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. Introduced 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.

Western Colorado Alliance supports the CORE Act as a critical and broadly supported bill to protect and preserve rural Colorado’s public land legacy and way of life for future generations to enjoy.

The strong support for the CORE Act was clearly shown at first hearing on the bill in the House Natural Resource Committee in early April. Western Coloradans showed up in force to support the bill. Ridgway Mayor and Alliance leader John Clark traveled to Washington, D.C. to meet with Representative Scott Tipton and Senator Cory Gardner, calling on them to support the bill. While he was there, he delivered 800 signed postcards in support of protecting the San Juan Mountains. (Postcards that you signed!)
There is still much work to be done to make the conservation vision of the CORE Act a reality, but the energy is high and the momentum is strong. Our Alliance is committed to seeing this effort through and will continue to work to make this decade-long effort a success. Thank you to all of you who have gotten us to this point!

“The town of Ridgway has been strongly supporting aspects of this bill for a decade and we are thrilled to see the proposed protection of critical wildlife habitat and managed recreation areas across the state.”

John Clark

Now is the time for all of Colorado’s elected officials to join veterans, sportsmen, community leaders, conservationists, business owners, county officials, and voters from the Front Range to the Western Slope to the San Juans, in protecting public lands for the future. Our economy, our quality of life, and our health are dependent on it.