OFFICE OF SURFACE MINING
                  RECLAMAATION AND ENFORCEMENT 

For Immediate Release: August 4, 1997              Jerry Childress (202) 208-2719
                                        jchildre@osmre.gov

   Kathy Karpan Sworn In As Interior's Surface Mining Director 

     Kathy Karpan of Wyoming was sworn in today as 13th Director of Interior's Office of
Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM).

     Karpan,  who was sworn in by Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, was confirmed by
unanimous consent of  the U.S. Senate on July 31.  President Clinton announced his choice of
Karpan to head OSM in May 1997.

     "Kathy Karpan is a no-nonsense administrator," said Babbitt.  "She has the background,
experience, integrity, and impressive professional qualifications which are needed to help protect
America's natural resources and carry out the vigorous program at OSM."

     Karpan comes to OSM from the private sector where she was the manager of Karpan &
White Law Offices, and President of Karpan & White Corporate Services.  She was elected in
1986 and reelected in 1990 to serve as Wyoming's Secretary of State, the second-highest state
office after Governor.   Prior to that she spent two years on the Wyoming Attorney General's
staff and two years (1984-86) as Director of Wyoming's Department of Health and Social
Services, one of the largest agencies in state government.  She resigned in 1986 to run for the
position of Secretary of State.  

     Her other work experience includes serving as Deputy Director, Office of Congressional
Relations, and later as Legal Counsel, in the Economic Development Administration, U.S.
Department of Commerce, during the Carter Administration  (1978-81).  She spent six years on
the staff of U.S. Representative Teno Roncalio, as Press Secretary and later as Chief of Staff.  
Ms. Karpan also worked as a journalist for newspapers in Cody and Cheyenne, Wyoming, and
for the Canberra Times in Canberra, Australia.

     A native of Rock Springs, Wyoming, and the daughter of a coal miner, Ms. Karpan
earned both  a bachelor's degree in journalism and a master's degree in American Studies from
the University of Wyoming, and a J.D. from the University of Oregon.

     As Director of  the 20-year-old Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement,
Karpan has policy and executive responsibility for developing and enforcing surface coal mining
regulations under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act. The agency operates with an
annual budget of $271 million and a work force of 650 employees nationwide.

     "I am greatly honored by the confidence that President Clinton and Secretary Babbitt have
shown in me, and by the support of the Senate," Karpan said.  "I intend to earn that confidence
by providing strong, consistent leadership for the Office of Surface Mining."

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