My family has spent 400 years farming on the banks of the Rio Grande. We know the value of hard work, love of the community, love for water and land.

Meth is a major problem not only in our urban areas, but in most of the rural areas of Colorado. No region has been immune from this scourge and it is getting larger.

My family has spent 400 years farming on the banks of the Rio Grande. We know the value of hard work, love of the community, love for water and land.

I work hard and I have a standard of excellence - and I expect everyone at the Interior Department to meet that same standard. I delegate a lot. I might appear to be doing a lot of different things, but there's a strong team helping me. I believe we're going to have the strongest team of any agency in the Obama administration.

Our country has suffered from an on-again, off-again energy policy that has failed to get us to energy independence. As President Obama has said, we need a comprehensive energy plan for the country that includes conventional resources like oil and gas, but that also takes advantage of wind, solar, biomass, geothermal, and other renewable resources.

While it is important to maintain a balanced approach to solving our nation's energy problems, we must commit ourselves to recognize some areas as 'off limits,' and the Artic National Wildlife Reserve is a national symbol of that commitment.

It's a new day at the Department of Interior, and we need to examine what makes the most sense for the American people. These are American resources and American treasures, and we need to make sure we're providing the right kind of protection, oversight and stewardship of these resources for the American people.