Noticias

TELLURIDE — The numbers don’t lie when it comes to the value of public lands on the Western Slope, according to San Miguel County leaders who formally voiced their support in a new resolution this week.

On Wednesday, April 30, the San Miguel County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved a resolution backing federal public lands, which make up 60 percent of the county’s landscape. Here’s Commissioner Galena Gleason,

“Whereas the Tres Rios and Uncompahgre BLM offices combined [are] generating $209.3 million dollars in recreation-related economic output, supporting 1,649 jobs and $6.9 million in grazing-related economic output, which supported 77 additional jobs,” said Commissioner Galena Gleason during the meeting. “The GMUG National Forests generated $392 million dollars in annual visitor spending [through] human-powered outdoor recreation and received 2.6 million visits a year, creating 4,148 full-time jobs and $112.2 million dollars in wages.”

The resolution highlighted the importance of public lands not only to the local economy, but to environmental quality and overall way of life in the region.

“Public lands are integral to the county’s economy, environment, and quality of life,” Gleason said. “These public lands provide essential resources to our residents, workers, and visitors including clean air, grazing lands for agricultural operations, habitats for wildlife, rivers, lakes and watersheds which provide for our drinking water and healthy fish populations, wildfire suppression and agricultural irrigation, cultural resources, scenic beauty, fossil fuels and minerals, timber, a ski area, and opportunities for other outdoor recreation.”

Local resident Sarah Lavender Smith, who advocates on behalf of the Conservation Lands Foundation based in Durango, supported the commissioners’ move.

“One of the reasons their action is important is because it shifts the spotlight to the vast amount of public land managed by the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service,” Lavender Smith said. “I think the public has caught wind of the major staffing reductions and other cutbacks to our national parks and are voicing opposition to that. But the public generally pays less attention to the vast majority of public lands outside the national parks, and yet the acreage managed by the BLM is essential for wildlife and biodiversity. Opening up more of these lands for drilling and mining will not only carve up and threaten the ecosystem but also likely will accelerate global warming by continuing our reliance on fossil fuels.”

Lavender Smith wrote to the commissioners after La Plata County passed a similar resolution weeks earlier. The actions come amid renewed efforts to open federal lands to mineral and fossil fuel development following former President Donald Trump’s executive order to “unleash American energy.”

Gleason responded directly to these pressures.

“The attempts to transfer, lease, or sell public lands without a public process are inconsistent with the values and interests of the residents of San Miguel County, the broader Colorado community, and the nation as a whole,” she said.

The resolution also included support for the proposed Dolores River National Conservation Area, a 68,000-acre designation with bipartisan support, including endorsements from U.S. Sens. John Hickenlooper and Michael Bennet.

Lavender Smith emphasized the importance of local governments speaking up, particularly in Colorado’s Third Congressional District.

“We need to make our voices heard,” she said. “You know, our elected members of Congress can easily ignore emails and phone calls from individuals like me. But it’s harder to ignore a county board of commissioners unanimously opposing the way the current administration is eviscerating environmental protections. So that’s why I’m grateful that our county commissioners took action on this — not only with their resolution of support, but also a letter to Congressman Jeff Hurd’s new legislation.”

In March, Rep. Jeff Hurd, R-Colo., introduced the Productive Public Lands Act, aimed at undoing multiple Biden-era land management policies. Alongside the resolution, the San Miguel County commissioners issued a formal letter opposing Hurd’s legislation and reaffirming their stance on protecting public lands.