Interior secretary is going all out for the outdoors

With global economic problems, combat in the Middle East and a crisis in Japan, many might think that the conservation movement would temporarily grind to a halt. Not Ken Salazar, secretary of the U.S. Department of Interior. Look at history, he’ll tell you. Over the years, some of the most significant moves to protect the nation’s lakes, rivers and wild lands have come in times of crisis. “It’s true we are living through some very tough times,” he said Wednesday in an address at the North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference at the Westin Crown Center hotel. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t accomplish some big things during this time. It’s important to look back at the history of this country and our legacy of conservation. “Some of our greatest moments have come when this country was in crisis.” It started, Salazar said, in the Civil War, when President Abraham Lincoln signed a declaration that allowed the federal government to aside land for recreational use for the first time. That led to the establishment of America’s first national park, Yellowstone. Then at the start of the 20th century, President Theodore Roosevelt became alarmed at the way the nation’s forests, rivers and wild lands were being decimated, and he took action. He called the nation’s conservation leaders together and formulated strategies to protect the environment...more

That's enough to make me change my party affiliation.