Salazar to take preservation nationwide

The Durango Heraldreports:

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar wants to invigorate a national land conservation program based on a successful Colorado organization. In his first briefing for reporters as head of the Department of the Interior, the former Colorado senator said he wants to revamp the royalty system for federal gas and oil leases and use some of the money to preserve farms, ranches and rivers. His inspiration is Great Outdoors Colorado, he said. The organization has helped preserve 700,000 acres statewide since 1994, GOCO spokeswoman Chris Leding said. Salazar helped write the 1992 constitutional amendment that created GOCO, and he was the group's first chairman. The group uses lottery money to buy open space and conservation easements, which pays farmers and ranchers to leave their property undeveloped.