The responsible management of our PUBLIC LANDS protects our communities’ heritage, supports healthy wildlife and their habitat, sustains a strong and self-reliant economy, and preserves our quality of life for generations to come.
Colorado Outdoor Recreation & Economy (CORE) Act
After a decade of collaborative work with stakeholders across southwestern Colorado, the effort to protect and conserve the San Juan Mountains found new life with the introduction of the Colorado Outdoor Recreation & Economy (CORE) Act in early 2019 by Senator Michael Bennet and Representative Joe Neguse. The CORE Act will not only permanently protect 61,000 acres of public land in the San Juans, but also critical wildlife habitat, historic areas, waterways, and recreation areas across Colorado. The CORE Act is the result of decades of grassroots efforts from people across the state who have tirelessly worked to protect our most cherished lands, waters, and forests. Like the San Juan Mountains, each of the places named in the legislation has been part of collaborative efforts supported by numerous county commissions, municipalities, organizations, and businesses. When you look at these efforts as one, this may be the broadest support for legislation to protect Colorado’s public lands in a generation.
Of the land protected, about 73,000 acres are new wilderness areas, and nearly 80,000 acres are new recreation and conservation management areas that preserve existing outdoor uses, such as hiking and mountain biking. The bill also includes a first-of-its-kind National Historic Landscape to honor Colorado’s military legacy and prohibits new oil and gas development in areas important to ranchers and sportsmen.
The CORE Act unites and improves four previously introduced bills:
1. Continental Divide Recreation, Wilderness, and Camp Hale Legacy Act.
2. San Juan Mountains Wilderness Act.
3. Thompson Divide Withdrawal and Protection Act.
4. Curecanti National Recreation Area Boundary Establishment Act.
Learn more at the Wilderness Society's Story Map for the CORE Act!
