Burford, Anne Gorsuch (1942–2004)
Burford, Anne Gorsuch (1942–2004)
American Cabinet member. Born Anne Irene McGill, April 21, 1942, in Casper, Wyoming; died July 18, 2004, in Aurora, Colorado; dau. of a surgeon and Dorothy McGill; earned a bachelor's degree from University of Colorado in two years and finished law school there at age 20; m. David Gorsuch, 1964 (div. 1982); m. Robert Burford (rancher and head of Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management), 1983 (div. 1992, died 1993); children: J.J., Neil and Stephanie Gorsuch.
Colorado conservative who believed states should have control over matters like clean air and water, was the youngest woman admitted to the Colorado bar; worked as deputy district attorny for City of Denver; elected to Colorado House of Representatives (1976); appointed to head the Environmental Protection Agency by President Reagan (Feb 1981); set out to limit regulations, cutting the agency's budget by 22%; slashed EPA enforcement action against polluters and slowed payments for Super fund cleanups; resigned under Congressional fire 22 months later (Mar 1983), when she refused to hand over thousands of pages of documents concerning her agency's handling of toxic waste cleanup.