# Donald P. Hodel > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Donald_P._Hodel > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Donald_P._Hodel.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_P._Hodel > Source revision: 1353822256 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|American bureaucrat, executive, and energy consultant (born 1935)}} {{Infobox officeholder |name = Donald Hodel |image = Donald hodel.JPG |office = 45th [United States Secretary of the Interior](/source/United_States_Secretary_of_the_Interior) |president = [Ronald Reagan](/source/Ronald_Reagan) |term_start = February 8, 1985 |term_end = January 20, 1989 |predecessor = [William Clark](/source/William_P._Clark_Jr.) |successor = [Manuel Lujan Jr.](/source/Manuel_Lujan_Jr.) |office1 = 4th [United States Secretary of Energy](/source/United_States_Secretary_of_Energy) |president1 = Ronald Reagan |term_start1 = November 5, 1982 |term_end1 = February 7, 1985 |predecessor1 = [James B. Edwards](/source/James_B._Edwards) |successor1 = [John S. Herrington](/source/John_S._Herrington) |birth_name = Donald Paul Hodel |birth_date = {{birth date and age|1935|5|23}} |birth_place = [Portland](/source/Portland%2C_Oregon), [Oregon](/source/Oregon), U.S. |death_date = |death_place = |party = [Republican](/source/Republican_Party_(United_States)) |spouse = {{marriage|Barbara Stockman|1957|2012}} |children = 2 |education = [Harvard University](/source/Harvard_University) ([BA](/source/Bachelor_of_Arts))
[University of Oregon](/source/University_of_Oregon) ([LLB](/source/Bachelor_of_Laws)) }} ''' Donald Paul Hodel''' (born May 23, 1935) is an American former politician who served as the fourth [United States secretary of energy](/source/United_States_secretary_of_energy) from 1982 to 1985 and as the 45th [United States secretary of the interior](/source/United_States_secretary_of_the_interior) from 1985 to 1989. He was known during his tenure as Secretary of the Interior for his controversial "Hodel Policy," which stated that disused dirt roads and footpaths could be considered [right-of-ways](/source/right-of-way_(transportation)) under [RS 2477](/source/Revised_statute_2477). ''[The Washington Post](/source/The_Washington_Post)'' reported that rather than reduce the production of CFCs to prevent ozone layer destruction, Hodel suggested people should wear hats and use sunscreen. David Prosperi, a spokesman for Hodel, later said that the suggestion was only "one of several options presented to the President".{{cite web |last1=Gillette |first1=Robert |title=Suggests Wearing Hats, Sunscreen Instead of Saving Ozone Layer : Hodel Proposal Irks Environmentalists |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-05-30-mn-3572-story.html |website=Los Angeles Times |access-date=22 May 2025 |date=30 May 1987}} ==Early life and education== Hodel was born in [Portland, Oregon](/source/Portland%2C_Oregon), the son of Philip E. Hodel and Theresia R. Brodt Hodel. He attended [Harvard University](/source/Harvard_University). In 1957, he married Barbara Beecher Stockman, who was born in [Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania](/source/Pittsburgh%2C_Pennsylvania) and attended [Wellesley College](/source/Wellesley_College). She married Hodel during her senior year. They moved to Oregon after graduation and Hodel earned his [J.D.](/source/Juris_Doctor) at the [University of Oregon](/source/University_of_Oregon).{{cite web|title=Nomination of Donald P. Hodel To Be Under Secretary of the Interior|url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=43857|website=The American Presidency Project}}{{cite web|url=http://www.policycounsel.org/56701/56801.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726222327/http://www.policycounsel.org/56701/56801.html|title=Keeping the Flame Alive |archive-date=26 July 2011 |work=Council for National Policy }} While living in Oregon, the Hodels had two sons, and Barbara became a full-time mother. After their elder son's suicide, the Hodels became evangelical Christians. They became active in church and other Christian ministries and began speaking at evangelical meetings and prayer breakfasts. The Hodels have appeared on ''The 700 Club'' with [Pat Robertson](/source/Pat_Robertson), ''The Hour of Power'' with [Robert Schuller](/source/Robert_Schuller), and on [Focus on the Family](/source/Focus_on_the_Family) broadcasts with [James Dobson](/source/Dr._James_Dobson), encouraging families that have also lost loved ones to suicide. ==Government career== From 1972 to 1977, Hodel was at the [Bonneville Power Administration](/source/Bonneville_Power_Administration) as deputy administrator from 1969 to 1972 and administrator from 1972 to 1977. After leaving it, he said that the Pacific Northwest would eventually need all the power produced by the nuclear power plants proposed by the [Washington Public Power Supply System](/source/Washington_Public_Power_Supply_System).The Oregon Journal August 31, 1982 page 11 Hodel served as [United States Secretary of Energy](/source/United_States_Secretary_of_Energy) from 1982 to 1985 and [Secretary of the Interior](/source/United_States_Secretary_of_the_Interior) from 1985 to 1989 under [President](/source/US_President) [Ronald Reagan](/source/Ronald_Reagan). He had been Undersecretary of the Interior under [James Watt](/source/James_G._Watt) from February 1981 to November 1982.