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<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><img width=576 height=151
id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image003.png@01C9AC61.523CEEE0"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'>Date: March 18, 2009<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'>Contact: Joan Moody (202)
208-6416<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt'>Secretary
Salazar Commends President Obama’s Intention to<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt'>Nominate
Michael L. Connor to<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt'>Lead
the Bureau of Reclamation<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b><o:p> </o:p></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b>WASHINGTON, D.C.—</b><b>Secretary
of the Interior Ken Salazar today commended</b><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>
</span>President Obama’s announcement that he intends to nominate Michael
L. Connor as</b><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b>Commissioner of the U.S.
Bureau of Reclamation. Connor has more than 15 years of experience in the
public sector, including having served as Counsel to the U.S. Senate<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b>and Natural Resources Committee
since May 2001.<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b><o:p> </o:p></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b>“With growing water
challenges facing communities across the country, Mike Connor’s deep
background in water, Indian rights and energy issues will help us find common<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b>sense solutions,” said
Secretary Salazar. “Mike has a proven track record of building consensus
with a wide range of stakeholders and is the right pick for Commissioner. I<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b>look forward to working with
him to ensure that we are wisely managing our nation’s precious water
resources.”<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b><o:p> </o:p></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b>At the Senate Energy and
Natural Resources committee, Connor has managed legislation for both the Bureau
of Reclamation and the U.S. Geological Survey, developed water<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b>resources legislation and
handled Native American issues that are within the Energy Committee’s
jurisdiction. From 1993 to 2001, Connor served in the Department of the
Interior, including as deputy director and then director of the
Secretary’s Indian Water Rights Office from 1998 to 2001. In this
capacity, Connor represented the Secretary of the Interior in negotiations with
Indian tribes, state representatives, and private water users to secure water
rights settlements consistent with the federal trust responsibility to tribes.<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b><o:p> </o:p></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b>Before joining the
Secretary’s Office, he was employed with the Interior Solicitor’s Office
in Washington, DC and in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He began his Interior<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b>career in the
Solicitor’s Honors Program in 1993. Connor received his J.D. from the
University of Colorado School of Law, and is admitted to the bars of Colorado
and New Mexico. He previously received a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from New
Mexico State University and worked for General Electric.<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b><o:p> </o:p></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b>The agency he will lead if
confirmed by the Senate—the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation—is a
contemporary water management agency and the largest wholesale provider of
water in<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b>the country. It brings water
to more than 31 million people, and provides one out of five Western farmers
with irrigation water for farmland that produces much of the nation's<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b>produce. Reclamation is also
the second largest producer of hydroelectric power in the western United States
with 58 power plants.<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>--www.doi.gov--<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Byron
Leydecker, JcT</span></i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Chair, Friends
of Trinity River</span></i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>PO Box 2327</span></i><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Mill Valley, CA
94942-2327</span></i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>415 383 4810
land</span></i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>415 519 4810
cell</span></i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'><a
href="mailto:bwl3@comcast.net"><span style='color:blue'>bwl3@comcast.net</span></a></span></i></b><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'><a
href="mailto:bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org"><span style='color:blue'>bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org</span></a>
</span></i></b><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>(secondary)</span></i><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'><a
href="http://fotr.org/"><span style='color:blue'>http://www.fotr.org</span></a>
</span></i></b><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
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