Oregon Public Broadcasting

Environmentalists are welcoming the nomination that could place another western state official at the U.S. Forest Service.

Harris Sherman is head of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources. He's been selected to be an undersecretary with the U.S. Department of Agriculture – a post that oversees the Forest Service.

If he's confirmed, Sherman would be the latest of several Westerners going to work in the Obama administration, including Interior Secretary and former Colorado senator Ken Salazar.

Matt Garrington with the group Environment Colorado says the nomination of Sherman is good for the region.

Matt Garrington:  " I think it just shows how important the West has become in national politics. To have Westerners in position where they're helping to craft policies on public lands management is only a good thing."

In Colorado, Sherman has helped create the state plan for roadless areas of national forests, and pushed for new regulations on oil and gas drilling.