Energy & Natural Resources Committee vote positions bill for a Senate floor vote, and puts CORE Act in play for public lands legislation

Media resources, including still photos and b-roll video footage, for the CORE Act are available from The Wilderness Society at this link: https://www.wilderness.org/articles/media-resources/media-resources-colorado-outdoor-recreation-economy-core-act 

May 3, 2022

CARBONDALE, CO—The Colorado Outdoor Recreation and Economy Act, Colorado’s sweeping public lands bill to protect 400,000 acres, took a significant step forward today on its path to becoming law.

The Colorado Outdoor Recreation and Economy Act, Colorado’s sweeping public lands bill to protect 400,000 acres, took a significant step forward today on its path to becoming law. The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee took up the CORE Act in an official “mark-up,” a critical step toward advancing the bill in the Senate. Along with Congressman Neguse, Senators Bennet and Hickenlooper have been champions of the bill. Today’s mark-up is the result of their dedicated work and reflects the clear desires of local communities to have these lands protected in perpetuity. The CORE Act has advanced farther through Congress with today’s mark-up than ever before.

The coalition of organizations supporting the CORE Act released the following statement from Sergeant John Tripp, a 10th Mountain Division WWII veteran living in Carbondale: 

“… the CORE Act is before Congress … and I support it 100%. I think Camp Hale should be preserved and taken care of for the benefit of my children, my grandchildren, yours also, of course, and everybody in the U.S. could come to Camp Hale and realize they had seen something from World War II, which was a very historic time. Also, this CORE Act includes the Thompson Divide, which they want to rip up and drill oil wells and gas wells, and who knows what. That’s a beautiful place for my children, grandchildren, and yours, and everybody in the US to enjoy forever and ever.” – John Tripp, 102-year-old WWII veteran and member of the Army’s famed 10th Mountain Division.

For a video of Mr. Tripp’s remarks, please click here. 

 

Additional statements of support for the CORE Act: 


“For over a decade, the Glenwood Springs City Council and the citizens of Glenwood Springs have advocated for the protection of the Thompson Divide,” said Jonathan Godes, Mayor of Glenwood Springs. “A diverse group of stakeholders from across our region, including ranchers, outdoor recreationists, sportsmen and women, and local governments, have come together to try and protect this important landscape for our community. After today’s markup and vote in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, we are one step closer to achieving permanent protection for this special place.”

“The Colorado Outdoor Recreation & Economy Act is common-sense legislation, and we’re proud to support it,” said Janessa Goldbeck, CEO of Vet Voice Foundation. “We’re specifically excited to see Camp Hale — a vital training area for the U.S. Army’s 10th Mountain Division during World War II — designated as the first National Historic Landscape. Veterans have long played a role in protecting our nation’s public lands. It’s even more exciting to work on projects that will preserve places closely tied to our military history. We’re ready to do the work to pass the Core Act.”

“Hunters and anglers have seen first-hand how degraded wildlife habitat is negatively impacting the health of wildlife and our sporting traditions. Passing legislation like the CORE Act is imperative to restoring and conserving critical wildlife habitat and mitigating impacts from climate change,” said Aaron Kindle, Director of Sporting Advocacy for the National Wildlife Federation. “In addition, the legislation creates a first-of-its-kind national historical landscape to honor the heroic 10th Mountain Division veterans who trained at Camp Hale.”

“The protections for the Thompson Divide contained in the CORE Act will benefit our Latino community by creating protected public lands near where many Latinos and Latinas live in the Roaring Fork and Colorado River Valleys,” said Omar Sarabia, Director of Defiende Nuestra Tierra. “It’s important to our community to preserve existing uses of public lands in the Thompson Divide, like hunting, camping, snowmobiling, and hiking. I urge Congress to swiftly pass the CORE Act as a benefit to all Coloradoans.”   

“It’s time to pass the Colorado Outdoor Recreation and Economy Act,” said Steve Bonowski, Board Member of Conservatives for Responsible Stewardship. “The Act protects significant portions of our beautiful mountains from unneeded development while still preserving places for the outdoor recreation activities that drive rural county economies in Colorado. Recognizing the history and value of Camp Hale is a tribute to all Americans who have served, and continue to serve, in our military.”

