bakerhab2003
12-17-2008, 11:21 AM
hmmmm..... no mention of recreation
TRANSITION: Salazar to lead 'more proactive Interior Department' -- Obama (12/17/2008)
Noelle Straub, E&E reporter
President-elect Barack Obama today announced Colorado Sen. Ken Salazar as his pick to lead and reform the Interior Department, a choice that drew praise from many conservation and industry groups but left some environmentalists unhappy.
At a Chicago press conference, Obama said he wants Salazar to reform the department, which has been plagued by scandals in recent years and has too often been seen as an "appendage of commercial interests."
"I want a more proactive Interior Department; I also want an Interior Department that very frankly cleans up its act," Obama said. "There have been too many problems and too much emphasis on big-time lobbyists in Washington and not enough emphasis on what's good for the American people, and that's going to change under Ken Salazar."
Obama also praised Salazar as having been at the forefront of ensuring balance between development and protecting natural resources. As Interior secretary, Salazar will have an important role in the administration's overall energy discussions, Obama said, particularly citing the Colorado Democrat's experience with oil shale and wind power.
Salazar will be able to communicate with farmers, ranchers, Native Americans, industry and environmentalists, Obama added. "One of the qualities I so admire in Ken is his ability to listen and bring all parties together," he said.
For his part, Salazar said he looks forward to promoting clean energy, modernizing the electrical grid, ensuring wise use of oil and gas resources, protecting parks and open spaces, restoring rivers, and addressing American Indian challenges.
Choice draws praise
Alan Front, senior vice president of the Trust for Public Land, called Salazar a "a true conservation hero" and said he takes a pragmatic and balanced problem-solving approach.
"Ken Salazar has conservationist blood running through him, he understands the West and Western issues and public lands issues, and has a sixth sense of how to achieve protection of places," Front said. "As Interior secretary he will, we're very confident, take care of America's public lands in just the right way."
Salazar can bring wildly diverse interests together and find common ground, said Charles Bedford, Colorado state director of the Nature Conservancy. The senator is moderate, balanced and pragmatic, he said.
"In terms of the issues facing the West, he's probably the dean," Bedford said. "He's a giant in these areas. There's nobody who knows Western public lands, water, endangered species ... as well as he does."
William Meadows, president of the Wilderness Society, called the choice "excellent."
"He has a lifelong understanding and involvement in the West's public lands issues and, as senator, has demonstrated time and again that protecting Colorado's natural features is a priority for him," Meadows said in a statement. "He understands the need to defend the West's land, water, wildlife and communities while appropriately exploring for oil and gas and other extractive resources."
Several groups today also praised Salazar's support for the National Landscape Conservation System and other conservation measures.
Defenders of Wildlife said Salazar has had an "increasingly strong" environmental voting record in the Senate and that it is "hopeful" that he will respond effectively to Interior's challenges.
"We believe Senator Salazar has the potential to be a strong leader of the Interior Department," said President Rodger Schlickeisen in a statement. "We encourage him to recognize that this is a department sorely in need of reform, and we look forward to working with him in addressing the many challenges he will face as chief steward of our national parks, wildlife refuges and public lands in an era of global warming."
A trade group representing smaller oil and gas drillers today said it believes Salazar will give its members a fair hearing, noting that as a senator, Salazar has "proven himself willing to see all sides, listen to all views, and find common ground on some of the most complicated and contentious energy issues facing our nation."
"He is also a lifelong advocate of a multi-use approach to managing our public land and accessing safely the resources that reside beneath it," said Barry Russell, president of the Independent Petroleum Association of America. "The livelihoods of thousands of independent oil and gas operators in this country remain inextricably linked to that access, and that's a point we intend to make early, often and with purpose as this new administration begins to take shape."
Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) called the choice "superb."
Current Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne said Salazar is an "excellent selection."
"As a lifelong Westerner and rancher who has led Colorado's Department of Natural Resources and is a member of the Senate Energy Committee, Senator Salazar already understands many of Interior's diverse and complex issues," Kempthorne said in a statement. "He recognizes the importance that America's federal lands must play in reducing our dependence on foreign energy; he supports our national parks; he has positive relationships with American Indian tribes; he understands the complexities of Western water issues."
