Commissioner George Enneking, Idaho County, Idaho, took the reins as the Western Interstate Region’s new president May 25 at WIR’s Annual Conference in Hawaii County, Hawaii. The 600 conference delegates also elected Commissioner John Howard, Union County, Ore., as their first vice president and Don Davis, Rio Blanco County, Colo., as second vice president. WIR represents the interests of public lands counties, mostly in the West, and is NACo’s oldest affiliate.

WIR’s highest honor, the Dale Sowers Award, which recognizes efforts to advance the interests of public lands counties, went to McCone County (Mont.) Commissioner Connie Eissinger.

U.S. Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton addressed the conference. Her videotaped remarks, which stressed her commitment to “preserving our natural resources,” also promoted President Bush’s energy plan and her department’s plans to hire more firefighters, conduct more prescribed burns and cooperate more closely with local fire departments in anticipation of the upcoming fire season.

This year’s conference, like many in the past, took aim at federal actions on public lands and their implications for counties, as well as the impact of population growth in the West. Subsequently, workshops explored issues such as endangered species listings, attaining “cooperating agency” status under NEPA, the National Environmental Policy Act, growth and open lands management in rural counties, and fire codes that help protect life and property from wild fires.

General sessions explored tourism’s impact on Hawaii and the state’s smart growth efforts. NACo President Jane Hague also hosted a specially tailored Presidential Forum on Smart Growth for delegates that looked at the issue from a Western perspective.

Although all county officials are “stars” and all conference speakers rise to similar heights, one notable “nova” at the conference was Harry Kim, mayor of Hawaii County. (Hawaii has no municipal governments and four counties. The chief executive of each county is called a “mayor.”)

Kim, who addressed delegates at the Opening General Session, took office in December after a campaign that by his own admission was so slim on resources and planning and staff “it was almost embarrassing.”

Kim hopes his tenure will leave the “Big Island” with a reputation as “The Healing Place,” and that delegates would come to experience Hawaii as a place of “extreme tolerance.”

“Confrontations,” Kim elaborated, “are the greatest of man’s stupidities; judging others by race, creed, the amount of money they make, the place where they live – is the dumbest thing we can do.”

He spoke movingly of the strengths Native Hawaiians bring to the archipelago. “Hawaiians look at Mauna Kea (an inactive volcano, site of one of the world’s largest observatories) and see it as part of their soul. In the Western world, our soul is the TV set; who has the most money, biggest house.”

NACo’s Board of Directors also met in conjunction with the conference and adopted a resolution approving the election reform recommendations recently released by the National Commission on Election Standards and Reform, a joint project of NACo and the National Association of County Recorders, Election Officials and Clerks.