Capitol Weekly’s Top 100: Wade Crowfoot

41. Wade Crowfoot

Protecting California’s vast resources during a period of drought, wildfires, climate change and an interminable pandemic, is a daunting task, and Wade Crowfoot, California’s Secretary of Natural Resources, is the man on the hot seat. Natural Resources is one of the “superagencies,” although you don’t often hear that term used much anymore. He has jurisdiction over 26 entities with thousands of employees – including Cal Fire, the Conservation Department, the sprawling Water Resources Department, Fish and Wildlife and the California Tahoe Conservancy, to name a few. Crowfoot was a deputy cabinet secretary and senior adviser to Gov. Jerry Brown, and was a deputy chief of Brown’s Office of Planning and Research. Before that, Crowfoot was the political director of the Environmental Defense Fund, and he earlier advised Gavin Newsom when the latter was San Francisco mayor. Crowfoot’s appointment as Resources Secretary was one of the governor’s earliest major actions.

Updated Aug. 9, 2022