League of Conservation Voters President Gene Karpinski also lauded the choice.
"Throughout his career, Senator Salazar has campaigned on a pledge of support for 'our land, our water, our people,'" Karpinski said in a statement. "With a perfect 100 percent score on the 2008 LCV Scorecard, he has lived up to that pledge. As a westerner, Senator Salazar has hands on experience with land and water issues, and will restore the Department of the Interior's role as the steward of America's public resources."
Salazar has earned a lifetime LCV score of 81 percent.
Some environmentalists dismayed
But Kieran Suckling, executive director of the Center for Biological Diversity, called the choice disappointing.
"The Department of the Interior desperately needs a strong, forward looking, reform-minded Secretary," Suckling said in a statement. "Unfortunately, Ken Salazar is not that man. He endorsed George Bush's selection of Gale Norton as Secretary of Interior, the very woman who initiated and encouraged the scandals that have rocked the Department of Interior."
Suckling also cited Salazar's support for some offshore oil drilling along Florida's coast, his vote last year against plans to consider global warming in Army Corps of Engineers decisions and his support for subsidies to ranchers and other users of public forest and range lands, among other issues.
The Center for Biological Diversity and two other Western groups, the Western Watersheds Project and WildEarth Guardians, organized a last-ditch grassroots campaign yesterday opposing Salazar's appointment. They outlined their objections in a letter to the transition team and asked for Rep. Raśl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) to be appointed instead.
Grijalva has long been the top choice of many conservationists for Interior secretary. He had the backing of more than 100 conservation groups; a coalition of scientists, parks and Latino organizations; and House Natural Resources Chairman Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.).
The letter noted that Salazar had threatened to sue Interior if it listed the black-tailed prairie dog under the Endangered Species Act.
Salazar grew up on a ranch and practiced water and environmental law in the private sector for 11 years. He served as state attorney general from 1999 to 2004 before winning election to the Senate. From 1987 to 1994, he served as the governor's chief legal counsel and as executive director of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources.
Reporters Ben Geman and Eric Bontrager contributed.
###
Helen Baker
www.pfjv.org
TRANSITION: Salazar to lead 'more proactive Interior Department' -- Obama (12/17/2008)
Noelle Straub, E&E reporter
President-elect Barack Obama today announced Colorado Sen. Ken Salazar as his pick to lead and reform the Interior Department, a choice that drew praise from many conservation and industry groups but left some environmentalists unhappy.
At a Chicago press conference, Obama said he wants Salazar to reform the department, which has been plagued by scandals in recent years and has too often been seen as an "appendage of commercial interests."
"I want a more proactive Interior Department; I also want an Interior Department that very frankly cleans up its act," Obama said. "There have been too many problems and too much emphasis on big-time lobbyists in Washington and not enough emphasis on what's good for the American people, and that's going to change under Ken Salazar."
Obama also praised Salazar as having been at the forefront of ensuring balance between development and protecting natural resources. As Interior secretary, Salazar will have an important role in the administration's overall energy discussions, Obama said, particularly citing the Colorado Democrat's experience with oil shale and wind power.
Salazar will be able to communicate with farmers, ranchers, Native Americans, industry and environmentalists, Obama added. "One of the qualities I so admire in Ken is his ability to listen and bring all parties together," he said.
For his part, Salazar said he looks forward to promoting clean energy, modernizing the electrical grid, ensuring wise use of oil and gas resources, protecting parks and open spaces, restoring rivers, and addressing American Indian challenges.
Choice draws praise
Alan Front, senior vice president of the Trust for Public Land, called Salazar a "a true conservation hero" and said he takes a pragmatic and balanced problem-solving approach.
"Ken Salazar has conservationist blood running through him, he understands the West and Western issues and public lands issues, and has a sixth sense of how to achieve protection of places," Front said. "As Interior secretary he will, we're very confident, take care of America's public lands in just the right way."
Salazar can bring wildly diverse interests together and find common ground, said Charles Bedford, Colorado state director of the Nature Conservancy. The senator is moderate, balanced and pragmatic, he said.
