Some say senator not a true reformer

By M.E. Sprengelmeyer, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published December 17, 2008 at 11:33 p.m.

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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.

Suckling contrasted that with others Obama could have tapped, such as Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Wash., or Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz.

"Both of those guys have spent years holding congressional hearings about Interior corruption, about science, about minerals management, about global warming . . . ," he said. "Salazar was not part of that mix. . . . I don't think he's going to have an instinct to really fix things from the ground up."

"I think it's going to be a much more superficial attempt to fix the agency - get rid of a few bad apples," Suckling said. "That's far from restoring the integrity that the agency needs."

Salazar has plenty of fans in the environmentalist community, receiving glowing praise from officials of the Wilderness Society, the National Wildlife Federation, the National Resources Defense Council, Environment Colorado and more.

But some conservation groups are worried about his willingness to compromise, and it raised eyebrows when the Independent Petroleum Association of Mountain States and the National Mining Association issued statements congratulating Salazar on the nomination.

Some also have questioned his decision as Colorado attorney general to oppose the listing of the black-tailed prairie dog as a threatened species.

But the endangered species concern is unfounded, said Steve Torbit, a regional executive director for the National Wildlife Federation, which formally proposed the threatened species listing that Salazar opposed.

"We laid down the gauntlet. We were not surprised or offended that Salazar opposed it. Absolutely not. All the states opposed it," Torbit said.

"I do not believe Sen. Salazar has an agenda against the Endangered Species Act or anything else," Torbit said, adding that Salazar's skill set is "pragmatic, balanced" and will bring the needed changes to Interior.

Randi Spivak, executive director of the American Lands Alliance, which focuses on forest conservation and other issues, takes heart in the clear direction Obama gave Salazar in public on Wednesday.

"I'm hopeful he will realize what the position that he's in requires," Spivak said.

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