James L. Caswell, a veteran public land manager, was the Director of the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management. The Senate confirmed Caswell by unanimous consent on August 3, 2007. He headed Idaho’s state Office of Species Conservation, which provided a policy focus for endangered species issues and coordinated state and federal efforts on endangered species management in Idaho. Under Caswell’s leadership, the office won the state legislature’s approval in 2001 for two emotionally and politically charged issues — a Wolf Management Plan and a Yellowstone Grizzly Bear Management Plan.
Caswell spent 33 years in various positions with the Bureau of Land Management, Bonneville Power Administration, and the U.S. Forest Service. For sixteen years, he served as Forest Supervisor on the Clearwater and Targhee National Forests. Caswell was also Deputy Forest Supervisor at Boise National Forest and Acting Deputy Regional Forester in Missoula, Montana.
As well as a Vietnam War veteran, Caswell is a 1967 graduate of Michigan State University, where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in forestry. He and his wife Susan have three grown children, two daughters and a son, as well as four grandchildren.
Bio and Photo Source: http://www.doi.gov/archive/news/07_News_Releases/070806a.html