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As the Herald recently reported (“Federal lands bill moves forward,” March 25), the Colorado Legislature is now considering three versions of the land grab bills that are sweeping the West.
These bills span the gamut of the good, the bad and the ugly.
House Bill 1225 is a good, homegrown bill that gives our local governments more opportunity to collaborate with federal land managers on public lands issues, and Sen. Ellen Roberts is right to back it.
Senate Bill 39 and Senate Bill 232, though, are being pushed by out-of-state special interest groups seeking to make a profit off our land.
These bills will inflame our relationships with federal land managers, waste taxpayer money and potentially lead to sell-offs and closures of our national public lands, which would be a big hit to our way of life and economy here in the Southwest. Sen. Roberts should oppose both SB 39 and SB 232. The latter, which is also backed by Rep. Don Coram, R-Montrose, is an especially annoying bill that would waste thousands of taxpayer dollars “studying” the impacts of seizing national public lands and placing them under state control.
But Colorado voters have already spoken: In a recent poll, more than 70 percent opposed transferring national public lands into state hands. Moreover, other Western states that have passed similar bills have already wasted more than $815,000 on these studies. Why would we want to burden our pocketbooks and county commissions with this kind of cost when we already know that Coloradans value our public lands and want them to stay open? Rather than waste our time and money on studies and asserting control over land that belongs to all Americans, Colorado’s representatives should continue our tradition of collaboration.
I urge Sen. Roberts to oppose SB 39 and SB 232, and you should, too.
Emily Hunt
Durango
