San Luis preservation announcement expected

The San Luis Valley is seeing another milestone in preservation efforts promoted by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, who grew up in the area.

Salazar plans to announce more conservation efforts in a Denver announcement Friday.

Landowner Louis Bacon is expected to join the secretary for the announcement. The billionaire owns thousands of acres in southern Colorado, some of which is protected by a conservation easement. He said in June that he would protect the rest if the federal government moves ahead with plans to create a new 5-million-acre conservation corridor in Colorado and New Mexico.

Bacon has been fighting efforts by energy companies to put transmission lines across his land.