Keynote Speaker, Hon. Bruce Babbitt, Former Secretary of the Interior

 
Mr. Babbitt is the author of Cities in the Wilderness: A New Vision of Land Use, and currently serves as chairman of the World Wildlife Fund's board of directors.
 
Mr.  Babbitt served as the 47th United States Secretary of the Interior under President Bill Clinton, from January 22, 1993 until January 2, 2001.  As Secretary of the Interior, Mr. Babbitt actively worked to protect scenic and historic areas of America’s federal lands.  In 2000, Babbitt created the National Landscape Conservation System, a collection of 15 national monuments and 14 national conservation areas to be managed by the Bureau of Land Management in such a way as to keep them “healthy, open and wild.”
 
Mr. Babbitt served as the 20th Governor of Arizona from March 4, 1978 to January 6, 1987. He had been elected and was serving as Attorney General of Arizona prior to that time.  A popular governor, Mr. Babbitt left a significant legacy of environmental accomplishments.  He expanded Arizona’s state park system and engineered passage of the comprehensive Arizona Groundwater Management Act of 1980.  He also worked to create the Arizona Department of Water Resources and the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality.