Another Strong Pick for the Department of Interior

When it comes to defending the rights of Westerners, Wyoming attorney Karen Budd-Falen is one of the best radio guests you can ask for. Not only that, she's one of the best advocates you could ask for to serve inside the US Department of Interior.

As E&E News reports, she is now taking an important role at Interior:

As deputy solicitor for Fish, Wildlife and Parks, Budd-Falen will render legal opinions that can either bind or unleash Interior officials. And though her appointment alarms some Westerners and environmentalists, allies see in her a strong property rights proponent.

Here's more info about Karen Budd-Falen from her bio:

Karen represents private property owners, ranching and farming organizations, and local governments. Karen has assisted local governments in asserting their rights of consistency review, cooperation and coordination in federal agency decisions; private property owners in protecting their Constitutionally guaranteed property rights, other multiple users in supporting grazing and multiple use on federal/public lands; exposing radical environmental groups’ abuse of the legal system and the attorney fee shifting statutes.

Some of Karen’s publications include The Right to Graze Livestock on the Federal Lands: The Historical Development of Western Grazing Rights, Idaho Law Review, Spring, 1994; Protecting Community Stability and Local Economies: Opportunities for County Government Influence in Federal Decision and Policy Making Processes, Whitman College, 1996; and Counterpoint: Opportunities Lost and Opportunities Gained:  Separating Truth from Myth in the Western Ranching Debate, Karen Budd-Falen editor, Lewis and Clark Law School Environmental Law, 2006.