Public land hunters and anglers know from experience that the best hunting and fishing goes hand-in-hand with healthy fish and game habitat.
The Colorado Outdoor Recreation and Economy (CORE) Act would help ensure the future of our hunting and fishing heritage and the prosperity of our outdoor recreation economy by protecting vital landscapes from the San Juan Mountains to the Holy Cross Wilderness. The CORE Act protects important wildlife habitat, including headwaters and migration corridors critical to the health of Colorado River cutthroat trout, elk, mule deer, Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep, desert bighorn sheep and many other species.
This bill has been years in the making through local stakeholder collaboration.
Colorado Backcountry Hunters & Anglers is committed to helping pass the CORE Act and securing needed protections for wildlife and habitat. Through the designation of some 73,000 acres of wilderness, nearly 80,000 acres of new recreation and conservation management areas, and a 200,000-acre mineral withdrawal in the water-and wildlife-rich Thompson Divide area southwest of Glenwood Springs, the CORE Act safeguards backcountry fishing and hunting opportunities and preserves healthy fish and wildlife habitat by protecting key areas from activities that could otherwise degrade fish and wildlife values for native trout, elk, mule deer, bighorn sheep, moose, black bears and other game species.
In addition, the CORE Act protects the land surrounding Camp Hale – home to the World War II 10th Mountain Division – as the first ever National Historic Landscape.
We encourage everyone to support this long overdue legislation.
David Lien and Donald S. Holmstrom, Co-chairs, Colorado Backcountry Hunters & AnglersColorado Springs
