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Roberts voted badly on land-grab study

I am sincerely disappointed in Sen. Ellen Roberts for her recent vote on Senate Bill 232.

This bill would divert thousands of taxpayer dollars to study the feasibility of seizing our national public lands and putting them under state control, which could lead to widespread access closures in places, like the San Juan Mountains.

This land-grab movement is being pushed by the American Lands Council, a group based in Utah and funded by major extractive industries based in Washington, D.C. Why is Sen. Roberts taking cues from out-of-state ideologues, rather than from more than 50 businesses in her district here in the Southwest – including mine, Pine Needle Mountaineering – that called on her to oppose these bills and protect our public access? Our public lands are crucial to our outdoor recreation and tourism economy here and across the state. Plus, more than 80 percent of sportsmen rely on public lands, as do all of us for the hiking, mountain biking and camping that defines our way of life here in Colorado.

Sen. Roberts should have stood with the majority of Coloradans who want to keep our public lands open to all Americans. I urge her to right her bad vote and to stand up for the public lands – they’re an irreplaceable resource, and once they’re sold off to private corporations, we’ll never get them back.

Miles Venzara

Durango



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