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Public lands

Bill recognizing shared resource reminds Colorado of values

Aside from the state’s renowned 300 days of sun each year, Colorado’s iconic landscapes, and all that they offer in terms of beauty, recreation, natural resources, clean water sources and wildlife habitat, are perhaps our single most defining characteristic – as well a significant economic driver and contributor to quality of life here. That stands to reason given that national public lands comprise roughly one-third of Colorado’s total land mass. The prevalence and diversity of this shared and critical resource has become somewhat of a political minefield in recent years, but a measure proposing an annual day to honor Colorado’s national public lands would give the state pause to remember their value.

Senate Bill 21 is about as innocuous a proposal as can be imagined with respect to recognizing public lands in our state. The measure would designate the fourth Monday in March each year as Public Lands Day, setting it aside to “recognize the significant contributions that national public lands within Colorado make to wildlife, recreation, the economy, and to Coloradans’ quality of life.” Whatever one’s political alignment, this notion should not offend. It has no fiscal note, and requires very little of Coloradans. Rather, it provides us an opportunity to take a look around – and perhaps even get outside and enjoy the abundance of public lands that surround us.

In La Plata County, where 38 percent of the land is managed by the U.S. Forest Service or Bureau of Land Management, public land shapes life in many ways. The mountains, high desert mesas and forests that surround us are home to critical wildlife habitat, wilderness areas, pristine watersheds, and gas, oil and other natural resources that contribute to our local and national economies. Taking one day a year to notice and acknowledge this land is the least we can do.

It is also a pushback against the alarming trend calling for public lands to be surrendered to local control emerging in pockets around the West. This uprising is predicated on the notion that federal lands were at some point “stolen” from states or private landowners and must now be turned back to their rightful owners. Setting aside the blatant illegality of the premise, the idea of burdening states or local entities with managing federal lands – a costly endeavor requiring resources beyond dollars – is neither practical nor palatable. A friendly reminder, via Colorado Public Lands Day, that our public lands are, in fact, a great resource to the state of Colorado – and all who live or visit here – is a welcome counterweight to the divisive efforts to undermine national public lands’ value through such takeover attempts as that in Oregon last month, or in Nevada last year.

The Colorado Legislature should make its mark in attempting to defuse this division by passing SB 21. The Senate State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee held the bill over in January for discussion at a later date. It should revive the conversation quickly and make a positive, non-controversial statement about the important and abundant public lands that fall within Colorado’s borders. The state would not be the same without them.



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