Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt announced today the appointment of 13 members to three of the f our citizen-based resource advisory councils in California, which advises the Bureau of Land Management on public land issues.

"I am pleased to announce the newest appointees to the resource advisory councils in California," Babbitt said.  "These individuals, who come from different backgrounds and represent diverse interests, are committed to building a consensus on public land issues.  Their advice to the BLM will advance the cause of good stewardship of America's public lands."

The Interior Department created the advisory councils across the West in 1995 in connection with Secretary Babbitt's healthy rangelands initiative.  The councils played a key role in the BLM's development of grazing-related standards and guidelines aimed at improving the health and productivity of the public rangelands.

BLM Director Tom Fry congratulated the new appointees.  "The advisory councils are helping the BLM carry out its mission in the fast-growing, fast-changing West," Fry said.  "The councils' input on key issues - such as recreational management and the conservation of open space - will enhance the BLM's effectiveness in promoting the health and productivity of the public lands." 

"I am anxious to work with the advisory councils in my new assignment," says new BLM California State Director Mike Pool.   "The advisory councils are very valuable in helping us manage our nation's public lands.  I  look forward to meeting all the council members and offering my personal congratulations to the newly appointed members."

New and reappointed members of the councils in California are:

Central California Resource Advisory Council

Category 1 - Off Highway Vehicle Use 
Mr. Jim Bearden 
2232 Meierwood Avenue
Sanger, CA  93657

Category 2 - Environmental
Ms. Sally Miller          
P.O. Box 22
Lee Vining, CA  93541

Category 3 - Public-at-Large
Mr. M. Byng Hunt   
P.O. Box 7902
Mammoth Lakes, CA   93546

Category 3 - Public-at-Large
Mr. Walt Pachucki
2773 Glenbrook Way
Bishop, CA 93514

Northeast California Resource Advisory Council

Category 1 - Livestock Grazing 
Mr. John Allen Erquiaga
Star Route, County Rd. 1
Lake City, CA   96115

Category 1 - Commercial Recreation/OHV
Mr. Leon J. Chauvet
3410 El Dorado Rd. #1
Placerville, CA 95667

Category 1 - Livestock Grazing
Mr. Kenneth R. McGrava
P.O.  Box 126
Likely, CA 96116

Category 2 - Archaeology/Historical
Mr. Frank E. Bayham
1910 Honey Run Rd.
Chico, CA  95928

Category 3 - Public-at-Large
Mr. James C. Jeskey
704 Mill Street
Susanville, CA  96130

Northwest California Resource Advisory Council

Category 1 - Livestock Grazing 
Mr. Duane M. Furman
5615 Scotts Valley Rd.
Lakeport, CA 95453

Category 1 - Timber Industry 
Mr. Stanley Scott Leach   
P.O. Box 280
French Gulch, CA  96033

Category 2 - Environmental 
Mr. Paul J. Mason  
P.O. Box 397
Garberville, CA  95542

Category 3 - Public-at-Large  
Mr. Philip Alan Moyer
215 Chapman Road
Mill Valley, CA 94941

The new and reappointed members' terms expire September 19, 2003.

The BLM, an agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior, manages more land -- 264 million surface acres -- than any other Federal agency.  Most of this public land is located in 12 Western States, including Alaska.  The Bureau, which has a budget of $1.4 billion and a workforce of about 8,700 employees, also administers 700 million acres of subsurface mineral estate throughout the nation.  The BLM preserves open space by managing the public lands for multiple uses, including outdoor recreation, livestock grazing, and mining, and by conserving natural, historical, cultural, and other resources found on the public lands.

-30-