Bush Intention to Nominate Rebecca Watson as Assistant Secretary for Lands and Minerals

Office of the Secretary
For Immediate Release: Nov. 6, 2001
Contact: Mark Pfeifle 202-208-6416

Secretary Norton Praises President's Bush Intention to Nominate Rebecca Watson as Assistant Secretary for Lands and Minerals

WASHINGTON - Interior Secretary Gale Norton today praised President Bush's intention to nominate Rebecca W. Watson, to serve as assistant secretary of the Interior for land and minerals management. The position is subject to confirmation by the U.S. Senate once the official nomination is made by the president.

"Rebecca is an outstanding attorney and public administration professional," Secretary Norton said. "She will bring vast experience in protecting natural resources and listening to all voices to find common ground in public land issues."

Watson serves as a managing partner of Gough, Shanahan, Johnson & Waterman law firm located in Helena, Mont. Her responsibilities include working on a wide variety of natural resources and environmental issues.

From 1993-1995, she worked as an attorney for Crowell & Moring, a Washington, D.C.-based law firm, where she worked on issues involving public lands, endangered species, and natural resources.

Watson served in the administration of George H.W. Bush, where she was appointed Assistant general counsel for energy policy at the U.S. Department of Energy.

A native of Chicago, Watson is a graduate of the University of Denver, College of Arts and Sciences, where she received her B.A. degree, magna cum laude in 1974. She earned an M.A. degree in 1975 from the University of Denver, School of Librarianship, and her law degree from the University of Denver, School of Law in 1978.

Watson is listed in Who's Who in American Law, and Who's Who in American Women. She helped to establish Wyoming's first statewide historic preservation organization and served as its president for five years. She is a member of the Nature Conservancy, National Trust for Historic Preservation, Audubon Society, and a past member of the Alliance Francaise de Denver.

She is married to Gregg Watson, a Wyoming native and fisheries ecologist. They live on the Little Blackfoot River outside of Avon, Mont.

The Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Land and Minerals Management has administrative and managerial responsibility for the Bureau of Land Management, the Minerals Management Service and the Office of Surface Mining.

REBECCA W. WATSON

Watson

rww@gsjw.com

University of Denver, (Phi Beta Kappa, magna cum laude), B.A., 1974

University of Denver, School of Library Science, M.A., 1975

University of Denver, College of Law, J.D., 1978 Ms. Watson, a partner with the firm, has been representing clients in natural resources litigation and counseling in the Rocky Mountains (Wyoming, Colorado and Montana) and the District of Columbia for over 20 years. Becky's practice at the firm focuses on state and federal environmental, energy, natural resources and public lands issues. She has a nationally recognized expertise in the Endangered Species Act and historic preservation and has handled significant public land access, takings and Clean Water Act litigation.

In Montana, Becky has also developed a practice representing trade associations facing adverse legislation via the citizen initiative process and is a member of the firm's Government Relations Group representing associations and other clients before the Montana Legislature.

Before joining Gough, Shanahan in 1995, Becky was in Washington, D.C. serving in the Bush Administration as Assistant General Counsel in the Department of Energy (1990-1993). She advised the Assistant Secretary for Domestic and International Energy Policy on all federal environmental issues implicated in the production and use of energy and served as an Expert Advisor to the United Nations Earth Summit. After leaving the Department of Energy, she became of counsel to Crowell & Moring, a Washington, D.C. firm, with a nation-wide natural resources practice where she represented the timber and mining industries. Becky began her practice serving as law clerk to the Honorable Ewing T. Kerr, U.S. District Judge for the District of Wyoming (1978-1980). She was a litigation partner in a Sheridan, Wyoming law firm for eight years.

Becky is admitted to practice in the state and federal courts in Montana, Wyoming, Colorado and the District of Columbia, the Court of Claims and the Ninth, Tenth and Federal Circuit Courts of Appeals. She is also admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court.

Becky is a member of the Montana and Wyoming Bar Associations and the American Bar Association (ABA). She has served as the Chair of the Natural Resources and Environment Committee of the ABA's Section of Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice (1994-1997) as the Chair of the Public Lands and Land Use Committee of the ABA's Section of Environment Energy and Resources (1997-1999). In 2000, Becky was appointed to the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation. She also serves on the Board of Litigation for MT States Legal Foundation. She is frequently asked to speak and write on the areas of her expertise nationally and in Montana. Becky is also a member of the firm's three-person Management Committee.

Texas Yellow Rose

Nagging DOUBT, Nagging DOUBT.......

These nagging doubts in the back of my head keep getting louder and louder!

.....Homeland Security, .....Patriot Act, .....Anthrax, .....Federal Airport Security, .....Non-deportation, .....Airline Bailout, ......Watson!!

WHY CHOOSE HER? WHAT IS THE POINT?

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