The same day that President Biden announced the Camp Hale – Continental Divide National Monument, he also announced the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and US Forest Service would be moving forward with protections for the Thompson Divide!
On October 17, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland officially proposed to administratively withdraw 225,000 acres of the Thompson Divide from future oil and gas leasing for a 20-year period. This began a 90-day public comment period, including a Wednesday, December 14, 2022, public meeting in Carbondale. You can watch a recording of the public meeting here; an advocacy action from the CORE Act coalition can be found here.
Read more about the Thompson Divide in these recent news articles:
- Aspen Times 12/13/22: Forest Service and BLM to introduce Thompson Divide Mineral Withdrawal to the public
- Aspen Times & Post Independent, 12/15/22: Public meeting illuminated length of withdrawal process for Thompson Divide
- Post Independent, 12/16/22: Tapping into Thompson — not worth it, says rancher who’s been part of preservation effort since the get-go
- Aspen Daily News, 12/16/22: Thompson Divide oil-and-gas fight has broad implications
- Aspen Daily News & Aspen Times, 12/16/22: Roush: Unified more than ever for Thompson Divide
- Post Independent Editorial, 12/19/22: https://www.postindependent.com/opinion/pi-editorial-thompson-divide-success-offers-insights-for-uinta-basin-rail-fight/
- Sopris Sun, 12/21/22: https://soprissun.com/re-united-for-thompson-divide/
