Browns Canyon National Monument is less than three hours from Denver, but it feels like another world. With rugged cliffs rising above the Arkansas River, the canyon is a picturesque place for rafting, fishing, and hiking. At a time when our politics feel poisonous, public lands are an antidote.
The canyon is an iconic example of the public lands that make up the fabric of our country, particularly in the West. But increasingly, our public lands are being pulled into partisan debates that treat them as commodities to be sold. Even as support for public lands grows louder, the Trump administration seems determined to hand more of them over to private interests and the highest bidder.
It started with the Trump administration firing thousands of federal employees who manage our national parks and prevent wildfires – just as we stared down a year of extreme wildfire risk.
Then last summer, some Congressional Republicans tried to sneak through a provision to sell off more than three million acres of public lands – all to help fund $4 trillion in tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans and largest corporations.
The American public was rightfully furious. Our office heard from tens of thousands of Coloradans who deeply opposed the idea. Together with hundreds of organizations, local governments, and conservation advocates like The Wilderness Society, Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, and the Conservation Colorado, we built a campaign to show Americans what was at stake. We worked with my Senate colleagues from the West, who were also clear-eyed regarding the perils for their states.
Proponents of the sell-off argued that protecting public lands is at odds with economic prosperity. But Colorado has shown thatap a false choice.
As governor, we united communities, conservationists, and the private sector to protect public lands and strengthen our economy. Short-sighted selloffs mandated by Washington for short-term windfalls undermine those efforts.
In the end, we got Republicans to ditch their effort and keep our lands off the auction block. But their siege wasn’t over.
Last week, the Trump administration rescinded BLM’s new Public Lands Rule – an effort to promote conservation and equal the playing field with uses like mining and grazing – in a blatant attack against the long-term health of our preserved spaces.
Every American should care who leads BLM and oversees 245 million acres of our public lands. We can’t have someone who wants to sell them running the agency. Yet thatap exactly who President Trump has nominated.
In his time in Congress, former Rep. Steve Pearce backed proposals to open the door to large-scale disposal of federal lands and urged congressional leadership to sell public lands to pay down the national debt, arguing that “most of it we do not even need.”
This December, I came out as the first Senator to publicly oppose Pearce’s nomination. During his confirmation hearing in March, I asked Pearce whether his opposition to public lands has changed and why the Trump administration would consider rolling back methane regulations that reduce pollution, despite broad support. He did not demonstrate that he’d be an independent steward who we need to stand up to the presidentap assault against America’s treasured landscapes.
Senate Republicans are expected to confirm Pearce. I will vote no, but that isn’t the end of our fight.
Last summer’s outcry showed that millions of Americans care about protecting our public lands. We need to come together once again. We’re pushing for several major bills in the Senate, including the GORP Act and the CORE Act, that’d conserve more than a million acres of land. We need to pass them and stop the attacks on our existing protections.
Public lands are part of our shared Colorado heritage. If we fail to protect them now, future generations will lose something money can’t buy.
John Hickenlooper is a U.S. Senator representing Colorado.
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