Here's a look at what to expect from Ken Salazar and the Department of Interior from Laton McCartney writing for New West (and WyoFile.com). From the article:
After eight years of the Bush Administration's using Interior to enrich its friends in the energy business, obliterate huge swaths of landscape -- see the Upper Green River Valley -- short-change us on oil and gas royalties, endanger endangered species, and gut environmental laws, Senator Salazar (D. Colo) may well be Wyoming's last, best hope.
Indeed, no cabinet post is more critical to Wyoming than the one to which Salazar has been appointed. If approved, the 53-year-old, fifth-generation Coloradoan will be responsible for a broad portfolio of services that bears on every aspect of Wyoming's economy and environment. Interior encompasses the Bureau of Land Management; the National Park Service; the Bureau of Reclamation (which has been involved with the management and conservation of the state's water resources since Teddy Roosevelt was president); Minerals and Management Services (which collects and distributes the state's energy royalties); the Bureau of Mines; the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs...
"Senator Salazar is a neighbor who knows the issues facing the west," Republican U.S. Senator John Barrasso, Wyoming's junior senator told WyoFile. "As members of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Senator Salazar and I came together on issues important to our states. We worked on legislation that protects western resources and to ensure that certain priorities of our states are met. I look forward to discussing Senator Salazar's views about issues important to Wyoming during the confirmation process."
"Senator Salazar is someone who understands the West," adds Laurie Milford, executive director of the Wyoming Outdoor Council. "He recognizes the value of a balanced energy policy, which includes responsible natural gas production on many of our public lands, while at the same time respecting local communities when they identify areas that are too special to drill."
As one of the few people in Congress who has genuine agricultural bona fides -- his older brother, Democratic Colorado Congressman John. T. Salazar, can make the same claim -- Salazar is viewed as a champion of ranching and farming interests. "I'm very pleased he has a background in ranching," says Jim Magagna, Executive Vice President of the Wyoming Stock Growers Association. "On issues such as public land grazing this can be very helpful. He's always been supportive of public land grazing. I wouldn't anticipate our agreeing on everything, but on this issue we clearly can relate."[...]
In one of his first acts as Colorado's attorney general, Salazar showed he wouldn't hesitate to shake up the status quo. In a move that may bode well for managing an Interior Department that's been beset by corruption and ineptitude, Salazar had all the deputy attorneys general and department staff turn in letters of resignation. "Nobody actually got fired as I recall, but Salazar made everyone justify their existence and set goals for the next ten years," Chiropolos says...
In the Senate, Salazar urged the Forest Service to boost spending to fight the bark beetle epidemic and was largely viewed as a supporter of wilderness protection, off road vehicle limits and strong water quality protection. His position on shale development has been proceed-with-caution, yet he also won praise from oil and mining interests for what they characterized as his reasoned, non-doctrinaire approach. Salazar has supported Wyoming-related legislation such as the Wyoming Range Legacy Act, a bill to withdraw from leasing certain federal land in the Wyoming Range and to retire other range leases...
"The Department of the Interior desperately needs a strong, forward looking, reform-minded Secretary," the group's [Center for Biological Diversity] executive director Kieran Suckling said in a December 16 news release. "Unfortunately, Ken Salazar is not that man." Among Salazar's failings, according to Suckling:
* fought federal action on global warming
* voted against increased fuel efficiency standards
* voted against the repeal of tax breaks for Exxon-Mobil
* voted for subsidies to ranches and other users of public land
* and, yes, as Colorado AG, he threatened to sue US Fish and Wildlife when its scientists determined the black-tailed prairie dog may be endangered.
"There's been some concern voiced that Salazar is not always making decisions based on good science," says Western Resource Advocates' Chiropolos. "But he's extremely well informed and quickly gets up to speed."
Chiropolos believes Salazar's tenure will resemble that of former Carter Administration Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt in that Salazar, like Babbitt, knows politics, uses horse sense and diplomacy to push his agendas, but remains a forceful, environmental advocate...
"He's a man who understands what 'balance' means between natural gas development and safeguarding the Valley's abundant wildlife and air and water resources and protecting local communities.," says Linda Baker of the Upper Green River Coalition. "I've got great hope."
