Critics blast oil-gas hire

Former Bureau of Land Management District Manager Steve Henke's hire as president of the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association has drawn the ire of environmental groups that requested federal investigation into Henke's BLM tenure. A half-dozen environmental advocacy groups on Wednesday submitted a letter to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and U.S. BLM Director Ben Abbey expressing concern that Henke's hire as president of the state's largest oil and gas lobbying group raises questions about his work as district manager of the BLM Farmington Field Office, where he oversaw oil and gas development in northwest New Mexico for nine years. Henke resigned from the BLM in May after applying for the industry job. He begins work as NMOGA president Aug. 1. The coalition has requested an investigation into whether Henke was improperly influenced by the oil and gas industry during his BLM tenure and seeks a two-year restriction from lobbying his former co-workers at BLM offices across New Mexico, according to the letter. The coalition of environmental groups also expressed concern that Henke had access to confidential, proprietary information through his dealings with the BLM, which now can be shared with industry leaders, although it remains unavailable for public release, Nichols said...more