WASHINGTON-- Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne today announced that James E. Cason will temporarily perform duties of the position of Assistant Secretary for Policy, Management and Budget. Tom Weimer, who was in the position since 2006, recently left the Department of the Interior to accept a new position as Republican Staff Director for the new Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming of the U.S. House of Representatives.
“Jim Cason has served the Department of the Interior extremely well in many capacities and we are grateful that he is once again willing to take on new responsibilities,” Secretary Kempthorne said.
Cason has served since 2001 as the department’s associate deputy secretary. From 2005 to 2007, Cason also fulfilled many of the duties of the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs while that position was vacant. His previous experience at the Interior Department was extensive.
He served as acting assistant secretary and principal deputy assistant secretary of the Interior Department for Land and Minerals Management from 1985 to 1990. From 1982 to 1985, he served as special assistant to the director of Interior's Bureau of Land Management.
Before returning to the Department of the Interior in 2001, Cason was vice president of risk management for the Niagara Falls, N.Y.-based Unifrax Corporation, an international manufacturing firm specializing in energy saving products. Cason managed the corporation's health, safety and environmental quality program, property and casualty insurance program, product liability litigation, and worked with the Environmental Protection Agency, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. He also worked with Canada's equivalent to the EPA, Environment Canada.
From 1990-1993, Cason worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture as a manager for the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation. Cason earned a bachelor's degree in business administration and graduated magna cum laude from Pacific University in Oregon in 1976.