Halloween Vote in the House on Important Public Land and Rivers Protecting Bills
This coming Thursday, October 31st, there will be a vote in the US House of Representatives on the Colorado Outdoor Recreation & Economy (CORE) Act (H.R. 823). By permanently protecting over 400,000 acres of public lands in Colorado, the CORE Act unites four iconic Colorado landscapes into a single bill, providing additional benefits by protecting watersheds across the state. Protection for each landscape hosts a wide diversity of constituency support that includes local counties and municipalities, businesses, recreation and sportsmen groups, and conservationists. This collaborative process has taken into account all user groups from Outdoor Alliance's member organizations and will impact many American Whitewater members across the state.
Interested to see what landscapes will benefit from the CORE Act? Check out the Outdoor Alliance's map and be sure to check out all the features and activities that will be protected by passing the CORE Act!
American Whitewater wholeheartedly supports the CORE Act, because it protects so many of the public lands that we care about in Colorado. For example, the Thompson Divide outside of Carbondale, CO - for which more than 200,000 acres of public land would be permanently withdrawn from future oil and gas leasing. This would protect water quality in the Crystal River and Roaring Fork river watersheds. Rivers within the landscapes of the Continental Divide include the Eagle and Homestake creeks which are popular among our members. The Curecanti National Recreation Area would protect the landscapes near river recreational treasures like Cebolla Creek and the Gunnison River.
Along with the CORE Act, the House of Representatives will take up two other bills focused around removing mineral leasing from historic and treasured landscapes. The Grand Canyon Centennial Protection Act (H.R. 1373) which seeks to permanently remove 1,000,000+ acres of federal land surrounding the Grand Canyon from mineral leasing, and the Chaco Cultural Heritage Area Protection Act (H.R. 2181), which seeks to protect 300,000+ acres of artifacts, ancient dwellings and sacred sites of the Chaco Ancestral Puebloans, their descendants, and other Four Corners area tribes, from future oil and gas development.
Collectively, these bills will build off of the momentum from the Dingell Act which was passed last year which protected landscapes in every state, as well as providing 620 miles of new Wild and Scenic Rivers.
Contact your representatives and let them know that you want the CORE Act passed!
Thank you!