{{cite web |url=https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/archives/speech/recess-appointment-donald-p-hodel-secretary-energy |title=Recess Appointment of Donald P. Hodel as Secretary of Energy |publisher=[Ronald Reagan Presidential Library](/source/Ronald_Reagan_Presidential_Library) |date=November 5, 1982 |access-date=September 8, 2025}}{{Cite web |title=Nomination of Donald P. Hodel To Be Under Secretary of the Interior {{!}} The American Presidency Project |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/nomination-donald-p-hodel-be-under-secretary-the-interior |access-date=2026-04-23 |website=www.presidency.ucsb.edu}}{{Cite web |title=Nomination of Donald P. Hodel To Be Secretary of the Interior {{!}} The American Presidency Project |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/nomination-donald-p-hodel-be-secretary-the-interior |access-date=2026-04-23 |website=www.presidency.ucsb.edu}} Critics disrupted his efforts to impose a new management policy on a large amount of [federal land](/source/federal_land) and blocked his efforts to create vast new [wilderness area](/source/wilderness_area)s. Despite the criticisms, the [Reagan administration](/source/Reagan_administration) added over 2 million acres (8,000 km²) to the national wilderness system. The Hodel policy was continued under [Manuel Lujan Jr.](/source/Manuel_Lujan_Jr.) in the [George H. W. Bush administration](/source/George_H._W._Bush). It was rescinded in 1997 by Secretary [Bruce Babbitt](/source/Bruce_Babbitt). In an article, Hodel wrote, "Throughout President Reagan's eight years, his Secretaries of the Interior pursued these objectives within the framework of his and their conviction that America could have both an improving environment and an adequate energy supply. We did not and do not have to choose between them, as some have contended."{{Citation needed|date=June 2010}} While secretary, Hodel proposed to undertake a study on the removal of the [O'Shaughnessy Dam](/source/Hetch_Hetchy) in [Yosemite National Park](/source/Yosemite_National_Park), and the restoration of [Hetch Hetchy Valley](/source/Hetch_Hetchy_Valley), a smaller but inundated version of [Yosemite Valley](/source/Yosemite_Valley). [Dianne Feinstein](/source/Dianne_Feinstein), former [mayor](/source/mayor) of [San Francisco](/source/San_Francisco), which owns the dam, opposed the study and had it quashed. {{Citation needed|date=June 2010}} In March 1984, the [Navajo Nation](/source/Navajo_Nation) requested that Secretary of the Interior William Clark make a reasonable adjustment of the coal lease royalty rate paid by Peabody Coal, now [Peabody Energy](/source/Peabody_Energy). In July 1985, the newly appointed Hodel secretly met ''[ex parte](/source/ex_parte)'' with Peabody's representative, "a former aide and friend of Secretary Hodel". After briefly reviewing the proposals' merits, Hodel approved lease amendments with royalty rates well below the rate that had previously been determined appropriate by the agencies responsible for monitoring the federal government's relations with Native Americans. In 2007, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit determined that those actions breached the government's duty of trust to the Nation and established a "cognizable money-mandating claim" against the government under the Indian Tucker Act.{{cite court |litigants=The Navajo Nation v United States |opinion= 2006-5059 |court=USCA, Fed. Cir. |date=September 13, 2007 |url=http://www.cafc.uscourts.gov/images/stories/opinions-orders/06-5059.pdf |access-date=April 23, 2015 }} ==Post-government career== Hodel moved to [Colorado](/source/Colorado), where he engaged in the energy consulting business and served on various charitable and corporate boards of directors. He is the author of ''Crisis in the Oil Patch'' (Regnery, 1995). From June 1997 to February 1999, Hodel served as president of the [Christian Coalition](/source/Christian_Coalition_of_America), a nonprofit [conservative](/source/Conservatism_in_the_United_States) political group founded by religious broadcaster [Pat Robertson](/source/Pat_Robertson). From May 2003 to March 2005, Hodel served as president and