Industry officials, congressman air concerns over Stelle's appointment

By MATTHEW WEAVER

Capital Press

The Obama administration's appointment of environmental lawyer Will Stelle to head the Northwest office of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Marine Fisheries Service has drawn criticism from a member of Congress and representatives of the region's agriculture industry.

Effective June 1, Stelle becomes regional administrator of the NOAA Fisheries -- the same post he held for six years during the Clinton administration.

Now an attorney with the Seattle office of the K&L Gates law firm, Stelle took part in the first round of listings of salmon under the Endangered Species Act, according to an agency press release.

Stelle was chosen by the NOAA administrator and assistant administrator for fisheries. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, the former Washington governor who oversees NOAA, made the appointment. The White House personnel office conducted a routine review, Stelle said.

Stelle's appointment conjured up "vivid, not-so-pleasant" memories of his previous tenure, when all the original salmon listings and critical habitat designations were made, said John Stuhlmiller, Washington State Farm Bureau director of governmental relations.

"There was real concern, 'Is ag going to exist in the face of all of this?'" Stuhlmiller said. "I'm hoping we don't revisit those."

The exchanges with NMFS were not pleasant, Stuhlmiller said, with agency officials demonstrating a lack of understanding of how agriculture would be affected.

U.S. Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Wash., called Stelle's appointment "deeply troubling," noting the numerous controversial actions.

Stelle's leadership in writing the 2000 Columbia River biological opinion "mired" the Northwest in a decade-long court battle, Hastings wrote to Locke.

The battles from Stelle's prior service -- "when irrigation canals were shut down and farmers denied water, when Snake River dam breaching studies were at their peak and when economic activities dependent on federal permits were slowed" -- should not be reignited, Hastings said in his letter.

Stelle told the Capital Press that Hastings is entitled to his opinion, and that he takes his comments seriously. He hopes to meet with Hastings and others soon, to get their perspectives on how to make progress on Northwest fishery issues.

Hastings added that Stelle, through his law firm, has been a registered lobbyist for clients that have a direct interest in issues over which NOAA Fisheries has regulatory authority and for others who have been involved in litigation with NOAA Fisheries.

According to Hastings' letter, among the many organizations Stelle's firm lobbied for was the Environmental Defense Fund, a nonprofit environmental group.

He has also represented clients before the Pacific Fishery Management Council, Hastings said. The regional NOAA Fisheries administrator sits on the council as a voting member and would make decisions on issues that Stelle's clients and his law firm's clients have a vested interest in.

Hastings said Stelle's work in the past decade does not immediately disqualify him, but he highlighted the importance of reviewing Stelle's work in an "open, transparent manner" to make clear what conflicts of interest exist or could occur.

Stelle said he has been in private practice with K&L Gates as an endangered species expert, representing a full spectrum of interests. He said there will clearly be no conflict of interest because of the strict rules of recusal that will separate his involvement as a federal official from any specific matter in which any of his former clients have an interest.

"I will be disclosing to the Commerce Department a complete list of my clients, and we will then put into place the formal machinery that will ensure I am not involved in any specific matters in which they are involved," Stelle said.

He said this will avoid any actual or any appearance of conflict of interest and ensure the integrity of public decision making.

NOAA Fisheries spokesman Brian Gorman said Stelle's extensive experience with Endangered Species Act issues and the history of the Northwest will put him in good standing for the job.

Washington Friends of Farms and Forests Executive Director Heather Hansen said Stelle may have a different perspective and gained new insights into private industry since his first tenure with NOAA Fisheries.

"That would be a good thing," she said.

Among her organization's concerns are recent consultations between NOAA Fisheries and the Environmental Protection Agency on pesticides. NOAA Fisheries has not been a good player in the process, Hansen said.

"They've not been willing to work together with other agencies or with stakeholders, they've not been willing to use available data," she said. She pointed to NOAA headquarters in Washington, D.C., as the problem more so than the regional office.

"We need agencies working together, we need (NOAA Fisheries) to come to the table and be cooperative," Hansen said. "Anything he can do to help with that if he was so inclined, willing or able would certainly be a good thing."

Gorman said Stelle wants efforts to protect salmon and to see the Northwest flourish as a region.

"I know he feels strongly that you can't have success in as complex an issue as this one without broad, grassroots support from everyone involved," Gorman said.

Integrating salmon conservation responsibilities of the federal government with other program responsibilities, such as pesticide registration or water quality management, is important to do successfully "so that the general public and the regulated public don't get ping-ponged back and forth," he said.

"It's not simple. It can be very complicated from a scientific and technical perspective," he said.

Stelle said his expectation is that EPA and NOAA Fisheries have been making substantial efforts to understand how to integrate the responsibilities.

"I'm sure more work needs to be done and people of good will will be working through those issues," he said. "It's a big area, it's a complicated area, and it's an area to get right."

Stuhlmiller said he hopes that Stelle will come with a new set of eyes to the job, taking into account the needs of the agriculture industry.

"I really want to give the benefit of the doubt to Will," Stuhlmiller said. "We just hope for very positive interactions."

Online:

www.nwr.noaa.gov