Washington, D.C. — Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet and Colorado U.S. Representative Brittany Pettersen led Colorado U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper and Colorado U.S. Representatives Diana DeGette, Joe Neguse, and Jason Crow in demanding that U.S. Department of Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Acting Director Bill Groffy reverse their harmful proposal to make it easier to sell off public lands and open them up to mining and drilling.
The lawmakers’ letter follows a proposal by the Trump Administration to rescind the BLM 2024 Conservation and Landscape Health Rule, commonly referred to as the “Public Lands Rule.” BLM manages 8.3 million acres of Colorado’s public lands, which contributed a total of $8.8 billion to the state’s economy in 2023 alone.
“The Public Lands Rule was developed to provide balance in how the BLM fulfills its multiple-use and sustained yield mission,” wrote Bennet, Pettersen, and the lawmakers. “It ensures that conservation, recreation, and local input are appropriately considered alongside grazing, energy development, and other uses. The rule updates BLM management for the 21st century and puts in place important safeguards to ensure that land health is accounted for in management decisions.”
In their letter, the lawmakers emphasized that Colorado’s public lands sustain the state’s economy, and rescinding the Public Lands Rule could jeopardize the livelihoods of ranchers, sportsmen, small business owners, and gateway communities that depend on healthy, accessible landscapes. The Public Lands Rule also equips BLM land managers to safeguard critical Western water resources from climate driven threats. Rescinding the rule would leave water resources vulnerable across Colorado and the Western United States.
“We urge the DOI to maintain the Public Lands Rule and continue to work with states, Tribes,
ranchers, water providers, conservation groups, and the outdoor recreation industry to steward
our shared resources. Colorado communities have long demonstrated the value of collaboration
in managing public lands, and we encourage the DOI to build on that progress,” concluded the lawmakers.
Bennet has long been a fierce champion for Colorado’s public lands. In November 2023, Bennet wrote to DOI and the BLM in support of the Public Lands Rule and urged the BLM to improve the rule to provide additional clarity and certainty to all public land users, including livestock grazers. In February of this year, Bennet, Hickenlooper, and Neguse reintroduced the CORE Act to protect approximately 420,000 acres of public land in Colorado, establish new wilderness areas, and safeguard existing outdoor recreation opportunities to boost the economy for future generations. In May, Bennet and Hickenlooper reintroduced the Gunnison Outdoor Resources Protection Act to permanently protect key portions of the Gunnison Basin and the surrounding regions. The same day, the senators reintroduced the Dolores River National Conservation Area and Special Management Area Act to protect over 68,000 acres of public lands in Southwestern Colorado.
The text of the letter is available HERE and below.
Dear Secretary Burgum and Acting Director Bill Groffy:
We write with significant concerns about the Department of Interior’s (DOI’s) proposal to rescind the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM’s) 2024 Conservation and Landscape Health Rule, commonly referred to as the “Public Lands Rule.” The BLM manages 8.3 million acres of public land in Colorado; this land forms the backbone of our state’s economy, water supplies, and way of life. Any change in how the DOI and BLM manage these lands directly affects communities across Colorado.
The Public Lands Rule was developed to provide balance in how the BLM fulfills its multiple-use and sustained yield mission. It ensures that conservation, recreation, and local input are appropriately considered alongside grazing, energy development, and other uses. The rule updates BLM management for the 21st century and puts in place important safeguards to ensure that land health is accounted for in management decisions. It also enhances Tribal engagement and creates opportunities for communities to shape the future of public lands they rely on.
In Colorado, public lands drive our economy and sustain our way of life. Ranchers, sportsmen, small business owners, and gateway communities depend on healthy, accessible landscapes. Rescinding the Public Lands Rule could jeopardize these livelihoods by increasing the likelihood of land degradation, reduced recreational access, and economic instability for rural communities.
The Public Lands Rule also creates tools that would allow for new partnerships between users and formal opportunities for restoration and mitigation leases. In Colorado, a wide variety of public land users have expressed support for these tools because they ensure that the associated ecological and financial benefits of restoration and mitigation stay in local communities, including through funding for ranchers to restore and steward rangelands.
Public lands also secure Colorado’s water future. Our national forests and BLM lands form the headwaters of more major rivers than in any other state and provide drinking water for millions of people and irrigation for farms across the West. The Public Lands Rule equips BLM land managers with tools to strengthen these watersheds against wildfire, drought, and other climate driven threats. Eliminating it would leave our water resources more vulnerable at a time when resiliency is urgently needed.
We urge the DOI to maintain the Public Lands Rule and continue to work with states, Tribes, ranchers, water providers, conservation groups, and the outdoor recreation industry to steward our shared resources. Colorado communities have long demonstrated the value of collaboration in managing public lands, and we encourage the DOI to build on that progress.
Sincerely,
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