Donald P. Hodel
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Donald Paul Hodel (born May 23, 1935) is a former United States Secretary of Energy and Secretary of the Interior, and Chairman of the company FreeEats.com/ccAdvertising, which has had a controversial role disseminating push polls for the Economic Freedom Fund. He was known during his tenure as Secretary of the Interior for his controversial "Hodel Policy," which stated that disused dirt roads and footpaths could be considered right-of-ways under RS 2477.
[edit] Government career
Hodel served as United States Secretary of Energy from 1982 to 1985, and the Secretary of the Interior from 1985 to 1989 under President Ronald Reagan.
Critics disrupted his efforts to impose a new management policy on a large amount of federal land, and blocked his efforts to create vast new wilderness areas. In spite of these criticisms, the Reagan Administration Secretaries added over two million acres (8,000 km²) to the national wilderness system. The Hodel policy was continued under Manuel Lujan Jr. (1989-93) in the Bush Administration. It was finally rescinded in 1997 by Secretary Bruce Babbitt.
In an article, Hodel wrote, "Throughout President Reagan's eight years, his secretaries of the Interior pursued these objectives within the framework of his and their conviction that America could have both an improving environment and an adequate energy supply. We did not and do not have to choose between them, as some have contended. . . ."
While secretary, Hodel proposed to undertake a study on the removal of the O'Shaugnessy Dam in Yosemite National Park, and the restoration of Hetch Hetchy Valley, a smaller, but inundated version of Yosemite Valley. Senator Diane Feinstein, former mayor of San Francisco, which owns the dam, however, opposed the study and had it quashed.
[edit] Post-Government Career
Hodel moved to Colorado where he engaged in the energy consulting business, and served on various charitable and corporate boards of directors. He later served as President of Christian Coalition, a nonprofit conservative group, from 1997 to 1999.
From May, 2003, until March, 2005, Hodel served as President and CEO of Focus on the Family, a nonprofit evangelical Christian organization. He had stated that his job was to manage the transition from the founder, Dr. James Dobson, to his successor. Hodel had, several years prior to being named President, served on its board. He remains on the Board of Directors.
In 2006, his company FreeEats.com/ccAdvertising was found to be disseminating political push polls on behalf of the Economic Freedom Fund organized by Bob J. Perry. After being sued by the Attorney General of the State of Indiana, the company countersued, claiming its freedom of speech was being squelched.
[edit] External links
| Preceded by James B. Edwards |
United States Secretary of Energy 1982–1985 |
Succeeded by John S. Herrington |
| Preceded by William Patrick Clark |
United States Secretary of the Interior 1985–1989 |
Succeeded by Manuel Lujan Jr. |
| United States Secretaries of the Interior |  |
|---|---|
| Ewing • McKennan • Stuart • McClelland • Thompson • C Smith • Usher • Harlan • Browning • Cox • Delano • Chandler • Schurz • Kirkwood • Teller • Lamar • Vilas • Noble • M Smith • Francis • Bliss • Hitchcock • Garfield • Ballinger • Fisher • Lane • Payne • Fall • Work • West • Wilbur • Ickes • Krug • Chapman • McKay • Seaton • Udall • Hickel • Morton • Hathaway • Kleppe • Andrus • Watt • Clark • Hodel • Lujan • Babbitt • Norton • Kempthorne |
| United States Secretaries of Energy |  |
|---|---|
| Schlesinger • Duncan • Edwards • Hodel • Herrington • Watkins • O'Leary • Peña • Richardson • Abraham • Bodman |
