The Washington Times's John McCaslin reports that Patrick Shea has been "demoted" from the post of director of the Bureau of Land Management to acting deputy assistant secretary of the Interior for Land and Minerals Management.
Shea was "unavailable for comment" when the column was written, but an unnamed aide on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee said the change was made because he was too "independent-minded" for the Clinton administration.
The Utahn's appointment as BLM director last year was considered a "peace offering to Utah" because of state leaders' dissatisfaction with the way the Clinton administration handled the creation of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument (McCaslin, Washington Times, 12/14).
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