Oregon Public Broadcasting

This week, the Obama Administration announced new policies for federal agencies dealing with endangered species.

It’s a reversal of Bush Administration forest policies.  An architect of those policies spoke in central Oregon as Ethan Lindsey reports.

The former undersecretary of the Forest Service, Mark Rey,  addressed Oregon State University students in Bend.

He says it would be premature to comment on any Obama policies.

But he did reflect on his tenure, including one of his most famous moments, when a judge threatened him with jail, for contempt of court.

Mark Rey: “Holding executive branch officials in contempt, is becoming increasingly an approach used by the courts. In this particular case, the material he wanted was in part out of my control. I was the instrument he used to do that.”

Many environmentalists say Rey ignored scientific evidence to advance his agenda.

But Rey says looking back, many policies slammed by the left, proved successful in practice.