BOSTON (AP) – Douglas Foy, the conservationist turned development secretary in the Romney administration, announced Tuesday he was resigning next month.

Foy, a former Olympic rower, spent 25 years heading the Conservation Law Foundation before becoming secretary of the Office of Commonwealth Development in January 2003.

In that post, he spearheaded several key administration initiatives, including Gov. Mitt Romney’s so-called “smart growth” initiative, a plan to concentrate housing and other development near commuter hubs and the development of a 20-year transportation strategy that includes a “fix-it first” strategy to repair roads and bridges before building new ones.

“I think we leave after the first three years with a certain change in the DNA of development here in the commonwealth,” said Foy, the first to serve as secretary of the new office merging development, transportation and environmental functions.

“I’d like to think that we’re helping people think differently, think for carefully, in a more reasoned way in how we grow, where we grow, where we invest our state resources,” he added.