Walter Hickel, the former governor of Alaska who served as secretary of the interior for two years under President Richard Nixon, will speak at the University of Colorado at Boulder on Oct. 15.
Hickel will speak at 7 p.m. in the Eaton Humanities Building, room 1B50, in a conversation with CU-Boulder history and environmental studies Professor Patricia Limerick and law Professor Charles Wilkinson.
The talk, which is free and open to the public, is part of the 2003-04 Wren and Tim Wirth Forum on the American West, which is bringing five former secretaries of the interior, including current Secretary Gale Norton, to campus to discuss their roles in shaping the West. The series is sponsored by the CU-Boulder Center of the American West, The Nature Conservancy and the Denver law firm of Brownstein, Hyatt and Farber.
Hickel served as interior secretary in 1969 and 1970 and was governor of Alaska from 1966 to 1968 and again from 1990 to 1994. As secretary, he became known for his strong actions on behalf of a national energy policy, for helping to awaken America to the emerging environmental crisis and for his role in establishing the Environmental Protection Agency.
He acted to upgrade offshore oil drilling regulations after the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill disaster and worked to indict Chevron on 900 counts of breaking those regulations. He negotiated with oil producers to build an environmentally responsible trans-Alaska pipeline and placed all eight species of great whales on the Endangered Species List. His term was cut short when he openly criticized President Nixon's policy toward student anti-war protesters and the Kent State University killings.
For more information on the lecture series call (303) 492-4879 or visit .
Editors: A digital photo of Walter Hickel, taken during the time of his service, is available by e-mailing caughey@colorado.edu or calling (303) 492-4007.