Prairie dogs and the new "top dog"

Image: Brittanica

Yesterday, while Ken Salazar was having a grand old time at his confirmation hearing for his Secretary of the Interior appointment, the folks who care about conservation and imperiled species were hard at work. Nicole Rosmarino, from WildEarth Guardians and backed by 100 other conservation groups, was speaking out about Salazar's sad record and asking for remedy.

A letter expressing concern over his nomination was sent Thursday to President Elect Barack Obama by more than 100 conservation groups and scientists.

"He would be nation's top dog on who lives and who dies," said Nichole Rosmarino, Wildlife Program Director for Wild Earth Guardians.

"We've never seen him (Salazar) go to bat requesting federal protection for an endangered plant or animal," she added. ....

Back when Salazar was Attorney General in Colorado she says he threatened a lawsuit against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service if it listed the prairie dog under the Endangered Species Act.

Oh, those adorable prairie dogs. Keystone species of western grasslands, they are too often killed en masse as varmints. [See our post below about the TTW book, Finding Beauty in a Broken World. Rosmarino is one of the heroes mentioned in the text.]

One thing we were happy about: Salazar seemed to have dropped his ten-gallon hat for the occasion.