James Watt, sharp-tongued interior secretary under Reagan, dies at 85

CHEYENNE, Wyo. — James Watt, the Reagan administration's sharp-tongued, pro-development interior secretary who was beloved by conservatives but ran afoul of environmentalists, Beach Boys fans and eventually the president, has died. He was 85.

Watt died in Arizona on May 27, son Eric Watt said in a statement Thursday.

In an administration divided between so-called pragmatists and hard-liners, few stood as far to the right at the time as Watt, who once labeled the environmental movement as "preservation vs. people" and the general public as a clash between "liberals and Americans."

In that sense, Watt foreshadowed combative Interior secretaries like and David Bernhardt, who, like Watt, aggressively pushed to grant oil, gas and coal leases on public land, increase offshore drilling and limit expansion of national parks and monuments.