Stewart Udall, 1920-2010: Guardian of nation's wild places

{In 1960, U.S. President-elect John F. Kennedy introduces Stewart Udall of Arizona as his new interior secretary in New York City. Udall headed the Interior Department for eight years under Presidents Kennedy and Johnson. - Associated Press file photo}

Former interior secretary championed environmental laws, expansion of public lands
Barry Massey | The Associated Press via Santa Fe New Mexican
Posted: Saturday, March 20, 2010

"Stewart Udall, who sowed the seeds of the modern environmental movement as secretary of the interior during the 1960s and later became a crusader for victims of radiation exposure from the government's Cold War nuclear programs, died Saturday. He was 90.

A statement from Udall's family, released through the office of his son, Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., said he died of natural causes at his home in Santa Fe, surrounded by his children and their families.

Udall, brother of the late 15-term congressman Morris Udall, served six years in Congress as a Democrat from Arizona, and then headed the Interior Department for eight years under Presidents Kennedy and Johnson. His son Tom and nephew Mark also became congressmen, then both were elected to the Senate in 2008." More>>>>