Kathleen Burton Clarke was the national director of the United States Bureau of Land Management

Bureau of Land Management

The Bureau of Land Management is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior which administers America's public lands, totaling approximately , or one-eighth of the landmass of the country. The BLM also manages of subsurface mineral estate underlying federal, state and private...

 from 2001–2006.

Clarke received her bachelor's degree from Utah State University

Utah State University

Utah State University is a public university located in Logan, Utah. It is a land-grant and space-grant institution and is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities....

. She was a law student at the J. Reuben Clark Law School

J. Reuben Clark Law School

The J. Reuben Clark Law School is a professional graduate school located in Provo, Utah at Brigham Young University. Founded in 1973, the school is named after J. Reuben Clark, Jr.—former U.S. Ambassador, Undersecretary of State, and LDS Church General Authority—and its charter dean was former...

 at Brigham Young University

Brigham Young University

Brigham Young University is a private university located in Provo, Utah. It is owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , and is the United States' largest religious university and third-largest private university.Approximately 98% of the university's 34,000 students...

.

Clarke is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She was raised in Bountiful, Utah

Bountiful, Utah

Bountiful is a city in Davis County, Utah, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 42,552, a three percent increase over the 2000 figure of 41,301...

. She was the daughter of Hubert C. Burton, a physician, and his wife the former Elaine Nelson.

Prior to becoming director of the BLM, Clarke served as the executive director of the Utah Department of Natural Resources. She had worked as a staffer for James V. Hansen

James V. Hansen

James Vear "Jim" Hansen was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from Utah.Hansen was born in Salt Lake City, graduating from the city's East High School. From 1951 until 1955 he served in the United States Navy. He attended the University of Utah, receiving a business...

 and Senator Wallace F. Bennett

Wallace F. Bennett

Wallace Foster Bennett was a Republican Senator representing the U.S. state of Utah .-Life and career:...

 before that.

During her directing of the BLM it was often criticized by the Sierra Club

Sierra Club

The Sierra Club is the oldest, largest, and most influential grassroots environmental organization in the United States. It was founded on May 28, 1892, in San Francisco, California, by the conservationist and preservationist John Muir, who became its first president...

and other environmental groups for allowing oil drilling at low cost. This action increased domestic oil production and decreased oil production costs, thus keeping the rise in fuel costs below what it otherwise might have been.

Clarke sought to increase energy resource development on public lands. She was criticized for policies that ended up slaughtering many wild horses.

Clarke later served as deputy commissioner of the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food.