James G. Watt (1938 – )
American former Secretary of the Interior

James Gaius Watt was born in Lusk, Wyoming, and raised in nearby Wheatland, a town one of his critics described as "a place frozen in amber decades ago—the 1890s plus electricity and TV." As President Ronald Reagan's first Secretary of the Interior, Watt was heavily criticized for his position on conservation . He remains an icon of what environmentalists oppose. His memory was recalled during George W. Bush's administration, when his former staffer, Gale Norton, became Secretary of the Interior.

Watt came to the U.S. Department of the Interior from a position as founding president of the Mountain States Legal Foundation (MSLF) in Denver, a conservative group that acted on the behalf of oil, timber, development, and mineral corporations. Started with money from Joseph Coors, of Coors Brewery, the MSLF took donations from some 175 corporations. MSLF was closely identified with an anti-environmental movement called Wise Use. The group promoted so-called "takings" legislation, which asked that private and corporate landholders be compensated by the government for having to comply with environmental laws, such as habitat protection. Watt initiated aggressive legal tactics at MSLF, filing lawsuits and pursuing pro-business legislation on the environment in a way that hadn't been done before. MSLF enraged environmentalists and attracted Ronald Reagan, who plucked its president to head his Interior Department. Within months of Watt's appointment, environmentalists began to criticize his conservative policies. Watt maintained his actions were for the good of the people and the free enterprise system.

During his tenure as Secretary of the Interior, Watt cut funds for environmental programs, such as those protecting endangered species , and reorganized the department to put less regulatory power on the federal level. He favored the elimination of the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which increased the land holdings of national forests, national wildlife refuges, and national parks and made matching grants to state governments to do the same. Watt also favored opening extensive shorelands and wilderness areas for oil and gas leases, speeding the sale of public lands to private interests and doing so at bargain prices. Watt also loosened regulations on oil and mineral resource extraction companies.

Watt's stay was marked by heavy and repeated criticisms of his policies, even by fellow Republicans. In April of 1981, the Sierra Club and others began a "Dump Watt" petition drive and in October of that year presented Congress with 1.1 million signatures supporting his dismissal. Even the relatively conservative National Wildlife Federation called for Watt's removal within six months of his taking office, stating that Watt "places a much higher priority on development and exploitation than on conservation." Watt's actions and derogatory remarks about Senate members earned him a number of enemies, which hampered his ability to carry out his policies. He resigned his post on October 9, 1983, after he made remarks about a Senate advisory panel consisting of "a black, a woman, two Jews and a cripple." Outrage at his bigotry led the Senate to draft a resolution calling for his dismissal, but Watt stepped down before he was forced out. In 1996 Watt pleaded guilty to a minor charge of attempting to sway a grand jury investigation in the 1980s, and he was fined and given five years probation. Watt's legacy was revived in the early 2000s when George W. Bush nominated Gale Norton as Secretary of the Interior. Norton had worked under Watt at the Mountain States Legal Foundation and was seen as having similar stances and goals as her predecessor. A spokesperson for the environmental group National Resource Defense Council called Norton's nomination "...dèjá vu all over again..." implying environmentalists would have to fight the battles Watt had ignited in the 1980s a second time. Watt himself was delighted with the nomination of Norton, and seemed to feel the president's choice showed that Watt's ideas of 20 years earlier were still current.

[Gerald L. Young Ph.D. ]

RESOURCES

PERIODICALS

Bratton, S. P. "The Ecotheology of James Watt." Environmental Ethics 5 (Fall 1983): 225–236.

Coggins, G. C., and Nagel, D.K. "Nothing Beside Remains: The Legal Legacy of James G. Watt's Tenure as Secretary of the Interior on Federal Land Law and Policy." Boston College Environmental Affairs Law Review 17 (Spring 1990): 473-550.

Hissom, Doug. "No Flash with Norton." Shepherd Express Metro 22, no. 3 (January 18, 2001).

Soraghan, Mike. "Watt Applauds Bush Energy Strategy." Denver Post (May 16, 2001): A1.

ORGANIZATIONS

Mountain States Legal Foundation, 707 17th Street, Suite 3030, Denver, CO USA 80202 (303) 292-2021, Fax: (303) 292-1980, <http://www.mountainstateslegal.com>.