Baker concedes that, unfortunately, hope and balance may never be enough to restore the Pinedale region which is currently beset by rapidly deteriorating air quality, ground water contamination, huge wildlife losses and vast tracts of no-longer-useable land -- all the result of rampant natural gas exploitation. "So much egregious stuff has been going on around here for the past eight years that much of the damage can't be reversed," says Baker.
More coverage from Chris Frates writing for Politico. From the article:
To understand Sen. Ken Salazar's understated, down-the-middle style and how he might lead President-elect Barack Obama's Interior Department, just follow the money. His campaign contributions say as much about his environment and energy politics as his rhetoric...
During his four years as Colorado's junior senator, traditional energy companies -- mining, oil and gas -- gave the Democrat more than $27,000. Alternative energy companies, meanwhile, shelled out almost $33,000, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan organization that tracks money in politics. "The fact that he has a balance certainly fits with his profile as somebody who's a centrist and tries to play the middle course," said David Donnelly of Public Campaign Action Fund, a nonpartisan group that advocates for publicly financed elections. But the relatively small size of the sum combined with Salazar's short tenure in the Senate makes sweeping conclusions difficult, Donnelly said. "He hasn't been around long enough for one of these industries to sink their hooks into him."
Dan Grossman, director of the Rocky Mountain Office of the Environmental Defense Fund, said Colorado has depended on Salazar's "commitment to unite rather than divide." "Ken Salazar will bring the nation together in forging stewardship of our public lands, water and wildlife through integrity and through his abiding dedication to this cherished American legacy," Grossman said.
More coverage from Rob Capriccioso writing in Indian Country Today:
Salazar, who is Hispanic, won the seat of former Republican Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, a member of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe, after he retired in 2004. He will replace current Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne, who has been unpopular with many American Indians and tribes. Despite being from opposing political parties, Nighthorse Campbell had many positive things to say about Salazar's new role in Obama's Cabinet. "President-elect Obama couldn't have picked a better person," Nighthorse Campbell said. "Kenny has a really strong voting record on Indian water rights, land claims, and things of that nature - he's just a wonderful candidate. I think, very frankly, that Native America is going to be very happy with him."[...]
While in the Senate, Salazar has co-sponsored what have been viewed as positive Indian country-focused bills, including the National American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month Act, the Indian Health Care Improvement Act, the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site Trust Act, bills to extend methamphetamine funding to tribes, and a bill focused on honoring Code Talkers.
More coverage from The Hub (David Mullings):
So what's the Ouray County angle on this new national leadership team that is being assembled by President-elect Barack Obama?[...]
...perhaps the biggest impact, at least locally and on the ground, will come in the management of public lands. In Ouray County, more than half (50.8% to be precise) of our 542 square miles land is owned by one of three public agencies. We can probably expect policy shifts toward preservation and conservation. Notably, we will have a home-state boy, U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar as the newly appointed secretary of the U.S. Department of Interior...
Environment Colorado said: "We look forward to working with Sen. Salazar in his new position to reform our nation's outdated mining law, where he can play a key role by holding industry accountable. And, Sen. Salazar should work to ensure a fully funded National Park System and preserve our nation's great natural legacy."[...]
Britt Weygandt, executive director of Western Business Roundtable, had this to say: "We look forward to continuing to find areas of agreement with the Obama Administration and particularly with our new Secretary of the Interior on water, public lands, energy policy and endangered species regulation. We know that we will get a fair hearing even on those issues where we disagree, because that's the kind of guy Ken Salazar is."
Some in Colorado may not remember his first high-profile public position, before he was the state's attorney general and junior U.S. senator. That job was as director of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources, under then-Gov. Roy Romer. There, Salazar was author of the Great Outdoors Colorado, the most important program in the state's history in protecting open space.
