An honest broker at Interior

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Ken Salazar knows the landscape and the issues of the West, and the nation's land agencies will welcome a secretary with integrity. Here in the West, where the federal government owns three-quarters of the land, there's a lot riding on the experience, the beliefs and most important, the integrity, of the nation's Interior Secretary. Thus, it was heartening Wednesday to see President-elect Barack Obama standing with Colorado Sen. Ken Salazar, introducing the man wearing a cowboy hat and bolo tie as the nation's next Interior Secretary. The hat and the bolo were nice touches, but what really matters is that this country soon will have an Interior Secretary who understands the political and social landscape of the West and has a long record as an honest broker of the many competing interests on public lands. There was some grumping Wednesday from conservation groups that had hoped Obama would nominate a full-on environmentalist to sweep into Interior and overhaul the department, which oversees the National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife Service and the Bureau of Indian Affairs. But Obama was wise to choose yet another political centrist for his Cabinet. As a Colorado senator, Salazar has a long, strong record of brokering deals between the warring interests on public lands. He's an endangered political species in the West, a leader trusted by mining groups, oil and gas advocates and environmental groups....