Office of the Secretary                          Contact: John Wright

For Immediate Release: Jan. 28, 2002                     202-208-6416  

Secretary Norton Applauds Confirmation of Rebecca Watson as Assistant Secretary for Land & Minerals Management 

WASHINGTON _ Interior Secretary Gale Norton today praised the Senate’s confirmation of   Rebecca W. Watson to serve as Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Land and Minerals Management.   Watson was nominated by President George W. Bush Nov. 2001, and  confirmed by unanimous consent of the U.S. Senate Jan. 25, 2002. 

"Rebecca Watson has the background and professional qualifications that are critical to this challenging and very important position,” Secretary Norton said.  “She is a consensus builder that listens to all sides to find common ground to bring a balanced and sensitive approach, to resolving important public land issues." 

Before taking the post at the Interior Department, Watson served as a managing partner of Gough, Shanahan, Johnson & Waterman law firm located in Helena, Mont. Her responsibilities have included working on a wide variety of natural resources and environmental issues. From 1993_1995, she served 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.  She began her practice of law in Wyoming representing ranchers and western businesses. 

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 Phi Beta Kappa 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 and has served in leadership positions in the American Bar Association for more than a decade.

She helped to establish Wyoming's first statewide historic preservation organization and served as its president. She is a member of The Nature Conservancy and the National Trust for Historic Preservation and has served as a trustee of the Mountain Mineral Law Foundation.  She is married to Greg Watson, a Wyoming native and fisheries ecologist. They lived on the Little Blackfoot River in Montana.  

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 Reclamation and Enforcement.