About 20 environmental groups are calling for Gov. David Ige to withdraw his nomination of a land development company executive to lead the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, but Ige said Monday that the confirmation process should determine whether his pick is acceptable.

Ige stood by his nominee, Carleton Ching, after delivering his State of the State address Monday.

The former state senator said a Senate confirmation hearing is the place to decide whether Ching, vice president of community and government relations for Castle & Cooke Hawaii, should head DLNR.

"I’m confident that he’s the right person for the job," Ige said after his speech. "I like Carleton’s heart. I know he understands that he works for the people of Hawaii."

The agency manages the largest land inventory in Hawaii and is also responsible for a host of other functions from hunting and fishing

management to enforcing historic preservation laws and maintaining real estate transaction documents through the Bureau of Conveyances.

Ching said in a telephone interview, "My background gives me a wide lens to look at different issues — not only development." He added, "I’m just a nominee, and the confirmation process will vet out these issues. I look forward to the process."

After his speech, Ige noted that other business executives have led DLNRwell in the past, including Bill Paty, who retired as CEO of Waialua Sugar Co. to head the agency during 1984-92, and Tim Johns, vice president of development firm Amfac, who headed the agency in 1999 and 2000.

Some environmental groups’ representatives, however, say there has never been such an outpouring of opposition to a DNLRdirector nominee.

The organizations linked up to call for Ige to withdraw Ching’s nomination, and arranged a news conference outside the state Capitol before the State of the State address to show what they said is an unprecedented negative reaction to the nomination announced Friday.

"The Department of Natural Resources is tasked with protecting our natural resources, and Mr. Carleton Ching has not been involved in any sort of the activities that DLNRis tasked with managing,"said Anthony Aalto, Oahu group chairman of the Sierra Club. "Quite the contrary; he has worked for many years as a lobbyist for Castle &Cooke."

Castle &Cooke is one of the biggest developers in Hawaii. Its projects include Mililani, part of Royal Kunia, parts of the Villages of Kapolei, and the proposed Koa Ridge community in Central Oahu. The company also is the former owner of 98 percent of Lanai, and proposed the state’s largest wind farm there to supply power to Oahu.

Marjorie Ziegler, executive directorof the Conservation Council for Hawaii, said Ching has not shown an expertise or interest in things managed by DLNR that include forests, reefs, water resources, burial sites, endangered species, hunting and state parks.

"We face enormous challenges in the state when it comes to the environment,"she said. "This is the most important department in the state, and it deserves more thought and a better nominee."

Among other groups opposed to Ige’s nominee are the Outdoor Circle, Surfrider Foundation, Hawaii Wildlife Fund, Life of the Land, Hawaii’s Thousand Friends, Earthjustice andKahea:The Hawaiian-Environmental Alliance.

An online petition at moveon.org titled "Do Not Confirm Developer to Head Hawaii DLNR" had garnered about 4,600 supporters as of Monday.

One petition supporter, John Fitzpatrick of Kihei, Maui, posted the comment,"Can we get an environmentalist appointed please? That would be great!"

Another petition signer, Javier Mendez of Honolulu, said the nomination is "akin to trusting a wolf in barely disguised sheep skin to look after your sheep herd."

The petition urges supporters to email state senators to ask that they vote against confirming Ching.

A hearing date has not yetbeen set. Four years ago the Senate held confirmation hearings in February and March to consider department head nominations by Gov. Neil Abercrombie.

Abercrombie’s pick for DLNR was fisherman and Waianae harbor master William Aila, who left the post at the end of last year after Ige asked him to be deputy director of the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands.

Aila was embraced by some environmentalists after being nominated, but on the job he encountered some difficulties over interpreting state historic preservation law having to do with archeological inventory surveys for the city’s rail line and the 801 South Street Tower B condominium in Kakaako that produced court decisions faulting DLNR for not following the law.