Until he resigned in October, William Myers was chief attorney for the Bush Interior Department, where he helped shape the weakening of Administration policies on the Endangered Species Act. He also contributed to the curbing of federal protections to prevent destructive mining and overgrazing of public lands.

President Bush has nominated Myers for a seat on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the appellate court that hears cases from Alaska and the American West, where environmental law concerning 485 million acres of public lands is decided.[1]

An ethics investigation by the Interior Department's inspector general is pending over Myers' approval of questionable settlement with a rancher cited for overgrazing public lands.[2] A second complaint was closed earlier this month when the inspector general ruled that despite meeting 37 times while at Interior with representatives of the grazing and mining industry, including former clients, Myers -- a former lobbyist for mining and grazing interests -- did not violate an ethics agreement.[3]

Before joining Interior, the Boise, Idaho, attorney served as a lobbyist for the National Mining Association, among others. From 1993-1997, Myers was executive director of the Public Lands Council, a trade association promoting the interests of ranchers who graze sheep and cattle on public lands, and director of federal lands for the National Cattlemen's Beef Association.

Not a single member of the American Bar Association's committee that rates federal judicial nominees found Myers "well qualified." More than a third rated him "unqualified."

In one legal opinion Myers wrote at Interior, he overturned the opinion of his predecessor so that Interior Secretary Gale Norton could approve a 1,650-acre, cyanide heap-leach gold mine in California. The Clinton Administration had concluded it would irreparably damage a portion of the Quechan Indian Tribe's "Trail of Dreams," a crucial spiritual site for the tribe.

To reverse his predecessor's opinion, Myers had to make a tortured legal interpretation that the word "or" in a statute in fact meant its exact opposite: "and." A federal judge found that in doing so Myers violated three separate rules of statutory interpretation and "misconstrued the clear mandate" of the law in question.[4]

The legal decision -- and Myers' failure to consult with the governments of the Quechan tribe and other affected tribes -- prompted the National Congress of American Indians, representing more than 250 tribal governments, to formally oppose Myers' nomination.

Another 23 public interest organizations have asked the Senate Judiciary Committee to hold off on Myers' nomination hearing until after the ethics investigation is complete.[5] Instead, Myers' hearing is scheduled for Wednesday morning.[6]

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SOURCES:
[1] Friends of the Earth brief, http://www.foe.org/camps/eco/interior/ninthcircuit.pdf
[2] PEER letter to Interior Department inspector general, http://www.peer.org/Myers_OIG_Request.html
[3] Associated Press article, Jan. 10, 2004, http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-3607561,00.html
[4] Mineral Policy Center v. Norton, U.S. District Court, District of Columbia, 2003
[5] Coalition letter to Judiciary Committee, October 2003, http://www.earthjustice.org/policy/judicial/pdf/Myers_Coalition_Letter_10-14-03.pdf
[6] Judiciary Committee calendar, http://judiciary.senate.gov/hearing.cfm?id=1030