Exit Stage Left

During her four-year tenure as Secretary of the Interior, Sally Jewell, a former oil-industry engineer and CEO of REI, has helped designate 18 new national monuments, increase youth engagement in the national parks, and limit access for energy exploration. As a Trump administration with very different views on conservation prepares to take the reins in Washington, Christopher Keyes sat down with the secretary to discuss her legacy—and the uncertain future of America’s public lands.

- Christopher Keyes

KEYES: It’s now nine days after the election. What’s the mood like at Interior?

JEWELL: Well, let’s say it was a reflective day for all of us. Back in 2008, when I was at REI, the worst quarter I had was when President Obama won the election. Our sales were down 20 percent. I ended up laying off 800 people. At the Department of the Interior, we had a minerals-management service that was accused, rightfully, of illegal activity with the oil and gas industry. About a year into his presidency, we had the Deep water Horizon oil spill. I think that there’s certainly disappointment about the election, but when I reflect on what we inherited eight years ago, I feel good about what we’re handing over to the next administration.

In President Obama’s first meeting with President-elect Trump, he advocated for Obamacare. If you were sitting down with your successor, what would you fight for?

I hope I do have that opportunity, because once you’re sitting in this chair, and you understand the size and complexity of your work, you look at it a little differently than when you first came in. So what I would say to that new secretary: We all come with a set of skills, and those are useful but not sufficient, so surround yourself with people that help fill that gap. Second, this job is about listening deeply to different points of view. You can’t go in with a fixed frame.

What about a specific policy?

The most pressing issue of our time is climate change. You cannot be the Secretary of the Interior and deal with the wildfires and the droughts and the invasive species and coastal erosion without recognizing that climate change is real. I would discuss that.

And if that person is a climate-change denier?