Clean Water Advocacy - Newsroom - AMSA in the News
Fletcher Welcomes Wilcher at Lost River
New environmental cabinet head cites own experiences as inspiration for her
work
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By Jim Gaines, jgaines@bgdailynews.com -- 270-783-3242
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Greg Barnette/Daily News
Gov.-elect Ernie Fletcher and Warren County Judge-executive Mike Buchanon said
they didn’t want to announce LaJuana Wilcher’s appointment as secretary of the
state Cabinet of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection outside in
Saturday morning’s windy cold; they would have preferred a warm building.
But Wilcher insisted. The longtime Bowling Green resident wanted the
announcement framed by a local landmark to environmental protection and
restoration.
“One of the reasons I wanted to hold this press conference here is because it is
an example of how we can do better,” Wilcher told the crowd of about 100 local
officials, Republican supporters, and Wilcher’s friends, colleagues and family
as she stood in front of the rotating water wheel at Lost River Cave and Valley.
She said a 1921 article in Popular Science magazine approvingly described
Bowling Green’s ingenious method of disposing of raw sewage: pouring it into the
cave.
Now, after years of cleanup, the former “waste pit” is a tourist attraction.
Wilcher had her own close encounter with the hazards of groundwater pollution
while exploring a local cave, she told the crowd. In the 1980s, she was crawling
through a passage in the “Big Bertha” cave behind the old Bowling Green Mall.
Her path was lit by an open flame on her helmet, illuminating the few inches of
airspace she had above a couple of feet of water and mud.
“Suddenly, I smelled something that was very much like gasoline,” Wilcher said.
Looking down a couple of inches, she could see the iridescent sheen of petroleum
atop the water she was crawling in.
Terrified, she escaped from the cave without an explosion, but the contaminated
water – leaked from underground fuel storage tanks – flowed on into the Barren
River, she said.
Introducing Wilcher, Fletcher said that his campaign often talked about the
beauties of Kentucky, and as governor-elect, he looked for someone to protect
natural resources and the environment, but who also understands economic
development.
“We had to almost drag her up to Frankfort for an interview,” he said – Wilcher,
who had recently settled down on a farm, was reluctant at first, but eventually
agreed.
“She’s the kind of person who, when people call, will step up and serve,” he
said.
Wilcher’s job will take on added importance under the new administration,
because Fletcher intends to reorganize the state government’s cabinet system –
combining some functions, making appointees like Wilcher more powerful and
responsible than their predecessors, he said.
“There will probably be a single-digit number of cabinets,” Fletcher said.
“There are 14 at this time.”
Fletcher, just elected to a four-year term on Nov. 4, confirmed obliquely that
he will seek re-election in 2007.
Buchanon joked that Fletcher had been active in so many fields “we wondered if
he could hold a job.” Fletcher smilingly replied that he intended to hold the
governor’s office for eight years.
Buchanon said he eagerly awaited the distinction of having a state cabinet
secretary from Bowling Green, especially one he knows well.
“She’s a longtime friend of mine, and I have a great deal of respect for LaJuana,
professionally and as a person,” Buchanon said. “We just lived a couple of
blocks apart when we were younger.
“She’s always been a big lover of the outdoors, and a big promoter of being good
environmental stewards She’s always had a social conscience, even in high
school.”
Buchanon described Wilcher as very smart, practical, friendly and outgoing. He’s
talked with her only generally about environmental issues, he said.
“Most of our contact has been of a personal nature,” Buchanon said.
“I’m excited for the state of Kentucky, and I’m excited for LaJuana, and I’m
excited for us – because it’s a great honor to have a cabinet secretary from
Bowling Green, someone who has the governor’s ear on a daily basis. Considering
everyone that I am aware of, I don’t think there’s a better choice for secretary
of the Natural Resources Cabinet in the state of Kentucky.”
Wilcher noted that Kentucky’s record budget crisis may spell trouble for
environmental protection efforts, but said she’s determined to make decisions
governed by law and grounded in science.
She said it’s possible to improve Kentucky’s environment, not just maintain the
status quo; and that economic development can go hand-in-hand with natural
resource protection.
For her first actions, Wilcher said she plans to focus on groundwater problems,
her specialty; but the public needs to be more engaged in future policy, she
said.
“We’re going to look at some ways to try to engage the public more in the
decisionmaking process,” Wilcher said. “I believe that the natural resources
cabinet can do the public business in a more public way than it has in the
past.”
The 49-year-old Wilcher, a Danville native, moved to Bowling Green when she was
2. Her summer job during college was as a naturalist/interpreter at Mammoth Cave
National Park. After getting a 1977 biology degree from Western Kentucky
University and a law degree from Northern Kentucky University, she worked with
the Bowling Green law firm of Reynolds, Catron and Johnston from April 1980 to
February 1983.
Wilcher specializes in environmental law and served as assistant administrator
of the office for water at the Environmental Protection Agency under Pres.
George Bush, from 1989 through 1992. She previously held EPA positions under the
Reagan administration.
In the last decade she worked with several Washington, D.C., law firms. Since
returning to Bowling Green, she has been a partner with English, Lucas, Priest &
Owsley.
Wilcher is a member of numerous bar associations, the Cave Research Foundation
and the Groundwater Foundation Technical Review Board.
Her entry in the West Legal Dictionary says that she has worked as an attorney
for Dollar General Corp.; the Miami-Dade County, Fla., Water and Sewer
Department; and in 1999 served as counsel for the Association of Metropolitan
Sewerage Agencies. She won a National Environmental Achievement Award from that
group in 1993.
In a 1993 biographical interview, former president George Bush’s EPA
Administrator William Reilly said Wilcher was chosen as assistant administrator
for water because “she came to me with the highest endorsement” of Sen. Mitch
McConnell, R-Ky.
“That got my attention, so I agreed to see her, even though I had all but
decided on a different candidate, a Congressional aide,” Reilly said. “I
respected her independence and obvious integrity. Clearing her was no problem
because Sen. McConnell had been one of the two senators who had endorsed
President Bush before the (1992 Republican) convention.”
Wilcher was one of many collaborators on recommendations for EPA improvements
sent to the current President Bush. She was mentioned as a possible contender
for deputy EPA administrator in this Bush administration.