Obama signs omnibus lands bill with nod to Colorado, Bennet

Politicians and environmentalists alike Monday were quick to sing the praises of the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009, which President Obama signed into law Monday afternoon at a White House ceremony.

On MSNBC, Newsweek’s Jonathan Alter told anchor Contessa Brewer that Obama was going to great lengths to highlight the importance of the law to Colorado because the White House can’t allow Colorado’s other Senate seat, held by Democrat Michael Bennet, to be lost in 2010. Bennet was appointed by Gov. Bill Ritter to fill the seat of Ken Salazar, whom Obama appointed as his Interior Secretary.

Hold your holster. Court blocks disputed national parks gun rule

A federal judge has temporarily blocked implementation of a controversial 11th-hour Bush administration rule that would allow people to carry loaded, concealed guns in national parks, wildlife refuges and historical centers, according to the Washington Post.

Salazar taps Shafroth for fish, wildlife and parks deputy post at Interior

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced Tuesday afternoon that fourth-generation Colorado resident Will Shafroth, who ran unsuccessfully for Congress last summer, will be the department’s deputy assistant secretary for fish, wildlife and parks. A few weeks ago Salazar nominated another…

Salazar cheers Department of Interior on 160th birthday

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar invoked both President Roosevelts — Teddy and FDR — in a speech celebrating the department’s 160th birthday at Interior headquarters in Washington Tuesday afternoon. “When faced with a crisis, Americans always build a path to progress,” Salazar said, according to prepared remarks released shortly before the hoopla kicked off.

Salazar keeps on rolling back Bush’s 11th-hour oil shale regs

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar Wednesday continued to clean house on Colorado’s nascent oil shale industry, rolling back midnight regulations from the Bush administration that would have offered four times as many acres for research and development as the industry last leased in 2005.

Park Service retirees: Repeal Bush-era concealed weapons rule change

Late in 2008, the Bush Administration rushed through a regulatory change that would allow concealed-carry firearms to be possessed in national parks and national wildlife refuges in accordance with state permit requirements. The rule went into effect on Jan. 9.

The previous common-sense rule had been in effect for national parks since the early 1900s, in one form or another. The rule did not prohibit guns, but simply required them to be unloaded, cased and not immediately accessible.

UPDATED: Ken Salazar on Rachel Maddow Show tonight

A teaser ad on MSNBC reports that Interior Secretary Ken Salazar will appear with liberal political talker Rachel Maddow to discuss his vision for improving the corruption-plagued federal agency. The show airs at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. MST.

But will Salazar appear with or without his signature hat?

UPDATE: See the video segment below plus a bonus track featuring our Washington Independent colleague Daphne Eviatar on Alberto Gonzales and the proposed congressional Truth Commission.

Salazar lays down law on Interior scandals

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar wants the Justice Department to take another look into scandals at the Minerals Management Service with an eye to further criminal prosecution and plans to undertake a “fundamental restructuring of the MMS royalty program,” which last year reaped $23.4 billion from oil and gas companies that drill on public land. Salazar, the former Democratic senator named recently to the Obama Cabinet, announced his plans for MMS Thursday afternoon after meeting with the agency’s employees in Lakewood.

Salazar’s oil shale comments run counter to Lundberg energy bill

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar in recent days has dampened the hopes of state lawmakers who are pushing to revive Colorado’s long-dormant oil shale industry.

Wildlife group: Cull elk at national park with wolves, not sharpshooters

An environmental group called on the Department of the Interior to cease fire on a plan to use volunteer sharpshooters to reduce elk herds in Rocky Mountain National Park, instead urging officials to release wolves into the park “as part of the long-term solution to the elk over-browsing problem.”