Secretary Salazar Names Ned Farquhar Deputy Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today named Ned Farquhar, a renewable energy and natural resource policy expert and former senior advisor on energy and the environment to New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management. The appointment does not require Senate confirmation.

“Our mandate from the President is to reduce the country's dependence on foreign oil, build a clean-energy economy and make wise use of our conventional energy resources,” Secretary Salazar said. “Ned's extensive natural resource policy experience and expertise with renewable energy production and transmission make him well-qualified to help us create energy-related jobs here in America, protect our national security and confront the dangers of climate change.”

Farquhar was most recently senior advocate for Mountain West Energy/Climate with the Natural Resources Defense Council in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Since 2006, he has developed strategies for the Western Regional Climate Initiative, incorporating seven states and four Canadian provinces, and culminating in the nation's most comprehensive cap and trade framework in September 2008. The Initiative supports renewable energy development throughout the West.

From 2003 to 2006, Farquhar was the senior advisor to New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson on energy and the environment, providing strategic and tactical direction to Richardson's nationally recognized clean energy program. Farquhar worked with cabinet members to develop legislation, executive orders and communications on climate change, renewable energy, energy efficiency, land management, and energy development. He represented Richardson at the Western Governors' Association, designing and implementing the governor's clean and diversified energy program for the WGA.

Before that Farquhar was program officer for Western Lands at the David and Lucile Packard Foundation in Los Altos, California. From 2001 to 2003, he developed and implemented national and regional grant campaigns for transportation policy reform, land protection, habitat conservation, growth management and land use.

Farquhar has a 1982 master degree in Geography from Cambridge University, England, and a bachelor of arts from Middlebury College, Vermont (1980). He has been a member of numerous boards and commissions, including former board chair of the New Mexico Renewable Energy Transmission Authority; board chair of the Conservation Voters New Mexico (since 2006); and chair of the Transportation Funders Group (2001-2002).

As Deputy Assistant Secretary, Farquhar will advise and assist the Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management in establishing Interior policies and providing oversight to the Bureau of Land Management, Minerals Management Service, and the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement. The office oversees management of public lands and resources, including production of federal energy and mineral resources, both onshore and on the Outer Continental Shelf.

Federal energy resources include renewable resources, such as wind, solar, biomass, and geothermal as well as conventional sources, such as coal, oil, and natural gas. Mineral resources include metals such as gold, industrial minerals, such as potash used for fertilizer, and construction minerals, such as sand and gravel.

The office of the assistant secretary ensures that the lands and natural resources of the 256-million-acre National System of Public Lands, including the National Landscape Conservation System, and 1.7 billion acres of the Federal Outer Continental Shelf are managed to meet the needs of the American people. The office also provides oversight on federal royalty management, regulation of active coal mining and reclamation, and restoration of abandoned mined areas.

A focus of the office is balancing the nation's need for clean, affordable energy, minerals and other public land resources with a strong program of stewardship and environmental protection while achieving value for American taxpayers. Management goals are accomplished by engaging America's local communities, partners, volunteers and youth.