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Over 100 Scientists & Conservation Groups Denounce Salazar Pick for Interior Sec

WildEarth Guardians and more than 100 scientists and conservation groups criticized Obama's pick of Sen. Ken Salazar (D-CO) as his Interior Secretary in a letter sent to the Obama transition team today in anticipation of Salazar's Senate confirmation hearing. Salazar's track record demonstrates his hostility to Endangered Species Act (ESA) enforcement and deference to agriculture in particular.

Obama's announcement of Salazar on December 17 for the top Interior spot came two days after an Interior Inspector General's report that ESA enforcement was routinely blocked under the Bush administration, with complicity at the highest levels in Interior.

"Ken Salazar does not bring the change we need at Interior," stated Nicole Rosmarino of WildEarth Guardians. "Salazar will not take strong stances on behalf of science and environmental protection and is not up to the task of undoing the enormous damage the Bush administration has done to public lands, endangered species, and the credibility of the Department of the Interior over the last 8 years."

The groups' letter indicates that, while Colorado's Attorney General, in 1999, Salazar threatened a lawsuit against the Department of the Interior if the Service listed the black-tailed prairie dog under the ESA. Rather than respecting the ESA's requirement that listing decisions are to be based solely on science, Salazar and his co-authors complained about potential impacts to its citizens if the prairie dog was protected. In December 2008, even the Bush administration admitted that the black-tailed prairie dog might require ESA protection.

While Colorado's U.S. Senator, Salazar continued to be very clear that he will not back ESA listings if they affect agribusiness. But many of the state's vanishing species, including the black-tailed prairie dog, mountain plover, Gunnison's prairie dog, lesser prairie-chicken, and others, are threatened by agribusiness and would likely remain unprotected under an Interior Secretary Salazar.

If confirmed as Interior Secretary, Salazar would be the final word on ESA listings. Approximately 300 species await listing as formal candidates or species proposed for listing. The Bush administration has slowed the listing program down to a glacial pace, with only 8 species listings per year. Conservationists were hoping the incoming Interior Secretary will tackle this backlog of endangered but unprotected species by ramping up the listing program.

"There is a mountain of work to accomplish as Interior Secretary, and we do not believe Salazar would tackle it with the zeal that is needed and commitment to science, not politics," stated Rosmarino.

Also alarming is Salazar's previous endorsement of fellow-Coloradan Gale Norton for Secretary of the Interior while he was Attorney General of Colorado. Norton made her mark as the most hostile Interior Secretary to endangered species and public lands protection since James Watt, her mentor, and save possibly current Interior Secretary Kempthorne.