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NEVADA STATE OFFICE NO. 2004-31

FOR RELEASE: April 13, 2004

CONTACT: Jo Simpson at 775-861-6586

NEVADA STATE DIRECTOR, BLM RECEIVES

SECRETARIAL EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP AWARD

Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton has presented Bureau of Land
Management (BLM) Nevada State Director Bob Abbey with an Executive
Leadership Award. Abbey and 13 other Department of the Interior Senior
Executive Service (SES) managers received the awards recognizing their
extraordinary performance and excellence in leadership.

In presenting the awards, Norton spoke about the challenges of managing
the Nation's public lands in Nevada, and recognized Abbey "as an example
of the consummate professionals of the Department."

"Bob certainly has one of the more challenging jobs in the Department,"
said Norton. "In Nevada, BLM manages 68 percent of that state's land --
the highest percentage of BLM land in any state.

"He also watches over many aspects of the Wild Horse and Burro program.
With such a large portfolio, Bob Abbey is in the 'hot seat' but he has
done something truly remarkable there. He has earned praise from even
the agency's most ardent critics.

"He has seized upon opportunities, such as those presented by the
Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act, in the development of
innovative agency practices that have become outstanding BLM success
stories. Following devastating fires in 1999, Bob led restoration
efforts on 1.7 million acres with the Great Basin Restoration
Initiative."

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NV STATE DIRECTOR, BLM RECEIVES AWARD -- 2222

Norton said that she mentioned the Wild Horse and Burro program "because
it is a high-profile issue in Nevada that Bob has tackled with
creativity and professionalism."

"Creativity, initiative and leadership are the hallmarks of the senior
management team at the Department of the Interior," Secretary Norton
said in congratulating the recipients. "We have a talented and dedicated
Senior Executive Service, an exceptionally capable group whose members
have extremely challenging assignments. They are an inspiration and a
true example of dedicated public servants, and we are proud to serve
with them."

Abbey received an award in the Bronze Category, along with Nina Rose
Hatfield, deputy assistant secretary for Budget and Finance, Office of
the Secretary; Pamela K. Haze, deputy director, Office of the Budget in
the Office of the Secretary; Suzanne Lewis, superintendent, Yellowstone
National Park, National Park Service; Larry R. Parkinson, deputy
assistant secretary for Law Enforcement and Security, Office of the
Secretary; and Timothy G. Vigotsky, director, National Business Center,
Office of the Secretary.

Recipients in the Silver Category are Norma Campbell, director of the
Office of Planning and Performance Management in the Office of the
Secretary; Walter D. Cruickshank, deputy director of the Minerals
Management Service; J. William McDonald, regional director, Pacific
Northwest Region, Bureau of Reclamation; and John D. Trezise, director,
Office of Budget, Office of the Secretary.

The recipients in the Gold Category are Abraham Haspel, assistant deputy
secretary in the Office of the Secretary; Robert W. Johnson, regional
director of the Lower Colorado Region, Bureau of Reclamation; Brian
O'Neill, superintendent, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, National
Park Service; and Steve P. Thompson, manager of the California-Nevada
Operations Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

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NV STATE DIRECTOR, BLM RECEIVES AWARD -- 3333

The Secretary's Executive Leadership Award, an annual career SES
performance honor, was established by the department's Executive
Resources Board to recognize superior accomplishment of performance
objectives and excellence in leadership.

Career SES members are nominated for the Secretary's Executive
Leadership Award by their bureau/office director, with the concurrence
of the appropriate assistant secretary and the Performance Review Board.
Final selections are made by the Executive Resources Board.

Criteria for the award include extraordinary accomplishment of the
performance elements comprising the SES member's annual performance
plan; and demonstration of excellence in the five executive core
qualifications.

Benchmarks of excellence in the executive core qualifications include
the following: 1) leading change: displayed the highest level of
creativity, initiative, flexibility and innovation to produce results
critical to the mission of the department; 2) results driven: has an
exceptional record of achieving important program results; 3) leading
people: demonstrated unusual success in building and maintaining a
workforce that is diverse, well-trained, highly motivated and
productive; 4) business acumen: managed the programs' human, fiscal,
material and information resources in a manner which instilled the
utmost trust by higher management and advanced the department's mission;
and 5) building coalitions/communication: showed an unusual level of
cooperative effort with others, including those in other federal
agencies, state/local governments and private and nonprofit sectors.

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