Donald P. Hodel
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Image:Donald hodel.JPG Donald Paul Hodel (born May 23, 1935; more familiarly known as Don Hodel) was the United States Secretary of Energy from 1982 to 1985, and the Secretary of the Interior from 1985 to 1989 under President Ronald Reagan. He is best known for his controversial "Hodel policy" during his tenure as Secretary of the Interior, which stated that disused dirt roads and footpaths could be considered right-of-ways under RS 2477.
Critics disrupted his efforts to impose a new management policy on a large amount of federal land, and interfered with his efforts to create vast new wilderness areas. In spite of these criticisms, the Reagan Administration Secretaries added over two million acres (8,000 km²) to the national wilderness system. The Hodel policy was continued under Manuel Lujan Jr. (1989-93) in the Bush Administration. It was finally rescinded in 1997 by Secretary Bruce Babbitt.
In his article, Hodel added, "Throughout President Reagan's eight years, his secretaries of the Interior pursued these objectives within the framework of his and their conviction that America could have both an improving environment and an adequate energy supply. We did not and do not have to choose between them, as some have contended. . . ."
While secretary, Hodel proposed to undertake a study on the removal of the O'Shaugnessy Dam in Yosemite National Park, and the restoration of Hetch Hetchy Valley, a smaller, but inundated version of Yosemite Valley. Senator Diane Feinstein, former mayor of San Francisco, which owns the dam, however, opposed the study and had it quashed.
Hodel moved to Colorado where he engaged in the energy consulting business, and served on various charitable and corporate boards of directors. He later served as President of Christian Coalition, a nonprofit conservative traditional values group, from 1997 to 1999.
From May, 2003, until March, 2005, Hodel served as President and CEO of Focus on the Family, a nonprofit evangelical Christian organization which seeks the preservation of the home, and the traditionally-defined family unit: father, mother and child(ren). He had stated that his job was to manage the transition from the founder, Dr. James Dobson to his successor. Hodel had, several years prior to being named President, served on its board. He remains on the Board of Directors. He is currently supporting Republican Marc Holtzman in the 2006 Colorado Gubernatorial race.
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