“The CORE Act is a direct response to the interests of nearly one million visitors who travel to the Curecanti National Recreation Area to fish, hike and recreate, and to the local gateway economies that depend upon this visitation and enhancement of its recreational opportunities,” said Tracy Coppola, Colorado Senior Program Manager for the National Parks Conservation Association. 

“The CORE Act was built from the ground up through collaboration with local stakeholders and continues to serve as a model for the way conservation should occur,” said Scott Willoughby, Colorado coordinator for Trout Unlimited. “We thank Colorado Senators Bennet and Hickenlooper for listening to the hunting and angling community in their ongoing effort to preserve the vital habitat that sustains some of Colorado’s premier hunting and fishing destinations. Now we ask the rest of the U.S. Senate to heed the call of Colorado sportsmen and women to pass this important legislation once and for all.”

“Passing the CORE Act will communicate a symbol of trust to our veterans who fought to protect these lands,” said Joe Mornini, Founder of Team River Runner, healing veterans through outdoor programs in 31 states. “The public lands and waters in the CORE Act will provide our veterans with more opportunities in the outdoors, which has been proven as the most significant healing environment for those who have served our country.”  

“The San Juan Mountains portion of the CORE Act is the result of more than 10 years of collaboration among local leaders, businesses, and ranchers. The bill protects the headwaters of three watersheds in the region, including the Colorado River’s cutthroat trout habitat. It also safeguards wildlife corridors and critical habitat for elk, mule deer, rocky mountain bighorn sheep and desert bighorn sheep. Wilderness is the gold standard for wildlife habitat and backcountry hunting and angling”, said Craig Grother, Regional Director for the Central West Slope of Colorado Backcountry Hunters & Anglers. “We urge Congress to pass this public lands bill for us and our future generations.”

“I’m thrilled to see the CORE Act get a vote in the Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee today,” said Jim Ramey, Colorado State Director for The Wilderness Society. “This is the farthest the bill has advanced. Today’s vote puts the bill in play to be brought to the Senate floor, or considered as part of a potential public lands package. There’s only one more step – a Senate floor vote – before it can go to the President ‘s desk. Thank you to Senator Bennet, Senator Hickenlooper, and Representative Neguse for your leadership and efforts on behalf of communities across Colorado who support this bill.” 

“The time for the Senate to pass the CORE Act is now,” says L Fisher (they/them), Trail Policy Manager at the Continental Divide Trail Coalition (CDTC). “This legislation is the product of years of collaboration between a wide array of stakeholders and is widely popular for all the benefits that robust land stewardship provides for the state’s economy, community health, and the Colorado way of life. Today’s hearing demonstrates that Colorado’s leaders in Congress are still dedicated to protecting the state’s future and that we must continue to urge the other members of Congress to heed the words of Senators Bennet and Hickenlooper, to recognize the local leaders who have a stake in these protections, and to support this bill.”

“This is a major step forward for the CORE Act,” said Will Roush, Executive Director for the Wilderness Workshop. So many Coloradans from an amazingly varied set of backgrounds and walks of life have shaped and supported the protections for public lands contained in the CORE Act, and from our work, in our community, I know how important it is to locals with direct ties to the land to see this bill signed into law. Ranchers, small business owners, hunters, veterans, and recreationalist have called on Congress to act for more than a decade. We’re so grateful to Senators Bennet and Hickenlooper and Representative Neguse for their leadership and call on Congress to do their job, listen to the people and pass the CORE Act!”

Background on the Colorado Outdoor Recreation & Economy (CORE) Act

The CORE Act has previously passed the House this Congress, meaning that Senate passage is the next critical step for the bill to become law. The CORE Act would protect treasured landscapes from across the state, including the Thompson Divide, the San Juan Mountains, and the Continental Divide, with various locally crafted and supported protections. The bill would also establish our Nation’s first National Historic Landscape at Camp Hale to honor the legacy of the 10th Mt. Division and lands where they trained. An amazingly broad and varied coalition of citizens, local elected officials, ranchers, veterans, outfitters, hunters, recreationalists, conservation organizations, and business owners have been working to secure protections for the lands included in the CORE Act for over a decade.