Some conservation groups are welcoming the selection of Colorado Sen. Ken Salazar as interior secretary, but others are expressing doubts.

President-elect Barack Obama announced the nomination Wednesday.

Some groups are praising Salazar's commitment to protecting Western land, water and other resources.

But WildEarth Guardians in Denver and the Center for Biological Diversity in Tucson, Ariz., don't think he's the right person to be in charge of endangered species.

They note as Colorado attorney general he opposed declaring the black-tailed prairie dog as endangered.

Salazar, a Democrat, has clashed with the Bush administration over energy development on public lands, including oil shale development in the Rockies.

In making the announcement Wednesday, Obama said, "Ken will bring to the Department of the Interior an abiding commitment to this land we love. His family has farmed and ranched the same land in Colorado for five generations. As a senator from the great state of Colorado, he has been a champion for farmers, ranchers, and rural communities from building a clean energy economy to setting aside 250,000 acres of Rocky Mountain National Park as wilderness."

The President-elect went on to say, "Before serving in the United States Senate, Ken was attorney general in Colorado, where he worked on a number of land, water, and environmental issues. As a water lawyer for a decade, Ken was also chosen to lead Colorado's Department of Natural Resources. In that role, he promoted responsible water management, balanced use of our energy resources, and built one of the most successful land conservation efforts in the nation."

In accepting the nomination, Salazar said, "I am humbled and honored to be nominated by President-elect Barack Obama to serve as secretary of the interior."

He talked about his ancestors settling in Santa Fe more than 400 years ago and the twelve generations of his family that have struggled to make a life in Colorado and New Mexico.

He said, "I know Barack Obama as a champion for change, and I am grateful for his confidence in me. I look forward to serving as a strong voice in the administration for the West and the nation."

Salazar said he plans to help reduce America's dangerous dependence on foreign oil and work toward energy independence, "I look forward to helping build our clean energy economy, modernize our interstate electrical grid and ensure that we are making wise use of our conventional natural resources, including coal, oil and natural gas."

The senator also said, "I look forward to protecting our national parks, public lands and open spaces, and America's farm and ranch lands. I look forward to restoring our nations rivers and working to resolve our water supply challenges. I look forward to helping to address the challenges faced by our Native American communities across the nation."

Salazar will head a department that oversees oil and gas drilling on public lands and manages the nation's parks and wildlife refuges. He is expected to try to balance protection of natural resources with use of the nation's energy potential -- an approach Obama said in the announcement that he wants.

Salazar co-sponsored a bill in Congress to create a new land conservation system under the Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management for permanently protecting 26 million acres of national monuments, wilderness areas and wild and scenic rivers. The legislation died during the special session of Congress after the November election.

The Colorado senator also opposed drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.