Bottom Line: Former BLM director signs up to lobby for wetlands defense

Environment

Cassidy and Associates registered to lobby on issues related to the Okefenokee Swamp for the ​Southern Environmental Law Center. The swamp spans 438,000 acres across the Florida-Georgia border, and a majority of it is protected by the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge and the Okefenokee Wilderness, but the Southern Environmental Law Center is pushing back on a mining company that wants to mine 8,000 acres on the edge of the wetlands.

Neil Kornze, former director of the Bureau of Land Management and chief of staff to Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), will work on the account.

Sports

Athletes.org, which calls itself the players association for college athletes, hired Ice Miller Strategies to lobby on issues related to name, image and likeness rights of student-athletes and other issues in collegiate athletics. Jarrod ​Loadholt, former senior counsel for the House Financial Services Committee, will work on the account.

Aviation

JetBlue hired King Sweeney Strategies LLC to lobby on issues related to the airline’s relationship with Congress and “areas of concern for an airline, including slots for Puerto Rico flights.” Erin ​King Sweeney, former USA general counsel for Swiss International Air Lines, will work on the account.

​Airbus U.S. Space & Defense hired The Roosevelt Group to lobby on assistance related to national security programs and legislative priorities. One of the lobbyists on the account is John Simmons, former longtime Republican appropriations and military aide in the House.

Manufacturing

​The Procter & Gamble Co. hired FTI Government Affairs to lobby on sustainability issues, “including energy and environment policies impacting the manufacturing sector,” according to a disclosure filed last week. ​Mickeala Carter, former deputy director of communications at the Department of Agriculture and director of communications and external affairs for the House Agriculture Committee, will work on the account.