Governor Schwarzenegger has appointed a consultant to conservative activist Grover Norquist to the state Board of Forestry and Fire Protection.

This afternoon, Schwarzenegger's office announced the selection of Ron Nehring of El Cajon for the board that is responsible for developing the state's general forest policy.

While Nehring is the vice-chairman of the California Republican Party, he is also listed as a "senior consultant" on the website of the Americans For Tax Reform, the national lobbying organization headed by Norquist.

Norquist is the anti-tax crusader who was once widely quoted as having said: "I don't want to abolish government. I simply want to reduce it to the size where I can drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub."

Norquist has also talked about shrinking government as an effort to "starve the beast"-- comments echoed by Schwarzenegger earlier this year, and comments that legislative Democrats quickly criticized.

A spokesperson for Schwarzenegger says Nehring was tapped for the job because of his personal experience as a victim in the San Diego-area fires last year. Of course, Nehring doesn't get the job without confirmation from the Democratically-controlled state Senate.