THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
(Dundalk, Ireland)
___________________________________________________________________________
___
For Immediate Release
December 12, 2000
PRESIDENT CLINTON NAMES BOB ARMSTRONG, WILLIAM DEBUYS, KAREN DURKOVICH,
PALEMON MARTINEZ, STEPHEN D. STODDARD, THOMAS W. SWETNAM, DAVID R. YEPA AS
MEMBERS OF THE VALLES CALDERA TRUST
The President today announced his intent to appoint Bob Armstrong,
William Debuys, Karen Durkovich, Palemon A. Martinez, Stephen D. Stoddard,
Thomas W. Swetnam, and David R. Yepa to serve as Members of the Valles
Caldera Trust.
Bob Armstrong, of Austin, Texas, was Assistant Secretary for Land and
Minerals Management at the U.S. Department of the Interior from 1993 to
1998. In this capacity, he exercised secretarial direction and supervision
over the Bureau of Land Management, the Minerals Management Service, and
the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement. Prior to making
land management his career, Mr. Armstrong served as a Member of the Texas
House of Representatives from 1963 to 1970 and was one of the state?s early
environmental legislators, creating the Interagency Council on Natural
Resources and the Environment. In addition, Mr. Armstrong was Texas Land
Commissioner, a state elected position, from 1970 to 1982. Mr. Armstrong
was also appointed to a six-year term on the Texas Parks and Wildlife
Commission in 1985 by former Texas Governor Mark White. Mr. Armstrong
presently serves as Chairman of the Rio Grande Compact Commission.
Mr. Armstrong received his B.A. and L.L. B. from the University of
Texas and served as an Ensign at sea with the U.S. Navy.
William Debuys, of Santa Fe, New Mexico, is a writer, historian and
conservationist. He currently directs the Valle Grande Grass Bank of the
Conservationist Fund and serves as program officer for water projects for
the Rural Livelihoods Initiative of the New Mexico Community Foundation.
Since 1986, Mr. Debuys has been an independent scholar and private
consultant on historical and environmental matters. His clients have
included the Nature Conservancy, the National Biological Survey, the
Northwest Renewable Resources Center and the Conservationist Fund. He is
the author of four books and many shorter works that explore the
environmental and cultural character of the Southwest.
Mr. Debuys received his B.A. with Highest Honors in American Studies
and Honors in Creative Writing from the University of North Carolina in
Chapel Hill. He also received his M.A. and Ph.D. in American Civilization
from the University of Texas at Austin.
Karen Durkovich, of Santa Fe, New Mexico, serves as Chair of the Board
of Trustees of The Nature Conservancy of New Mexico. In this capacity, Ms.
Durkovich handles public lands ranching issues and evaluates cattle
operation opportunities. As a member of the Board of Trustees, Ms.
Durkovich has been involved with the Sevietta Wildlife Refuge, the Ladder
Ranch, conservation easements, trade lands, restoration of overgrazed
lands, and healthy ecosystems. Ms. Durkovich and her husband have owned
the Little Wahoo Ranch in southwestern New Mexico since 1996. In
cooperation with Ted Turner?s Ladder Ranch, Ms. Durkovich and her husband
have made an effort to reintroduce threatened and endangered species on the
ranch.
Ms. Durkovich received her B.A. in English and Political Science from
the University of California at Berkeley.
Palemon A. Martinez, of Valdez, New Mexico, served as a Santa Fe
County Extension Agent, Resource Conservation and Development Specialist,
and Northern District Extension Director for the New Mexico State
University Cooperative Extension Service for 30 years. Since his
retirement in 1987, Mr. Martinez has been actively involved in farming and
ranching in Arroyo Seco in Taos County. He serves on the New Mexico
Interstate Stream Commission, Northern New Mexico Stockman Association,
several Acequia and water entities, and is a grazing permittee on the Cerro
Azul and Valle Vidal Grazing Association.
Mr. Martinez received his B.S. and M.A. in Agricultural and Extension
Education from New Mexico State University.
Stephen D. Stoddard, of Los Alamos, New Mexico, has served on the
Board of Trustees for Los Alamos Economic Development Corporation since
1985. From 1984 to 1999, Mr. Stoddard was the Director of the Bank of Los
Alamos\Mountain Community Bank. Mr. Stoddard committed twelve years to
public service as a New Mexico State Senator from 1980 to 1992. Mr.
Stoddard was also a member of The Nature Conservancy of New Mexico Board of
Trustees from 1988 to 1997. Mr. Stoddard served in the U.S. Army and is a
WWII Veteran.
Mr. Stoddard attended the College of Puget Sound in Washington in 1944
while serving in the U.S. Army and Connecticut College for Women in 1946.
He received his B.S. in Ceramic Engineering in 1950 at the University of
Illinois.
Thomas W. Swetnam, of Tucson, Arizona, is currently Director of the
Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research and Professor of Dendrochronology and
Watershed Management at the University of Arizona. In 1976, Dr. Swetnam
worked as a Park Technician at Grand Canyon National Park and later as
Forestry Technician in the Gila Wilderness of southern New Mexico. Dr.
Swetnam has been with the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research since 1980. Dr.
Swetnam has served on editorial boards of several scientific journals,
including the International Journal of Wildland Fire, the Canadian Journal
of Forest Research, and Ecological Applications. He has authored and
co-authored more than 70 scientific articles, book chapters, technical
reports and commentaries. Dr. Swetnam is an active member of the
Ecological Society of America, the Society of American Foresters, the
American Geophysical Union, and the Tree-Ring Society.
Dr. Swetnam received a B.S. in General Biology from the University of
New Mexico with a minor in Chemistry. He later received his M.S. in
Forestry-Watershed Management and a Ph.D. in Watershed Management,
Dendrochronology from the University of Arizona.
David R. Yepa, of Jemez Pueblo, New Mexico, is a tribally enrolled
member of the Pueblo of Jemez. Mr. Yepa has been a partner in the law firm
of Roth, Van Amber, Rogers, Ortiz, Fairbanks & Yepa, LLP, since 1998.
Prior to that, Mr. Yepa practiced law as a sole proprietor for ten years.
Mr. Yepa practices Indian law, personal injury and criminal defense. Mr.
Yepa has practiced Indian law since 1987 in matters concerning water law,
environmental issues, child abuse cases, taxation, land issues, housing,
jurisdiction, protection of cultural resources and religious sites, and
drafting ordinances and tribal codes for various tribal clients. Mr. Yepa
is a member of the Indian Law Section of the State Bar of New Mexico, New
Mexico Trial Lawyers Association, the American Bar Association, and the
Indian Pueblo Legal Services Board.
Mr. Yepa received his A.D. and B.A.in Police Science from New Mexico
State University and his J.D. from the University of New Mexico School of
Law in 1984.
The Valles Caldera Preservation Act (S. 1892) was signed into law on
July 25, 2000, authorizing the acquisition and preservation of the
95,000-acre Baca Ranch in the Valles Caldera, New Mexico. The acquisition
of the Baca Ranch established the Valles Caldera National Preserve as a
unit of the National Forest System and the Valles Caldera Trust as a
wholly-owned Government corporation to provide management and
administrative services for the Preserve and for other specified purposes.
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