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Norton names Alaskans to key posts
By Steve Sutherlin PNA Managing Editor
Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton named state Sen. Drue Pearce, R-Anchorage, as senior advisor to the Secretary for Alaska Affairs, and Cam Toohey as special assistant to the Secretary for Alaska at a June 16 press conference in Anchorage.
“It’s important to have people who truly understand the issues that face the state,” Norton said of her appointments.
Mano Frey, Alaska AFL-CIO president, who introduced Norton June 16 in Anchorage, has been instrumental in obtaining the support of national union leadership for development on the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and has been active in getting the pro-drilling message to Beltway politicians.
“This is a room full of environmentalists that love the state,” Frey told Norton as he pledged continued union support for the cause of ANWR drilling. “As long as the administration stays fully committed to opening ANWR, we’ll be by your side.” Bush praises Pearce appointment President George Bush lauded the appointment of Pearce to the new Washington-based post in which she will oversee Interior’s broad range of responsibilities in Alaska.
“I’m gratified Drue Pearce will join our Administration,” Bush said in a statement. “It will be good to have her experience and perspective on ways to protect Alaska’s many special places and her advice on issues important to our nation.”
Pearce was elected to the Alaska Senate in 1988 and has served as Senate President twice, chaired the Senate Rules Committee, twice co-chaired the Senate Finance Committee, and served two terms in the House.
“I look forward to Drue’s guidance on the many challenges and opportunities before the Interior Department,” Norton said. “Drue’s legislative experience, her extraordinary sense of Alaska issues and her expertise at building broad consensus will pay enormous dividends for Alaska, for America and for the 270 million acres of Alaska land our Department manages and protects.”
Pearce left her Alaska Senate seat on June 18 to take the new job. Gov. Tony Knowles has 30 days from the date of the vacancy to name a replacement for Pearce in the Senate.
“I’ll remain an Alaskan, even inside the beltway,” Pearce said.
Norton, who is from Colorado, said she understood why it is particularly difficult to persuade westerners to move to Washington because they have to leave the beauty and splendor of their home states. Norton said she was impressed that Pearce had already found a buyer for her house, a task Norton said her husband had not yet accomplished.
Pearce led Alaska’s delegation to the Energy Council, a legislative organization of 10 states, the province of Alberta and Venezuela. The organization develops policy on environmental and energy issues. She also recently led U.S. Representatives on the Russian Far East Business Commission and has taken a long-term leadership role in the development of the Russian Far Eastern oil industry infrastructure.
In January, she was appointed by the Secretary of Defense to the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services. Toohey position Anchorage based As special assistant to the secretary for Alaska, former Arctic Power Executive Director Cam Toohey will assist in managing Alaska’s Interior Department land from Anchorage office. He will also assist with right-of-way permits for the trans-Alaska oil pipeline and for the proposed natural gas line.
“Camden Toohey is a true son of the great state of Alaska,” Norton said. “In many ways, his experiences growing up in a mining camp, being home schooled, racing sled dogs and managing a family-owned business gives him a broad perspective on the wide array of challenges we face as stewards of Alaska’s public lands.”
“This is an exciting day for a kid from Girdwood,” Toohey said.
More than 50 percent of Interior’s lands are in Alaska and Interior manages nearly three-fourths of Alaska - 270 million acres. The Interior Department has 2,100 full-time and 1,000 seasonal and part-time workers in Alaska, and invests $330 million each year in the state.
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