Longtime Deputy Idaho Attorney General Clive Strong, chief of the attorney general’s natural resources division for the past 32 years, is retiring on Friday. Former Idaho Supreme Court Justice Jim Jones, who hired Strong in 1983 when Jones was the state’s attorney general, said, “Clive Strong has done more good for the state than practically any other public servant.”

Jones recalled Strong’s role in the Swan Falls water rights fight; the adjudication of water rights in the Snake River Basin; his three decades of counsel to the state Land Board on its duties and responsibilities under the law; and his major roles in litigation on everything from salmon and steelhead runs to nuclear waste to complex water rights disputes.

“Throughout his illustrious career, Clive remained a humble, grounded individual, who took pain not to toot his own horn,” Jones writes in an essay praising Strong. “So let me toot it for him, for outstanding service to the people of Idaho. Best wishes to Clive and his wife and partner, Martha, for a wonderful retirement.” You can read Jones’ full article here.

The Idaho Attorney General’s office confirmed that Strong is retiring on Friday; at Strong’s request, it wasn’t planning any press release or formal announcement.