CEO of [Focus on the Family](/source/Focus_on_the_Family), a nonprofit [evangelical](/source/Evangelicalism) [Christian](/source/Christians) organization. Electa Draper, [https://www.denverpost.com/2009/06/12/focus-on-the-familys-new-ceo-shifts-perspectives/ Focus on the Family’s new CEO shifts perspectives], denverpost.com, USA, June 12, 2009 He said his job was to manage the transition from the founder, [James Dobson](/source/James_Dobson), to his successor. Several years before being named president, Hodel had served on its board, and he remained on the board until October 2005. Hodel was also chairman of the company FreeEats.com, aka ccAdvertising, which has disseminated automated, interactive voice response (IVR) phone calls for conservative causes, the [Economic Freedom Fund](/source/Economic_Freedom_Fund).{{cite news |last=Schulman |first=Daniel |url=https://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2006/11/more-coverage-push-polling |date=November 6, 2006 |title=More Coverage of Push Polling|newspaper=[Mother Jones](/source/Mother_Jones_(magazine)) |access-date = April 23, 2015 }} In 2026 Hodel released his autobiography, “Called To Serve: My Path to President Reagan’s Cabinet and Beyond” (Peak Press, 2026). == Environmental efforts == As Secretary of the Interior, in 1985 Hodel ordered the acquisition of a ranch in southern Arizona that became the [Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge](/source/Buenos_Aires_National_Wildlife_Refuge). Encompassing approximately {{convert|118000|acre|km2}} of savanna grassland in the [Altar Valley](/source/Altar_Valley), the refuge was created for the [masked bobwhite quail](/source/Bobwhite_Quail). This refuge contains the United States' only population of the masked bobwhite quail.{{cite web|url = http://www.savetheendangeredspeciesact.org/case/30species/quail.pdf|title = 30 Years of the Endangered Species Act|publisher = savetheendangeredspeciesact.org|access-date = 2010-10-05|url-status = dead|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080908074749/http://www.savetheendangeredspeciesact.org/case/30species/quail.pdf|archive-date = 2008-09-08}}{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-02-21-mn-609-story.html |title = Arizona Ranch to Be U.S. Wildlife Refuge |newspaper =[United Press International](/source/United_Press_International) |date = 1985-02-21 |access-date = 2010-10-05}} {{As of|2023}}, Hodel serves as chairman emeritus at Summit Power Group, Inc.,{{cite web |url=http://www.summitpower.com/about/principals/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120626235952/http://www.summitpower.com/about/principals |title= Principals |archive-date=26 June 2012 |work=Summit Power Group, Inc }} a Seattle-based developer of wind, solar, and [gas-fired power plant](/source/gas-fired_power_plant)s. In 1989, he was the founder and managing director of Summit's predecessor company.{{Citation needed|date=July 2010}} ==References== {{Reflist}} ==External links== {{commons category}} * {{C-SPAN|1101}} {{s-start}} {{s-off}} {{s-bef|before=[James B. Edwards](/source/James_B._Edwards)}} {{s-ttl|title=[United States Secretary of Energy](/source/United_States_Secretary_of_Energy)|years=1982–1985}} {{s-aft|after=[John S. Herrington](/source/John_S._Herrington)}} |- {{s-bef|before=[William Clark](/source/William_P._Clark_Jr.)}} {{s-ttl|title=[United States Secretary of the Interior](/source/United_States_Secretary_of_the_Interior)|years=1985–1989}} {{s-aft|after=[Manuel Lujan Jr.](/source/Manuel_Lujan_Jr.)}} |- {{s-prec|usa}} {{s-bef|before=[John Rusling Block](/source/John_Rusling_Block)|as=Former U.S. Cabinet Member}} {{s-ttl|title=[Order of precedence of the United States](/source/United_States_order_of_precedence)
''{{small|as Former U.S. Cabinet Member}}''|years=}} {{s-aft|after=[Elizabeth Dole](/source/Elizabeth_Dole)|as=Former U.S. Cabinet Member}} {{s-end}} {{USSecInterior}} {{USSecEnergy}} {{Reagan cabinet}} {{Focus on the Family}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Hodel, Donald P.}} Category:1935 births Category:20th-century American politicians Category:Lutherans from Colorado Category:Focus on the Family people Category:Grant High School (Portland, Oregon) alumni Category:Harvard University alumni Category:Lawyers from Portland, Oregon Category:Living people Category:Oregon Republicans Category:Reagan administration cabinet members Category:United States secretaries of energy Category:United States secretaries of the interior Category:University of Oregon School of Law alumni --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Donald P. Hodel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_P._Hodel) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_P._Hodel?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.