U.S. Senator Ken Salazar

Member: Agriculture, Energy, Veterans' Affairs, Ethics and Aging Committees

 

2300 15th Street, Suite 450 Denver, CO 80202 | 702 Hart Senate Building, Washington, D.C. 20510

 

 

For Immediate Release

May 4, 2006

CONTACT:    Cody Wertz – Comm. Director

                        303-455-7600

Andrew Nannis  – Press Secretary

                        202-224-5852


 Sen. Salazar Presses Kempthorne on National Parks and Protecting the Nation’s Natural Heritage

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Late last year, the National Park Service announced it would replace a 90-year-old management policy to “First, do no harm” with a less protective approach to park management. United States Senator Ken Salazar today pressed Secretary of the Interior nominee Gov. Dirk Kempthorne (R-ID) on his views on a variety of Interior-related topics, including his thoughts on Park Service lands management decisions and the importance of public input.

“Over the past five years under Secretary Norton, there has been a distinct shift in management emphasis of our federal lands within the Department of the Interior from one of stewardship and conservation of lands to an emphasis on development – principally energy development – and on other commercial uses,” said Senator Salazar. “The past direction of the Department lacks the right balance between the conservation and protection of natural resources and the development and commercial exploitation of those resources.

“For instance, the proposed National Park management policies would replace the long-standing conservation mandate of the Park System with a more permissive approach to park management. And the new policies have not been properly vetted with the public,” said Senator Salazar. Governor Kempthorne refused to commit to subjecting the rules to another round of public comment during today’s hearing.

Senator Salazar also asked Governor Kempthorne about his thoughts on:

  • Public Lands Sales, and the President’s FY07 budget proposal to raise $350M over 10 years by selling off Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands for the purpose of deficit reduction; and
  • Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) stateside grants, and if the Governor would support full-funding of the LWCF.

After the hearing, Senator Salazar, “Governor Kempthorne is a former Senator, so I am confident that he understands and respects the Senate’s Constitutional responsibilities in this process. This testimony was an important step in the process, and I plan to give serious consideration to his answers to the committee’s questions today as well as in our private conversation earlier last month.” In April, Senator Salazar met with Governor Kempthorne and discussed many of these same issues.

The Department of the Interior manages over eight million surface acres of public land and over five million subsurface acres in Colorado. These lands include four National Parks, seven National Wildlife Refuges, vast Bureau of Land Management holdings, and numerous National Monuments, Recreation Areas, and Historic Trails.

 

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