Cecil D. Andrus, a former governor of Idaho is known as the greatest and most respected man to ever govern the state of Idaho. Andrus was born into a poor family in the city of Hood River Oregon. After attending Oregon State University for one year in 1949, Andrus rapidly began to pursue his career as a politician. After serving as Idaho Senator for Clearwater County, Andrus was elected governor of Idaho in 1971 and served until 1977 when he resigned to work at the secretary of interior for President Jimmy Carter. After his time served under the president, Andrus was once again elected governor of Idaho in 1986 and served until 1995. Cecil Andrus is to date the only governor of Idaho to be elected four times, making him the longest serving governor in the state’s history. Andrus was most popularly known for his superb public speaking and his movements and actions for the environment. Some of Andrus’s most known actions toward the environment are his management’s of numerous wildlife areas, his well renowned proceedings to cease any and all dumping of nuclear waste in the state of Idaho and most of all his creation of the Andrus Center for public policy. Andrus’s center for public policy not only deals with the public policies of Idaho, but also aids in the fields of wildlife preservation, national resources and rural development. Andrus is also known for the creation of the Snake River Birds Of Prey Area and the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area. Andrus is one of very few people in the history of time to have won every major environmental award, including Conservationist Of The Year from The National Wildlife Federation. Although Andrus’s actions toward the environment are what have made him so known and respected, Andrus is viewed more as a conservationist as opposed to an environmentalist. Cecil Andrus has received much backlash and critique for his actions to aid in the preservation of Idaho, but it is these actions that have earned him the love and support of so many citizens of the state. Cecil Andrus has even had an elementary school named after him in the state of Idaho called Cecil D. Andrus Elementary School in Boise Idaho. Cecil Andrus holds responsibility for many environmental and political factors that have made Idaho the state it is today.

http://andruscenter.org/ http://www.idahopress.com/cavalcade/article_87ea4a44-5702-11e0-9bce-001cc4c03286.html Cecil Andrus Lecture 9/21/11 Boise State University