Public lands bills back to the House
Legislative package sponsored by Diana DeGette
By Sophie Stuber, Telluride Daily Planet
A package of public lands bills that includes the CORE Act and the Colorado Wilderness Act could be voted on in the House of Representatives as early as today, (Friday). The legislation includes eight different public lands bills that have all been previously approved by the House but did not make it through the Senate.
Together, the eight public lands bills would be passed as one legislative package, called Protecting America’s Wilderness and Public Lands Act (PAW). US Representative Diana DeGette sponsored PAW.
This group of public lands bills would offer protections for more than 1 million acres of land in Colorado, as well as 821,000 acres in California, 132,000 in Washington, and more than one million acres in Arizona, near the Grand Canyon.
On Tuesday, Feb. 23, the Biden administration released a statement in support of the passage of PAW (H.R. 803).
“The Administration calls for restoring balance to the management of our public lands and waters, creating jobs, confronting the ongoing decline of nature, and aligning the management of America’s public lands and waters with our nation’s climate, conservation, and clean energy goals. Because this legislation furthers those goals, the Administration strongly supports House passage of H.R. 803.”
During her confirmation hearing on Wednesday, President Biden’s nominee for Secretary of the Interior, Deb Haaland, also indicated her support of these public lands bills.
The Colorado Wilderness Act, reintroduced by Representative Diana DeGette, would protect 660,000 acres of land in 36 parts of Colorado. Representatives Joe Neguse, Jason Crow and Ed Perlmutter co-sponsored the legislation.
This bill focuses on mid and low-level regions, many of which are important wildlife habitats. Over two-third of the areas are already managed as wilderness, including the local Handies Peak, but DeGette’s bill would enshrine these public lands in permanent protection.
The CORE Act — sponsored by senators John Hickenlooper and Michael Bennet and representative Joe Neguse — would protect 400,000 acres of public lands in Colorado, including 61,000 acres in the local San Juan Mountains. The bill would also ban any future oil and gas leasing on the Thompson Divide.
Limiting future drilling and leasing would align with current public opinion in Colorado. According to a recent survey by Colorado College, 78 percent of polled Coloradans think that “oil and gas operations on federal public lands should be curtailed or stopped.”
After years of mobilization to protect more of Colorado’s wild lands, the Biden administration’s support for public lands is a landmark development for wilderness advocates.
“The fact that Haaland has been willing to say that the administration will support public lands bills of this nature is exciting,” Lexi Tuddenham, executive director of Sheep Mountain Alliance, told the Daily Planet.
Robyn Cascade, leader of the local chapter of Great Old Broads for Wilderness, a national nonprofit dedicated to wilderness protection and preservation, agreed.
“Rep. Deb Haaland's endorsement and that of the Biden administration clearly indicates their understanding of the importance of public lands protection to Coloradans and to our outdoor economies,” she told the Planet.
Two iterations of the CORE Act have previously passed the House, but were not taken up in the Senate. However, the 117th Congress now has a Democratic Senate — with Vice President Kamala Harris able to cast a tie-breaking vote — and the Biden administration’s backing could finally push the legislation through Congress and onto the president’s desk.
“With the support of this administration and a House vote on the CORE Act on the horizon, we’re a step closer to recognizing the years of work that went into this bill and protecting our public lands for future generations,” Bennet said in a statement.
The early introduction of such a large collection of public lands bills indicates that the Biden administration is committed to protect the country’s lands, Cascade noted.
“We are also delighted to see the House take up the vote on PAW so early in the 117th Congress,” she said.
On January 27, President Biden signed an executive order to develop a comprehensive plan to conserve at least 30 percent of land in the United States by 2030. This move is intended to help fight the ongoing climate crisis.
Representative DeGette also expressed support for the Biden administration’s conservation goals. DeGette’s bill would help move the nation towards this conservation goal, she noted.
“If we’re going to be serious about combating the climate crisis, we absolutely must start by preserving more of our public lands,” DeGette said in a statement.
Protecting these lands is also a crucial economic step, Tuddenham noted.
“These public lands bills are going to be a key part of our economic recovery coming out of this pandemic.”