OFFICE OF SURFACE MINING
     RECLAMATION & ENFORCEMENT

For Release   March 14, 1997                 Jerry Childress (202) 208-2719
                                                                  jchildre@osmre.gov

         WOLFROM NAMED OSM TULSA FIELD OFFICE DIRECTOR

     Brent T. Wahlquist, Mid-Continent Regional Director of the Interior Department's
Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM), today announced the
appointment of Michael C. Wolfrom as theTulsa, Oklahoma, Field Office Director.

     Wolfrom, who is presently a regulatory program specialist at OSM's
Mid-Continent Regional Coordinating Center in Alton, Illinois, will take charge of OSM's
activities in the coal regions of Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas, effective
May 25, 1997.  
  
     "OSM benefits greatly from Mike Wolfrom's professional knowledge and
managerial experience," Wahlquist said.  "His appointment will ensure the customers
and employees of the Tulsa Field Office the continuing strong, dependable leadership
they have come to rely upon."

     Wolfrom began his federal civil service career in 1978 at OSM's office in Kansas
City, Missouri, and worked there in a progression of increasingly responsible positions
including district program manager, supervisory regulatory program specialist, and
acting field office director, until moving to Alton in August 1995.  Before joining OSM, he
was employed by Consolidation Coal Company in Cadiz, Ohio, as a reclamation field
advisor.  He also worked for the State of Ohio Division of Reclamation as an inspection
officer. 

     He holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Geography from Wright State University in
Dayton, Ohio.

     OSM administers national standards requiring environmental protection during
coal mining and land reclamation afterward, and OSM reclaims abandoned mine lands. 
The agency provides support and oversight for approved state regulatory and
reclamation programs, and directly carries out such activities on Federal and Indian
lands.  OSM was established in the Interior Department under authority of the Surface
Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977.

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