Colorado: Bureau Of Land Management

* The Senate passed a nonbinding resolution (Senate Joint Resolution 15) requesting that the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management work with state and local officials to identify and find money for projects to reduce the risk of wildfire from beetle-killed trees.

* Senate Minority Leader Josh Penry is headed to Douglas County. The Grand Junction Republican is the featured speaker today at the Highlands Ranch Republican Breakfast Group. The group is meeting at 7 a.m. at its new location, the Cafe Mon Ami at 9579 S. University, between Ace Hardware and Office Max. The breakfast is $8.

Penry, a defender of Western Slope water rights, is in demand on the GOP speaking circuit.

New and pending oil-shale development rules and leases for new fields — pushed through during the final days of the Bush administration — are candidates for review and perhaps overhaul, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Tuesday.

"Moving forward with commercial regulations for oil-shale development is premature," Salazar said in an interview Tuesday. "We are going to take a look at all the midnight actions of the Bush administration and see what needs to be changed and which are OK."

Another priority, Salazar said, is restoring ethics and standards in the department. Toward that end, he plans to visit the department's troubled Minerals Management Service in Lakewood on Thursday to "discuss ethics" with the staff.

The Denver Post is reporting today on the upcoming Feb. 12 oil and gas lease sale for Colorado, which was put together as a parting gift by the Bush administration to its loyal sponsors:
The proposed Feb. 12 sale of oil and gas leases on more than 81,000 acres of national forest, federal and private land in Colorado has sparked protests from the state, counties and environmental groups.

The sale is the most controversial since the $114 million auction of Roan Plateau leases in August.

..One major criticism of the upcoming auction is that forest parcels were chosen based on 1993 information about wildlife in the areas and dated science on how drilling might affect that wildlife.

New and pending oil-shale development rules and leases for new fields — pushed through during the final days of the Bush administration — are candidates for review and perhaps overhaul, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Tuesday.

"Moving forward with commercial regulations for oil-shale development is premature," Salazar said in an interview Tuesday. "We are going to take a look at all the midnight actions of the Bush administration and see what needs to be changed and which are OK."

Another priority, Salazar said, is restoring ethics and standards in the department. Toward that end, he plans to visit the department's troubled Minerals Management Service in Lakewood on Thursday to "discuss ethics" with the staff.