June 29, 2007 04:07 PM UTC

Sen. Salazar Plots Roan Revenge

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• by: Colorado Pols

As the Rocky Mountain News reports:

U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar will block confirmation of President Bush’s nominee to run the federal Bureau of Land Management if the agency doesn’t give Colorado more time to review BLM plans for drilling atop the Roan Plateau.

“I’m doing it because of the fact the Department of the Interior and BLM have not been responsive in not allowing at least 120 days for Gov. (Bill) Ritter and others to review the Roan management plan,” Salazar, a Colorado Democrat, said during a telephone news conference Thursday.

Salazar’s move to block James Caswell’s nomination to lead the BLM comes a day after political maneuvers in the House killed an effort by two Colorado congressmen – Democrats Mark Udall and John Salazar – to deny funds to the BLM in 2008 for use in leasing lands on the plateau for oil and gas drilling.

Udall and John Salazar issued a joint statement blaming the Bush administration for “strong-arm” tactics in attaching a “highly speculative” cost estimate to their amendment, leading to its demise Wednesday…

Ken Salazar said he is not opposed to oil and gas exploration, but believes the BLM needs to move more cautiously on the Roan, and that he would not allow western Colorado to become a “sacrifice zone.”