Mark Limbaugh provides strategic policy and legislative guidance to clients on water, irrigation, energy, and natural resource management issues. In 2005, Mark was appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate as Assistant Secretary for Water and Science at the Department of the Interior. Mark also served more than three years as Deputy Commissioner for External and Intergovernmental Affairs at the Bureau of Reclamation in Washington, DC, before joining TFG in July 2007. Mark has extensive experience in federal agency budget formulation, policy development, regulatory issues, and management initiatives at the highest levels of the federal government. While at the Department of Interior, Mark was directly involved in some of the most complex water issues involving the federal government. He has worked closely with water and natural resource leaders in the 17 Western states and across the nation, with members of Congress and with his peers at the many federal agencies and science organizations responsible for dealing with national water and natural resource issues. Prior to his federal service, Mark has accumulated over 22 years of on-the-ground experience in production agriculture, water and natural resource issues, and has been actively involved in various state and federal water organizations throughout his career. Other key positions Mark has held include President of the Family Farm Alliance, Watermaster of Idaho’s Payette River Basin and Executive Director of the Payette River Water Users Association. He has given speeches and participated in panel discussions at numerous water and science conferences and has written articles on federal water policy for various publications, including the Environmental Law Institute’s Environmental Forum magazine. Mark earned his B.S. cum laude from the University of Idaho, and has worked as a Certified Public Accountant.