Colorado lawmakers optimistic about CORE Act’s chances
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Public lands bill reintroduced in Democratic-controlled House, Senate
Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2021 3:28 PM Updated: Thursday, Feb. 4, 2021 10:57 PM U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper, and U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse, announced Tuesday they are reintroducing the Colorado Outdoor Recreation and Economy Act, legislation to protect about 400,000 acres of public lands in the state. Courtesy of Mason Cummings, The Wilderness Society
Colorado lawmakers optimistic about CORE Act’s chances U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper, and U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse, announced Tuesday they are reintroducing the Colorado Outdoor Recreation and Economy Act, legislation to protect about 400,000 acres of public lands in the state.
Proponents have reintroduced a sweeping Colorado public lands measure amid higher hopes of it passing now that Democrats control both houses of Congress and Democrat Joe Biden is president.
U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper and U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse, all D-Colo., are hoping that this might be the year the Colorado Outdoor Recreation and Economy (CORE) Act, which would protect some 400,000 acres of public land, becomes law.
âI think thereâs a lot of momentum to pass the bill,â Bennet said during a press conference on Zoom Tuesday.
But the measure continues to face a lack of support in the House from the U.S. representative for Coloradoâs 3rd Congressional District, which overlaps much of the western Colorado land covered by the bill. Former U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton opposed CORE, and new U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, who won the general election after defeating Tipton in the Republican primary, has criticized the bill. Bennet said Tuesday he believes the c
Kelly Nordini
Colorado is losing its most iconic asset: nature. The outdoors have always been central to our state’s identity. And today, as Coloradans escape the dangers of COVID-19 by heading to community parks, wilderness areas, and everything in between, it is clear that we must act decisively to protect our lands and water.
Thankfully, there is an emerging, science-based international goal the “Global Deal for Nature” that humanity should strive for. We must conserve half of the lands, waters, and oceans of Earth by 2050 to address the climate and nature crises, slow the rate of extinction, and avoid the worst impacts of climate change. To deliver on this deal, we must accelerate the pace and scale of conservation by protecting at least 30 percent of the planet by 2030
Mt. Sopris viewed from the Thompson Divide outside of Carbondale, Aug. 14, 2019.
This could be the year the Colorado Outdoor Recreation and Economy (CORE) Act becomes law at least that’s what Democratic Rep. Joe Neguse and Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper are betting on, now that their party controls both chambers of Congress.
The three are reintroducing the Colorado public lands bill; it would protect over 400,000 acres in the state through new wilderness, recreation and conservation areas. It would also establish new protections for historic Camp Hale, where the Tenth Mountain Division trained during World War Two.
“From a first-of-its-kind National Historic Landscape designation for Camp Hale which embodies the spirit of Colorado to protections for our iconic San Juan Mountains, the CORE Act was crafted night after night by Coloradans who came together to do something special for the next generation,” Bennet said. “Our state has waited long enough.”
Daily file photo
Nearly a year ago, Mike Greenwood invited Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet to meet with a group of Greenwood’s friends at Camp Hale, the famed World War II training site of the 10th Mountain Division located between Leadville and Red Cliff in Eagle County.
Those friends, members of the 10th Mountain Division’s 2nd Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment known as the Triple Deuce who served with Greenwood were at Camp Hale to take in the fresh mountain air on a cloudless day in the High Country. They went snowshoeing and cross-country skiing and paid homage to the brave 10th veterans who fought in the Italian Alps during some of the bloodiest battles of World War II. Those World War II veterans then returned stateside to help found the modern ski industry.