Secretary Watt announced today that William "Perry" Pendley will be the Acting Director of the new Minerals Management Service in the Department of the Interior. Pendley will retain his current position as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy and Minerals, but in the days to come while the search for a permanent Director is underway, his prime responsibility will be the administration of the Minerals Management Service
"I have full confidence that Perry will provide the strong leadership needed to .transfer the functions of the Conservation Division into the Minerals Management Service and to ensure that the goals of the Linowes Commission are not only achieved, but exceeded," Watt said.
As Acting Director of the Mineral Management Service, Pendley will report directly to a four-man Minerals Management Board made up of the Under Secretary, the Assistant Secretary for Policy, Budget and Administration, the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs and the Assistant Secretary for Energy and Minerals. This reorganization and restructuring will ensure that the royalty collection functions within the Department receive high priority and Secretarial level attention, Watt said.
Pendley came to Interior after nearly five years on Capitol Hill, first as Legislative Assistant to former U.S. Senator Clifford P. Hansen of Wyoming, and then as Minority Counsel to the Mines and Mining Subcommittee of the House Interior and Insular Affairs Committee.
Last year, President Reagan appointed Pendley as a member of his Strategic Minerals Task Force responsible for submitting to the President recommendations for achieving a national strategic minerals policy.
A native and legal resident of Wyoming, Pendley was born in Cheyenne April 3, 1945. He holds a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Wyoming's College of Law, and Bachelor and Master of Arts degrees in public affairs from George Washington University, Washington, D.C.
