Go to the mobile version of this Web site.

Login | Contact Us | Site Map | Paid archives | Electronic edition | Subscription Questions | Extras

Not all Democrats are environmentalists

This letter has not been edited

Barb Adams, Parker

Published December 25, 2008 at 6 p.m.

Text size  

Just because someone is a Democrat doesn’t make them an environmentalist

Obama’s choice of Salazar as Secretary of the Interior is a disastrous one for our environment.

As a longtime advocate for the environment and particularly the protection of native predatory animals across the Western U.S., such as wolves, coyotes, foxes, bears and others, I was shocked and dismayed that Obama would choose someone from a ranching background as Secretary of Interior.

The Secretary of the Interior has an immense and critical responsibility for preserving our precious lands and the wildlife within it. That is supposed to be their first priority — and is their own stated first goal of their mission: “resource protection.”

The fact that Ken Salazar comes from a long line of ranchers is a huge negative — not a plus!

This industry has a history of putting cattle and ranching first; wildlife habitat and its native animals, particularly predatory animals such as coyotes, foxes, wolves, bears and other native animals, are considered “nuisances” to be gotten rid of.

Salazar has supported bad bills such as allowing for poisoning of prairie dogs. He has supported the use of our public lands for cattle grazing, displacing and destroying native animals, and using cruel snares, traps and poisons to get rid of them!

He has opposed bills to preserve and protect feral and wild horses on our public lands, instead opting for their slaughter.

We need someone in the Interior willing to speak up for the wilderness and its long pers ecuted native animals at the hands of the cattle industry — not someone connected with the Industry! Putting the fox in charge of the henhouse? For more information on how the cattle industry has impacted our native wildlife, especially predators, read Michael Robinson’s Predatory Bureacracy: the Extermination of the Wolf and the Transformation of the West.

www.predatorybureaucracy.com/book

Comments

  • December 25, 2008

    7:14 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    SheikYurBooty writes:

    Obama is a centrist. Salazar is strong evidence of that.

  • December 25, 2008

    10:15 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    jgd writes:

    You call Salazar a centrist? He voted with the Democrat party close to 92% of the time on all votes, that is not a centrist.

  • December 26, 2008

    8:27 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    greenleaf writes:

    People who post regularly on these forums know that I am a dyed in the wool environmentalist. Having said that, I take a hybrid approach to most problems that relate to energy and the environment. My college training was in Environmental Biology, my emphasis was Botany. In my early years out of college, I learned how hard it was being dependent upon government and the associated politics for work and career advancement. Accordingly, I went into my own environmental design and consulting business. I still take part in research in a minor way and communicate with researchers in the field. Otherwise, I am a raging capitalist with an environmental conscience. This is why I like the choice of Salazar.

    Salazar better than most, understands western water law, energy impacts on our environment and wildlife and the folly of oil shale. As for his being a shill for the ranching industry? Who can better relate to ranchers on environmental protection than another rancher? More than that, I have known many farmers and a few ranchers. Most of these have been good stewards of the lands they own or lease.

    Prairie dogs are on the verge of getting some protection under the Endangered Species Act, and coyotes are expanding in numbers and range.

    I see Salazar as a fellow "hybrid" on these issues as he blends Democratic environmental ethics with the business ethics of a career rancher. Besides, he serves at the pleasure of the president as they say. If Obama doesn't like his performance or the direction he takes on issues, he'll be back in ranching before you know it.

  • December 26, 2008

    12:55 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    ILoveChipotle writes:

    Barb forgets one reason why Salazar is a disaster - he's an idiot!

  • December 26, 2008

    2:48 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    Clarence_Boddicker writes:

    Yes, thankfully not all democrats are environmentalists. Some democrats use logic and form practical solutions to environmental problems instead of spewing ideological emotional propaganda

  • December 27, 2008

    10:48 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    ColoradoDave writes:

    Ummm...Aren't wild horses an invasive species?

    Just saying.

  • February 1, 2009

    6:43 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    Barb writes:

    Eurasian cattle on public lands displacing bison, wolves, coyotes, etc. are the most destructive invasive species.

  • February 5, 2009

    11:15 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    Barb writes:

    Clarence_Boddicker -- Please explain how bringing back the natural balance of our predatory ecosystem is "spewing ideological emotional propaganda?"

    That makes no sense.