The Secretary enjoys one of the events at Main Interior
marking African American History Month.
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Returning to Colorado, Norton won election as the state's attorney general in 1990, becoming the first woman to hold that
post, and was reelected in 1994. During her service, she represented nearly every agency of the Colorado state government,
arguing cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and other appellate courts, and testifying before numerous congressional
committees.
Norton worked with state legislators and citizens to resolve matters such as hospital ownership, gasoline pricing, and
antitrust enforcement. She litigated state and federal constitutional issues, defended the state against federal mandates, and
won a major court victory forcing the Federal Government to adequately clean up hazardous wastes at Rocky Flats and the
Rocky Mountain Arsenal.
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Her efforts demonstrated a willingness and ability to work with people in a nonpartisan way on a broad range of issues,
including environmental and natural resource policy. Among many lessons, the experience made her keenly aware of the
impact that decisions made in Washington have on local people and how dependent many small communities are on the
public resources managed by state and federal governments.
But some of her efforts as attorney general came under attack during her confirmation because her approach to
environmental regulation on private property stressed market-based incentives.
Recalling her success with this strategy in Colorado, Norton told a March 8 summit of the National Environmental Policy
Institute, "We preserved endangered species; we cleaned up mountain valleys polluted by mining; we prosecuted polluters;
and we worked to convert the Rocky Mountain Arsenal from a place polluted by pesticides and nerve gas residues to a
wildlife refuge once again thriving with habitat."
She said she worked with all shareholders "to build an honest line of communication with all levels of government,
environmentalists, property owners, businesses that create jobs and prosperity, and other groups willing to work together to
accomplish our common missions."
Norton also noted that experience has taught her that some environmental groups and government agencies "believe the
free market cannot be the environment's friend; some believe the only way to protect the environment is through
Washington-based command and control. But it's local people who see problems with their very own eyes who often know
the best solutions."
While Colorado's attorney general, Norton also served as chair of the Environment Committee for the National Association
of Attorneys General. As a negotiator of the $206 billion national tobacco settlement, she represented Colorado and 45
other states in the largest lawsuit settlement in history.
Her 1996 run for the Republican nomination for a U.S. Senate seat from Colorado, although unsuccessful, brought wider
recognition of her leadership achievements. Norton was becoming a nationally recognized public policy leader. President
George H.W. Bush appointed her to the Western Water Policy Commission; she served as chair of the Environment
Committee of the Republican National Lawyers Association; and was general counsel of the Colorado Civil Justice League.
The National Federalist Society honored her as Young Lawyer of the Year, and the Colorado Women's Bar Association
gave her its highest honor--the Mary Lathrop Trailblazer Award.
When her tenure as state attorney general ended, Norton returned to private practice as senior counsel at the Denver-based
firm of Brownstein, Hyatt & Farber, P.C. She remained active in Republican Party leadership circles, helping to form the
Coalition of Republican Environmental Advocates, a group aimed at demonstrating that a Republican common sense
approach to environmental issues is well balanced. Norton was also an advisor to the election campaign of then-Governor
George W. Bush.
Throughout her professional career, Norton has been affiliated with conservative groups that specialize in natural resource
issues and espouse market-based environmental protection incentives. Since 1988, she also has been a member of the
Nature Conservancy--a private, nonprofit group that not only buys land for conservation but also works in a number of
market-based environmental initiatives, including one that helps western ranchers lessen the impact of cattle grazing on
land and water resources.
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