More coverage from Mateusz Perkowski writing in the Capital Press: The West's AG website:
President-elect Barack Obama's pick to head the Interior Department met with a big sigh of relief from farm and ranch organizations. Obama's nominee for secretary of the Interior, Democratic Colorado Sen. Ken Salazar, is largely seen as a pragmatist who deeply understands the culture and economy of the rural West. "We fully expect him to balance resource concerns with caring for the people," said Jeff Eisenberg, executive director of the Public Lands Council, which represents ranchers who graze cattle on public land. "You need to take care of the land, but you need to take care of the people who make a living from the land," he said...
The Klamath basin became an important political battleground early in President George W. Bush's first term: Water was shut off to irrigators a few months into his first term and a fish die-off occurred the next year, when irrigation was restored. Those events established the Klamath basin as a top priority throughout Bush's presidency, Addington said. The region will now likely face more competition for the Interior Department's attention, but Addington is nonetheless optimistic about Salazar's upcoming tenure. "The word that comes up most often is 'balanced,'" he said. "Everything I hear is that agriculture has a good relationship with him."
Fruit and vegetable growers in California are also heartened by the nomination of Salazar, said Tom Nassif, president and CEO of the Western Growers Association. Growers hope that, under Salazar's direction, the Bureau of Reclamation will tackle water shortages throughout the state with storage and restoration projects, said Nassif. "To resolve the problems we have is going to take federal involvement," he said.
Salazar is known for seeking innovative ways to solve Western water problems, said Dan Keppen, of the Family Farm Alliance. For example, earlier this year he pushed through a bill in support of treating wastewater generated during methane production, Keppen said...
As for enforcing the Endangered Species Act, it seems likely Salazar will take a moderate approach, said Rob Rivett, president of the Pacific Legal Foundation, which has been involved in lawsuits challenging ESA enforcement. "From what we know of him, he is not an extremist," Rivett said. For example, during a 2002 court case over listing Coho salmon as an endangered species, Salazar - then Colorado's attorney general - filed court papers in opposition to the listing, he said.
More coverage from the Rocky Mountain News:
President-elect Barack Obama wants major reforms in the "deeply troubled" and scandal-plagued Department of the Interior, but not everyone is convinced Sen. Ken Salazar is the person for the job.
After introducing Salazar as his new Interior secretary nominee Wednesday, Obama cited a litany of problems that have plagued the department over the past eight years - from a spate of embarrassing lobbying scandals to the perception of cozy relationships between resource managers and the industries they are supposed to regulate. Obama called Salazar uniquely qualified, and some conservation groups that have worked closely with him praise his pragmatic approach to issues. But others are skeptical of his environmentalist credentials and doubt he would be a true reformer.
"Salazar has never run on a reformer platform. He has not taken the lead in reform issues. So I just don't have a lot of confidence," said Kieran Suckling, executive director of the Arizona- based Center for Biological Diversity.
The Wet Mountain Tribune editorial staff in on board with the Salazar nomination. They write:
For many Coloradans, It was an exhilarating day yesterday when popular Senator Ken Salazar was tagged by President-elect Obama to serve as Secretary of the Interior.
Salazar, whose ancestry in the American Southwest can be traced back to the 16th century, has served four years of his first term in the U.S. Senate, where he has gained a reputation as a fence-mender, a key strategist in renewable energy policy, a champion for America's farmers, and a respected member of the powerful Finance Committee.
For those of us in Custer County, he's been a staunch friend to rural Colorado. A native of the San Luis Valley just across our Sangre de Cristos, Salazar has always felt at home in the small towns and villages of Southern Colorado, and he's a frequent visitor to Westcliffe. He held an informal rural health symposium here just two months ago, and even in his days from 1999 to 2004 as Colorado Attorney General, he found plenty of reasons to visit the Wet Mountain Valley.
Some hard-core environmental groups have derided Obama's pick of Salazar, saying he's just too cozy to agriculture, mining, forestry and the other extraction industries that built the American West. Those opponents seem to be city-slickers who don't know a Ponderosa Pine from an Engelmann Spruce, what an Animal Unit is, or how to spell molybdenum. Westerners on the other hand, whose economy still revolves around those extraction businesses, have learned to trust Salazar, and feel he would be a prudent caretaker of the half-billion acres of public land that fall under the Department of Interior.
More Coyote Gulch coverage here and here.
"colorado water"
8:16:29 AM 
|
|
