, the first woman to head the Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management, resigned Thursday to return to her home state of Utah.

Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne said Clarke had created more recreational opportunities for Americans and sped up "environmentally sensitive" oil and natural gas production on federal lands since taking over the agency in January 2002.

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.

"Our public lands, our forests and our landscapes are better off" because of Clarke's service, Kempthorne said Thursday.

Before taking over BLM, Clarke had worked as executive director of the Utah Department of Natural Resources and as a top aide to former Rep. James Hansen, a Utah Republican who once headed the House Resources Committee.

She also had co-owned a construction and real estate business in Kaysville, Utah and had been on the staff of Sen. Wallace F. Bennett, who is now deceased.

BLM was headed during the Clinton administration by another Utah resident, Patrick Shea, who had been a lawyer, educator and businessman before taking over the agency.

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On the Net:

Interior Department: www.doi.gov