BOARD01318

• Board Meeting Date: 9/13/2005
• Description: CWCB Director's Report
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

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Alliance, NWRA, and WSWC Urge Extension of Drought Relief Act: A letter was transmitted .
August 12th to key committee chairs in Conf,'fess on behalf of the members of the Family Farm Alliance.
National Water Resources Association, and the Western States Water Council. The letter requests support
of S. 648 and H.R. 2925. companion bills to extend the Reclamation States Drought Relief Act to 2010.
This authority provides many needed options for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation during times of
drought. If not extended, this authority will expire in September, 2005.

Colorado Ag Official Joins Advisory Panel: Sheldon Jones, Deputy Commissioner for the Colorado
Department of Agriculture, is the newest member of the Family Farm Alliance Advisory Committee.
Jones served as the Director of the Arizona Department of Agriculture from 1997-2002. He has been
active in local, regional, national and international forums promoting agriculture. Jones also served
previously on the Alliance Advisory Committee while working as Executive Director with the Agri-
Business Council of Arizona, a trade association of agriculture irrigation and power districts.

Former Farm Alliance Chief Confirmed By Senate: Former Family Farm Alliance President Mark
Limbaugh (IDAHO) has been confirmed by the Senate as the Interior Department's new Assistant
Secretary. Limbaugh served as Alliance President from March 2000 through January 2002 when he
joined the Bush administration as Deputy Commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.

Chief Geologist Named Acting Director of USGS - Interior Secretary Gale Norton announced in
August that P. Patrick Leahy will take over as acting director of the U.S. Geological Survey. Leahy has
been with U.S.G.S. since 1974. He served as associate director for geology at USGS and is also a former
chairman of the U.S. National Committee for Geological Sciences for the National Academy of Sciences.

The agency director, Chip Groat, plans to resign after serving as U.S.G.S. director since November 1998. .
Groat will become founding director of the Center for International Energy and Environmental Policy at
the University of Texas at Austin and take a teaching post in the School of Geosciences.

Key Appointments Made at EP A -Brent Fewell has been appointed as the principal deputy assistant
administrator in the Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Water. As the deputy to Assistant
Administrator for Water Benjamin H. Grumbles, Fewell is responsible for advising in the development
and implementation of critical agency decisions related to national water policy. Fewell hjoined EP A in
September 2004.

EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson has announced the appointment of Michael Bogert to serve as
Region 10 Administrator. Bogert has an extensive background in public service. He worked for over five
years for Governor Dirk Kempthorne ofIdaho as the Governor's principal legal advisor. In addition,
Bogart served as the Counsel to the Office of Governor-Elect Arnold Schwarzenegger, where he drafted
the Governor's regulatory reform executive order.

Forest Service Chief Names Corbin Newman to Lead National Forest Management Program - On
August 26, U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth announced the
appointment of Corbin Newman as director offorest management. Newman, currently the National Fire
Plan coordinator for the Forest Service, replaces Chuck Myers who was recently named regional forester
for the agency's Southern Region.

The overriding objective of the Forest Service's forest management program is to ensure that the national
forests are managed in an ecologically-sustainable manner. It includes guidance, administration, and
support of the agency's forest products management and sales programs. .

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