THE WHITE HOUSE

                     Office of the Press Secretary
                        (Little Rock, Arkansas)
________________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release                                     August 6, 1999

PRESIDENT CLINTON NAMES SYLVIA V. BACA AS ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR LAND

AND MINERALS MANAGEMENT AT THE DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR

The President today announced the nomination of Sylvia V. Baca to serve as Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management, U.S. Department of Interior (DOI).

Ms. Sylvia V. Baca, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, has served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management since January 1995. From January 1997 until August 1997, Ms. Baca served both as Acting Director of the Bureau of Land Management and Deputy Assistant Secretary at DOI. In 1994, Ms. Baca served as the Director of Finance and Management for the City of Albuquerque, New Mexico. From 1989 to 1994, Ms. Baca was a Senior Fiscal Analyst for the New Mexico Legislative Finance Committee. From 1986 to 1989, Ms. Baca was Program Director for the New Mexico Minority and Small Business Procurement Assistance Program, General Services Department.

Ms. Baca received an M.P.A. and a B.A. from the University of New Mexico.

The Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management exercises Secretarial direction and management over the Bureau of Land Management, the Minerals Management Service, and the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement. The Assistant Secretary has responsibility for programs associated with the maintenance, preservation and public use of 270 million acres of onshore public lands; leasing and operations management for minerals on public lands; and minerals operation management on Indian lands. Responsibilities also include mineral development of the Outer Continental Shelf; collection and management of revenues from Federal and Indian mineral leases; and surface coal mining reclamation and enforcement functions.

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