OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 16, 2001

Mark Pfeifle (O) 202/208-6416

Interior Secretary Names Toohey Special Assistant for Alaska

(ANCHORAGE) - Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton today announced that Camden Toohey will serve as Special Assistant to the Secretary for Alaska.

"Camden Toohey is a true son of the great state of Alaska," Norton said. "In many ways, his experiences growing up in a mining camp, being home schooled, racing sled dogs and managing a family-owned business gives him a broad perspective on the wide array of challenges we face as stewards of Alaska's public lands."

Toohey will assist in managing and protecting Alaska's nearly 270 million acres of Interior Department land - nearly three-quarters of the state. Over 50 percent of all of the Department's lands are in Alaska, including: 77 million acres of refuge lands - more than 85 percent of the nation's refuge system; 53 million acres of park units - more than two-thirds of the national system; 87 million acres of Bureau of Land Management lands - more than one-third of the national total; over 50 million acres of wilderness area managed by the Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Park Service.

Toohey will also assist with the renewal of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline and a potential pipeline for natural gas.

Since 1996, Toohey has served as Executive Director of Arctic Power, a nonprofit organization supporting economic development for Alaska and energy security for America. From 1987 until 1996, Toohey was professional assistant to the Alaska Senate Finance Committee.

Toohey grew up at the Crow Creek Mine in Girdwood, Alaska. Still a working operation, he managed both tourist visits to and gold production from the historic mine from 1982 until 1994.

A graduate of the University of Washington in Business Administration, he also studied international business at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark. He and his wife, Michelle, and their two sons reside in Anchorage.

-DOI-