Kieran Suckling of the Tucson-based Center for Biological Diversity: "Ken Salazar is very closely tied to ranching and mining and very traditional, old-time, Western, extraction industries. We were promised that an Obama presidency would bring change."
Among those cheering the apparent Salazar nomination are the mining and agriculture industries, which generally backed Republican John McCain for president.
"I first heard it Monday and was excited because I have worked with him when I used to live in Colorado," said Laura Skaer, executive director of the Northwest Mining Association. "I know that he's fair and balanced."
The secretary of the Interior, perhaps more than any other Cabinet post, affects the lives of rural Americans, many of whom depend on natural resource development for their living.
NPR