With President Clinton's nomination of Salt Lake attorney Pat Shea to head the BLM, the president has managed to choose a man who is well-liked and well-respected among both Republicans and Democrats, who loves the land the agency manages and who can bring a rare objectivity to the controversial issues surrounding public lands.
The Bureau of Land Management has been without a confirmed director for three years after Clinton's previous nominee was never acted on by the U.S. Senate.Some have blamed the long absence of a director on the controversial nature of the position, as well as on the difficulty of finding someone acceptable to the president who could be approved by conservative Republican senators. If Shea had been nominated earlier, it's likely that vacancy wouldn't have lasted so long.
Shea has been a moderate on land-use issues. He has not taken a stand on the long-running dispute over how much of Utah's land should be designated as wilderness. His centrist stance and reasonable attitude make him appealing to both environmentalists and multiple-use advocates.
He has the support of groups as diverse as the Utah Association of Counties and the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, who have been on opposite sides in the wilderness debate.
Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch has praised Shea and lobbied Clinton for the nomination. Republican Rep. Chris Cannon and Gov. Mike Leavitt also welcomed the nomination.
Observers have speculated that Clinton's intent in nominating Shea, who has been a Democratic candidate for governor and senator in Utah, is to mollify Westerners angry over the abrupt creation of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah.
If that is true, this is one case in which the positive results of the decision will probably obscure the motivation.
Shea's experience and his reputation as a man who can find common ground among opposing viewpoints will help him if he is confirmed to oversee the huge expanses of public lands the BLM manages. In Utah alone, the agency oversees 22.8 million acres or 43 percent of the state.
The Senate should act soon to confirm Shea's appointment. It's time the BLM had a director who could "move forward in a fiscally and environmentally sound manner," as Shea promises.