Burton Heeds the Call

Notice, and Rejane “Johnnie” Burton, arrived in March 2002. She left behind her cabinet position as director of Gov. Geringer’s Department of Revenue, but old friends were ready to welcome her to Washington. As soon as her name was announced in February 2002, Diemer True, chairman of the Independent Petroleum Producers Association of America, issued a press release saying that his organization “commended” the appointment.

“Johnnie Burton is a knowledgeable and experienced administrator, who has been very successful as the director of Wyoming’s Department of Revenue,” True said. “She has been successful in her own business, successful as a state legislator, successful as a state administrator, and, I believe, will serve with distinction as MMS Director.”

True did not just speak warmly, he acted. On March 28, Burton’s official calendar shows that at 6:45 AM she was to meet Deputy Secretary Griles in Room 6117 so the two could be driven to 1400 M Street, the Wyndham Hotel. There, from 7:00 AM to 8:30 AM, they would eat a “Welcome to Washington” breakfast with True and his colleague Ben Dillonxxii, a vice-president of the IPAA.

Bernie J. “Ben” Dillon, a petroleum engineer from Montana, was the IPAA’s first director of public resources, a position the group created in 1996 as IPAA began “stepping up efforts” to increase “access to the nation’s public lands and waters.” Dillon came to the IPAA from his majority (Republican) staff Congressional fellowship on the House Resources Subcommittee on Energy and Minerals, where he worked on the Federal Oil and Gas Royalty Fairness and Simplification Act and on “reinventing government.” Before his Congressional position, Dillon spent 12 years in the Interior Department.

As the director of public resources, Dillon was tasked with promoting royalty-in-kind payments on public lands.

During her first months in office, Burton maintained a hectic calendar of meetings, meals, and socials with the oil and gas companies. She attended their conventions and even their political strategy sessions. The Independent Producers and American Petroleum Institute, for example, briefed Burton on royalty issues on April 5, preparing for her attendance at the IPAA’s Royalty Strategy Taskforce meeting in Houston on April 10. The vice chairman of IPAA’s Land & Royalty Committee, David Blackmon, led the a discussion of “the importance of royalty-in-kind,” according to the group’s newsletter, including “challenges facing gas RIK, piloting RIK onshore with a new state, RIK and the current energy legislation debate in Congress, and the need for building a successful business model for the long-term growth of RIK.”

The IPPA newsletter quoted Blackmon as saying that the Task Force was “honored” by Burton’s presence, and that “She is obviously working hard.”

feds_gone-wild_headingfeds_gone-wild_2_headingfeds_gone_wild_III_heading
Part IPart IIPart III

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Join the Conversation

1 Comment

WyoFile's goal is to provide readers with information and ideas that foster constructive conversations about the issues and opportunities our communities face. One small piece of how we do that is by offering a space below each story for readers to share perspectives, experiences and insights. For this to work, we need your help.

What we're looking for: 

  • Your real name — first and last. 
  • Direct responses to the article. Tell us how your experience relates to the story.
  • The truth. Share factual information that adds context to the reporting.
  • Thoughtful answers to questions raised by the reporting or other commenters.
  • Tips that could advance our reporting on the topic.
  • No more than three comments per story, including replies. 

What we block from our comments section, when we see it:

  • Pseudonyms. WyoFile stands behind everything we publish, and we expect commenters to do the same by using their real name.
  • Comments that are not directly relevant to the article. 
  • Demonstrably false claims, what-about-isms, references to debunked lines of rhetoric, professional political talking points or links to sites trafficking in misinformation.
  • Personal attacks, profanity, discriminatory language or threats.
  • Arguments with other commenters.

Other important things to know: 

  • Appearing in WyoFile’s comments section is a privilege, not a right or entitlement. 
  • We’re a small team and our first priority is reporting. Depending on what’s going on, comments may be moderated 24 to 48 hours from when they’re submitted — or even later. If you comment in the evening or on the weekend, please be patient. We’ll get to it when we’re back in the office.
  • We’re not interested in managing squeaky wheels, and even if we wanted to, we don't have time to address every single commenter’s grievance. 
  • Try as we might, we will make mistakes. We’ll fail to catch aliases, mistakenly allow folks to exceed the comment limit and occasionally miss false statements. If that’s going to upset you, it’s probably best to just stick with our journalism and avoid the comments section.
  • We don’t mediate disputes between commenters. If you have concerns about another commenter, please don’t bring them to us.

The bottom line:

If you repeatedly push the boundaries, make unreasonable demands, get caught lying or generally cause trouble, we will stop approving your comments — maybe forever. Such moderation decisions are not negotiable or subject to explanation. If civil and constructive conversation is not your goal, then our comments section is not for you. 

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  1. I’ve read the story twice now, and while very well researched and reported, I have to come back to my initial thought on Part I, and not to be rude, but what the heck is the story here? I keep waiting for something cool, unethical or interesting to happen…

    Reply