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This week, the House is scheduled to vote on a trio of Western public land bills. Congress has been successful with public lands bills this year, with February's sweeping public lands package demonstrating a significant bipartisan point of agreement. In the West, protecting public land is a bipartisan priority, with a majority of Western voters believing that the U.S. should protect more deserving land.
The CORE Act would protect 400,000 acres of Colorado, including expanding wilderness areas and establishing the first National Historic Landscape. The two other bills would protect the Grand Canyon and Chaco Canyon from mining and drilling that would detrimentally affect the natural and cultural resources in the areas. However, amendments that diminish the extent of protection and the threat of a veto are still challenges as the bills move through the process.
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This year is the 100th anniversary of the establishment of Grand Canyon National Park. Even with former fossil fuel lobbyists in charge of Trump administration environmental policy, this should be a time to celebrate. Instead, the administration is considering whether to open this internationally iconic landmark to new uranium mining claims.”
