President Clinton formally announced Tuesday his intent to nominate Pat Shea, former Democratic candidate for Utah governor and senator, to head the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.
Administration officials and others saw that as a politically savvy way for Clinton to help heal wounds in the West over secrecy surrounding creation of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, which the BLM manages.The announcement had been expected for weeks and was first reported in the Deseret News Feb. 19. Administration sources repeatedly said Shea was the top candidate for the position and was undergoing an FBI background check.
If the White House receives no major backlash to Tuesday's announcement, Shea should be formally nominated soon, and the Senate should schedule confirmation hearings.
Shea said, "I'm pleased, and I look forward to the confirmation process. As a former Senate staffer, I recognize it as a positive form of engagement but also recognize its perils."
Because of those perils, Shea said it would not be appropriate for him to discuss issues facing the BLM, including the new national monument and fights over how much wilderness to create on BLM lands in Utah.
The BLM has not had a permanent, confirmed director for three years. Jim Baca, seen by critics as a controversial environmentalist, resigned under fire in February 1994.
Clinton nominated Mike Dombeck to succeed Baca. The Senate never acted on the nomination, although Dombeck served as an interim director anyway. The current interim director is Sylvia Baca.
Shea said Wednesday, "To me, when you have an agency with 1,000 employees and a $1 billion budget, it has to have a confirmed director to help it move forward in a fiscally and environmentally sound manner."
The long vacancy was criticized strongly last week by Sen. Craig Thomas, R-Wyo., chairman of a subcommittee that oversees national monuments.
Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt responded that the administration shouldn't be criticized because the Senate never acted on Dombeck's earlier nomination.
But it may have helped finally move Shea's long-awaited nomination forward now.
Clinton made no comment on Shea.
Shea's one-time opponent for the U.S. Senate, Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, was quick to praise the president's decision. He added, as was reported earlier, that he was among those who personally lobbied Clinton for the nomination.
"I think it's a good choice for Utah certainly. He will always keep our needs in mind," Hatch said. "I think Pat can get the president to live up to the promises he made when he created the monument."
Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah, who has helped lead fights about the new monument, also said, "I applaud the president for finally deciding to listen to a Utahn concerning land matters, since he chose not to last September" when he declared the monument.
On a more positive note, Cannon added, "I sincerely look forward to working with Pat and hope we can have an open and honest dialogue in finding a lasting solution to Utah's many public land challenges."
Groups as diverse as the Utah Association of Counties and Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance also have praised Shea, who could essentially become Utah's largest landlord. The BLM oversees 22.8 million acres in the state - or 43 percent of all its land.
Shea, 49, ran for the Senate in 1994 and for governor in 1992. He was the Democratic state chairman from 1983 to 1985 and was a Democratic National Committee member from 1983 to 1995.
Like Clinton, Shea was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University in England. He was also student body president at Stanford University, where he received his bachelor's degree. He later graduated from Harvard Law School.
He has worked for the U.S. Senate five different times, including once serving as chief counsel for its Intelligence Committee.
He was also the in-house attorney for KUTV Channel 2 and later formed his own law firm.
Shea is also president of the City Creek Canyon Park, a natural history park in Salt Lake City. He also serves as a trustee of the Nature Conservancy's Utah chapter and as a member of the Catholic Community Services Board.
He was chairman of the Salt Lake City Airport Authority, a director of the University of Utah's Natural History Museum and a member of the Board of Visitors for the Brigham Young University Law School.