LEADVILLE, Colo. – Yesterday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Colorado Outdoor Recreation and Economy, or CORE, Act. If the measure clears the Senate, CORE would safeguard roughly 400,000 acres of public lands in Colorado.
Bradley Noone, a U.S. Army veteran who served in Afghanistan, supports CORE's goal of protecting important watersheds along the Eagle and Roaring Fork rivers, along with the National Historic Landscape designation of Camp Hale.
"Camp Hale is extremely important to protect, because much of the nation's – and specifically Colorado's – ski industry stemmed from World War II veterans who were trained at Camp Hale," says Noone.
The legislation was introduced in January, a result of decades of work between ranchers, sportsmen, small businesses, veterans, local officials, and outdoor recreation, water and energy groups.
Sen. Cory Gardner voiced concerns after CORE was passed without support from fellow Republican, Rep. Scott Tipton – whose 3rd district would be affected. Gardner also said he would not block the measure when it arrives in the Senate.
Two-thirds of Western Colorado voters support the CORE Act, according to a recent survey.
Justin Cross, northern Colorado regional director with Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, believes CORE would boost the state's outdoor recreation economy, which generated $62 billion and a half-million jobs in 2017.
Cross says the shared-use model for public lands means making room for recreation, and notes 85% of federal lands are already open for agriculture and extraction.
"So, we're really talking about already a really small fraction of public lands being dedicated to recreational users,” says Cross. “So, I think it's pretty reasonable that we slowly expand that, to have a better balance."
A 2018 poll found that 96% of Coloradans see the outdoor recreation industry as important to the state's economic future.
The CORE Act would also protect the Thompson Divide from future oil and gas development, and add recreational opportunities in the White River and San Juan National Forests.
Support for this reporting was provided by The Pew Charitable Trusts.
get more stories like this via email
California advocates for hunters and anglers are speaking out in favor of two public lands bills that were just reintroduced in the U.S. Senate. They're designed to maintain public access and conserve big-game migration corridors.
The Public Lands in Public Hands Act would require the Bureau of Land Management to get congressional approval in most cases to sell or transfer parcels to a non-federal entity, such as a state or private owner.
There's been a push in some parts of the West to hand control of large parcels of federal land over to the states, said Madeleine West, vice president for western conservation at the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership.
"Certain parcels, if you got rid of those, it would block off access to really pristine hunting grounds," she said. "It's those sort of worst-case scenarios that we just want to be able to safeguard against."
Utah has petitioned - unsuccessfully so far - to force the BLM to sell the state more than 18-million acres of federal land, and House Republicans recently passed a rules package that makes it easier to sell off federal lands. States, faced with the enormous cost of managing the lands and fighting wildfire, could then elect to sell them to private interests.
A second bill, the Wildlife Movement Through Partnerships Act, would codify programs to protect wildlife migration corridors. West noted that the programs were created during the first Trump administration and continued during President Joe Biden's time in office.
"These are programs that can have real, long-term benefit," she said, "and so, some certainty that they will exist into the long term, regardless of future political changes, is really valuable."
The programs, which are currently voluntary, provide funding for state wildlife agencies, landowners and nonprofits that do habitat restoration work and map out wildlife migration patterns.
Disclosure: Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership contributes to our fund for reporting on Climate Change/Air Quality, Endangered Species & Wildlife, Environment, Public Lands/Wilderness. If you would like to help support news in the public interest,
click here.
get more stories like this via email
Minnesotans have until next Tuesday to offer their thoughts on the state's next Climate Action Framework.
Those tasked with protecting a distinct type of wetland hope the public learns more about their fate before speaking up.
Only trailing Alaska, Minnesota has the largest amount of peatlands in the U.S. They are waterlogged areas covered with dead plant materials, such as decaying leaves. Almost like a big kitchen sink on the landscape, they absorb carbon emissions while acting as ecosystems for a number of species.
Meredith Cornett, peatland resilience project planner for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, said drainage ditches for unused farmland have turned into a problem because water from peatlands flows into them.
"We are currently doing a demonstration project to identify the best candidates for locking these ditches," Cornett explained. "Filling them in some cases and trying to restore the natural hydrology."
If successful, they can prevent more peatlands from drying out and releasing stored emissions back into the atmosphere. A recent estimate found nearly 850,000 acres of peatland in Minnesota are partially drained. Cornett noted federal grants have helped with restoration work but she encouraged public comments through the updated Climate Action Framework to create more urgency.
In northeastern Minnesota, the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa is making a strong push to protect and restore peatlands.
Nancy Schuldt, water projects coordinator for the Fond du Lac Environmental Program, said beyond the emissions effects, the wetlands have a deep connection to tribal communities.
"It's important habitat for moose, an incredibly culturally significant species, which is in a population decline up in this region," Schuldt noted.
Habitat for other plant and animal species prioritized by Indigenous populations also benefit from having a diverse group of wetlands in place. In recent decades, the Fond du Lac Band has enhanced water management to overcome the drainage effects traced back to colonization.
Schuldt alluded to the broader threats, such as droughts made worse by climate change, while also calling for a greater political will to limit land development near peatlands.
Support for this reporting was provided by The Pew Charitable Trusts.
get more stories like this via email
The U.S. Supreme Court has opted not to hear a lawsuit brought by the State of Utah, which alleged the federal government's ownership of large parts of the state is unconstitutional.
The decision marks a win for conservation advocates.
Olivia Juarez, public land program director for the nonprofit GreenLatinos, said Utahns now will not have their tax dollars used to fund what they call the state's "ill-founded lawsuit and disinformation campaign." Utah had made the effort to seize public lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management.
Juarez acknowledged with a Republican-dominated Congress, similar efforts may return.
"We are better set up to fight against some of the biggest challenges that the Trump administration is going to pose to the American public," Juarez contended. "Two of them namely being the climate and biodiversity crisis and also a cultural crisis about belonging."
Juarez pointed out public lands represent the origins of American and pre-American history. The case marks the latest setback for states looking to gain control of public lands, some of which hold valuable oil and gas, timber and other resources. Utah state leaders have said they have not ruled out taking their suit to a lower court.
The nomination hearing for Donald Trump's pick for Interior Secretary, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, is scheduled for this Thursday. The new administration will inherit a number of challenges, including disputes over conservation leases on Bureau of Land Management lands.
Juarez argued the multiple-use doctrine for public lands should be upheld.
"That rule will be under attack by the incoming Congress and presidential administration," Juarez noted. "It'll be important to reaffirm to the next secretary that conservation is a use that is valuable, economically as well as culturally."
Juarez added last weekend, public lands and conservation advocates rallied in Salt Lake City to show their support for protecting public lands across the Beehive State like the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments.
"Our goal was to bring people together at a time that it feels good," Juarez stressed. "It's a really hopeful moment for the nation's will to treat public lands as a solution to climate disaster, rather than making them part of the problem."
Disclosure: GreenLatinos contributes to our fund for reporting on Climate Change/Air Quality, Environmental Justice, Public Lands/Wilderness, and Water. If you would like to help support news in the public interest,
click here.
get more stories like this via email