"In terms of the issues facing the West, he's probably the dean," Bedford said. "He's a giant in these areas. There's nobody who knows Western public lands, water, endangered species ... as well as he does."
William Meadows, president of the Wilderness Society, called the choice "excellent."
"He has a lifelong understanding and involvement in the West's public lands issues and, as senator, has demonstrated time and again that protecting Colorado's natural features is a priority for him," Meadows said in a statement. "He understands the need to defend the West's land, water, wildlife and communities while appropriately exploring for oil and gas and other extractive resources."
Several groups today also praised Salazar's support for the National Landscape Conservation System and other conservation measures.
Defenders of Wildlife said Salazar has had an "increasingly strong" environmental voting record in the Senate and that it is "hopeful" that he will respond effectively to Interior's challenges.
"We believe Senator Salazar has the potential to be a strong leader of the Interior Department," said President Rodger Schlickeisen in a statement. "We encourage him to recognize that this is a department sorely in need of reform, and we look forward to working with him in addressing the many challenges he will face as chief steward of our national parks, wildlife refuges and public lands in an era of global warming."
A trade group representing smaller oil and gas drillers today said it believes Salazar will give its members a fair hearing, noting that as a senator, Salazar has "proven himself willing to see all sides, listen to all views, and find common ground on some of the most complicated and contentious energy issues facing our nation."
"He is also a lifelong advocate of a multi-use approach to managing our public land and accessing safely the resources that reside beneath it," said Barry Russell, president of the Independent Petroleum Association of America. "The livelihoods of thousands of independent oil and gas operators in this country remain inextricably linked to that access, and that's a point we intend to make early, often and with purpose as this new administration begins to take shape."
Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) called the choice "superb."
Current Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne said Salazar is an "excellent selection."
"As a lifelong Westerner and rancher who has led Colorado's Department of Natural Resources and is a member of the Senate Energy Committee, Senator Salazar already understands many of Interior's diverse and complex issues," Kempthorne said in a statement. "He recognizes the importance that America's federal lands must play in reducing our dependence on foreign energy; he supports our national parks; he has positive relationships with American Indian tribes; he understands the complexities of Western water issues."
League of Conservation Voters President Gene Karpinski also lauded the choice.
"Throughout his career, Senator Salazar has campaigned on a pledge of support for 'our land, our water, our people,'" Karpinski said in a statement. "With a perfect 100 percent score on the 2008 LCV Scorecard, he has lived up to that pledge. As a westerner, Senator Salazar has hands on experience with land and water issues, and will restore the Department of the Interior's role as the steward of America's public resources."
Salazar has earned a lifetime LCV score of 81 percent.
Some environmentalists dismayed
But Kieran Suckling, executive director of the Center for Biological Diversity, called the choice disappointing.
"The Department of the Interior desperately needs a strong, forward looking, reform-minded Secretary," Suckling said in a statement. "Unfortunately, Ken Salazar is not that man. He endorsed George Bush's selection of Gale Norton as Secretary of Interior, the very woman who initiated and encouraged the scandals that have rocked the Department of Interior."
Suckling also cited Salazar's support for some offshore oil drilling along Florida's coast, his vote last year against plans to consider global warming in Army Corps of Engineers decisions and his support for subsidies to ranchers and other users of public forest and range lands, among other issues.
The Center for Biological Diversity and two other Western groups, the Western Watersheds Project and WildEarth Guardians, organized a last-ditch grassroots campaign yesterday opposing Salazar's appointment. They outlined their objections in a letter to the transition team and asked for Rep. Raśl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) to be appointed instead.
Grijalva has long been the top choice of many conservationists for Interior secretary. He had the backing of more than 100 conservation groups; a coalition of scientists, parks and Latino organizations; and House Natural Resources Chairman Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.).
The letter noted that Salazar had threatened to sue Interior if it listed the black-tailed prairie dog under the Endangered Species Act.
Salazar grew up on a ranch and practiced water and environmental law in the private sector for 11 years. He served as state attorney general from 1999 to 2004 before winning election to the Senate. From 1987 to 1994, he served as the governor's chief legal counsel and as executive director of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources.
Reporters Ben Geman and Eric Bontrager contributed.
###
Helen Baker
www.pfjv.org