Bush Nominates Idaho Gov. To Head Interior President Bush on Thursday announced he has nominated Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne to be the next Secretary of the Interior. Kempthorne has served as Idaho's governor since 1999. Before that, he served as a U.S. senator, where he chaired the Senate Subcommittee on Drinking Water and the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Personnel. In his career he also served seven years as mayor of Boise, Idaho, and worked in the Idaho Department of Lands. "As Secretary of the Interior, Dirk will continue my administration's efforts to conserve our land, water, and air resources, reduce the maintenance backlog of our national parks, support historic and cultural sites through our Preserve America Initiative, and develop the energy potential of federal lands and waters in environmentally sensitive ways," said President Bush. Interior Secretary Gale Norton announced March 10 that she will resign. Read the complete statements of Bush and Kempthorne from Thursday's announcement at the White House.