James Watt, who served as President Reagan's first secretary of the interior and was a controversial figure among environmentalists, will speak at the University of Colorado at Boulder on Feb. 11.
Watt will speak at 7 p.m. in the University Memorial Center's Glenn Miller Ballroom, in a conversation with CU-Boulder history and environmental studies Professor Patricia Nelson Limerick and law Distinguished Professor Charles Wilkinson. The talk is free and open to the public.
"In recent environmental history, James Watt holds a position at center stage, and no one can understand the recent past with out reckoning with him," Limerick said.
"Secretary Watt is a spirited and memorable individual, with a robust sense of humor and important personal and professional memories of the Reagan years," said Limerick. "With this program and others, the Center of the American West is proud to showcase the role of universities in hosting civil, respectful and dynamic conversations of crucial issues."
The event is part of the 2003-04 Wren and Tim Wirth Forum on the American West, which is bringing five former secretaries of the interior, and current Secretary Gale Norton, to campus to discuss their roles in shaping the West. The series is sponsored by the CU-Boulder Center of the American West, The Nature Conservancy and the Denver law firm of Brownstein, Hyatt and Farber.
Watt addressed several challenges facing the nation's public lands during his tenure from 1981 to 1983. When he came into office, the Sagebrush Rebellion was in full bloom with every Western Democratic governor opposing the policies of the Carter administration. Watt implemented a Good Neighbor Policy to quell the rebellion and instituted an aggressive leasing program to help rebuild the nation's energy supplies.
Watt also implemented a $1 billion program to help reverse a trend of deterioration in the national parks and oversaw a complete rewriting of water reclamation law, which was approved by Congress and signed into law.
Watt was born and raised in Wyoming, where he attended the University of Wyoming and earned both bachelor's and law degrees. He then served in a variety of government positions under six U.S. presidents.
In recent years, Watt has been a lawyer, lecturer, professor and businessman. He lives in Jackson Hole, Wyo., and Wickenburg, Ariz.
For more information on the lecture series contact the CU-Boulder Center of the American West at (303) 492-4879 or visit or The Nature Conservancy at (303) 444-2950 or .