Roll Call Tribute

Published in The Washington (DC) Post on March 22, 2012

Bruce R. Harris

HARRIS BRUCE R. HARRIS Bruce R. Harris, 66, who served as an administrative judge on the Interior Department's Board of Land Appeals, died February 21, 2012 at his home in Alexandria, surrounded by his family. Judge Harris began his 40-year career with the Department of the Interior as a staff attorney for the Interior Board of Land Appeals (IBLA) in 1972. He became Counsel to the Board for the Board of Surface Mining Appeals in 1978, where he played a critical role in the establishment of that office. In 1980, he was appointed an Administrative Judge on the Board of Land Appeals and was subsequently appointed as the Deputy Chief Administrative Judge of the Board. He served in that capacity until his death. A recipient of many awards and expressions of appreciation for his work with IBLA and the Department's agencies, Judge Harris was recognized with the Department's Meritorious Service Award in 2003, for his preceding 3 years of exemplary service as IBLA's Acting Chief Administrative Judge. Over the course of his long and distinguished career, he left his mark on virtually every area of public land law from the adjudication of native land claims in Alaska to the use of the Federal range for cattle grazing. Among his notable decisions were those examining the proper application of environmental standards to coalbed methane leasing in the western United States and decisions which assured that members of the public had access to the Department's appeals process to protect their rights. His series of decisions on administrative standing to appeal established IBLA's legal standard that is followed today.

Bruce Roahen Harris was a native of Defiance, Ohio, and a 1967 biology graduate of what is now the University of Mount Union in Alliance, Ohio. He received a master's degree in biology from Texas A&M University in 1969. He was a 1972 graduate of the College of William and Mary law school.

Survivors include his wife of 33 years, Barbara Jean Faulkner of Alexandria; a son, Todd Faulkner Harris of Providence, R.I.; and a brother, Stephen David Harris, of Williamsburg, Virginia.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, March 24, 2012 from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Robert L. Smith Meeting House, Sidwell Friends School, 3825 Wisconsin Avenue, NW, Washington D.C. 20016.

In lieu of flowers, he asked that contributions be made to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, 6 Herndon Avenue, Annapolis, MD 21403 in memory of his life long interest in the outdoors.