Thank you for publishing the story about efforts by political entities-posed-as-apolitical entities to seize and sell our national public lands (“Public Lands,” Opinion, Herald, May 31.) Articles like these expose the true interests of groups like the American Lands Council and provide citizens with the accurate information needed to ensure that we will not fall victim to the greenwashing of these campaigns, but rather see them for what they are – an attempt to collapse our public-lands system.
The American Lands Council is unethically using taxpayer dollars to push for “local control” of our land, when their real intent is to get it into state hands where they know we can’t afford to manage it, thus opening the door to mass sell-offs and private development.
Thankfully, our local and national elected officials have taken action to fight back against these efforts. Here’s a special thanks to La Plata County Commissioner Brad Blake and U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner for standing up to their party and taking action to protect our public-lands access in recent weeks.
However, I would like to encourage state Sen. Ellen Roberts to take note of this issue and the wishes of her constituency. Twice this legislative session, she voted for bills sponsored by the American Lands Council. At a recent meeting with the Herald’s editorial board (at which I was in attendance), Roberts said she was entertaining these bills because, yes, sometimes the federal government – like all management agencies, at every level – has its shortcomings.
But Roberts shouldn’t fall for the tricks of out-of-state robber barons. State control over the management of our federal lands is a financially unviable option that could ultimately force us to capitulate our lands to development. This would not benefit the economy, local or otherwise. Colorado loves our public land, and so do the thousands of other Americans who flock to our state (bringing their wallets with them) every year to enjoy them.
Roberts should please join in opposing any future efforts to seize our public lands – they are too precious to lose.
Rachel Landis
Durango
