Salazar Bill Would Help Generous Contributor

A western Colorado land swap sought by U.S. Rep. John Salazar, D-Colo., would eliminate what National Park Service officials termed a development threat to the Curecanti National Recreation Area. Salazar’s biggest individual campaign contributor, meanwhile, would get land that would allow him to complete assembly of his ranch in Gunnison County.

A third element of the exchange would put into the National Park system the home of the man who first discovered dinosaur bones in what is now known as Dinosaur National Monument in Utah. Salazar this spring introduced H.R. 5059, the Central Rockies Land Exchange and National Park System Enhancement Act of 2010.

At the heart of the measure is a land swap that would enlarge by 1,841 acres the Bear Ranch owned by William Koch and allow him to knit together disparate parts of his ranch tucked between Ragged Mountain and Paonia Reservoir.

Koch and his family members have contributed $39,800 to Salazar’s federal campaigns, making them his biggest individual contributor, according to Federal Elections Commission documents and the website opensecrets.org.

Read more: (Gary Harmon, “Salazar bill would help generous contributor,” The Daily Sentinel, 08/09/2010)