The Interior Department's 'Relief Pitcher'

"He might put it in a more charming way, but it's still going to be catering to special interests rather than serving as a steward of our public lands," said Tiernan Sittenfeld, the group's legislative director.

Kempthorne is an optimist, a former University of Idaho student president who revels in the fact that he'd found a sales clerk at the Pentagon City mall to help him pick out ties (he wore a shiny mint-green one on Tuesday) and that his father, who will turn 90 on July 4, will be able to watch fireworks on the Mall from the interior secretary's balcony.

Asked about the environmental impact of mining -- mining, timber and energy firms contributed generously to his gubernatorial and Senate campaigns -- Kempthorne said it's important to remember what mining does for average Americans.

"When we ride on a bicycle, that's brought to us by mining. When you ride in a car, that's brought to you by mining," he said, pausing to display his wedding ring. "This ring was brought to me by mining, but it's also the symbol of my love for my wife."

That's the sort of philosophy that prompted Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) to declare on the Senate floor last week: "I believe in the next 2 1/2 years [that] Dirk Kempthorne presides over the Department of Interior as the second secretary of the interior of this Bush administration, he will, by his presence and the efforts currently underway, actually produce more energy for this nation and our nation's energy consumers than will the secretary of energy."

Kempthorne shies away from such talk. He says he hopes a combination of drilling and alternative energy sources will help wean the United States from its dependence on foreign oil.

People have underestimated Kempthorne in the past, said the Idaho Conservation League's executive director, Rick Johnson: "He's viewed as not a high-powered dude, and there's more going on there."

But Johnson, who has negotiated with Kempthorne over environmental issues, suggested it will be hard for him to leave a mark or to broker meaningful compromises among farmers and American Indians, environmentalists and oil and gas developers, and other warring factions.

"The administration was looking for someone to keep a steady hand on the tiller," Johnson said. "I don't think he'll have that much of an impact."