Gov.-elect Spencer Cox and Lt. Gov.-elect Deidre Henderson announced two more appointments to their administration. Both appointees will require confirmation of the Utah Senate.
Redge Johnson, a consultant who previously worked for the Utah Department of Agriculture and the Nature Conservancy, has been nominated as coordinator of the Public Lands Policy Coordinating Office, or PLPCO. He brings experience and expertise from the private sector, public sector and the nonprofit world. Most recently, Johnson used his 35+ years of experience in land management and natural resources to assist all 29 Utah counties in drafting and implementing County Resource Management Plans. A self-described ranch hand, Johnson was born in the town of Lost Creek, Utah, and has lived all over the world, from metropolitan areas in Yokohama, Japan, Aix-en-Provence, France and Washington, D.C. as well as rural settings including Jean Lake, Nevada and Johns Valley, Utah. He has a bachelor’s degree from Utah State University.
Kim Shelley has been tapped to serve as executive director of the Department of Environmental Quality. An engineer by training, she is currently the deputy director of the Department of Environmental Quality where she oversees internal operations across five divisions. She is responsible for ensuring Utah maintains primacy for the implementation of federal environmental programs and for assuring outreach and coordination with industry, federal, state and local partners. Prior to being named deputy director, Shelley was the assistant director of the Division of Water Quality and manager of the Surface Water Discharge Program. She has also overseen the permitting of complex wastewater and water projects and was previously appointed by Gov. Herbert to represent the state on the Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Forum and Advisory Council. Before joining the Division of Water Quality, she worked in the Division of Environmental Response and Remediation’s underground storage tank program. Shelley was raised in Salt Lake City and is a graduate of the University of Utah with a bachelor’s degree in Metallurgical Engineering.
