DENVER – Hunters and anglers finally hit their target Monday as a Colorado bill that would have clarified state jurisdiction over federal lands was shot down.
Senate Bill 39 – with Republican sponsorship – would have allowed Colorado to exercise authority along with the federal government over federal public lands.
Sportsmen and conservationists began their opposition to the bill in February with a rally at the Capitol. Since then, the bill has slowly moved through the process, with support from Republicans, only meeting its match with three days left in the session.
The bill died in the House Agriculture, Livestock and Natural Resources Committee on a party-line vote of 7-6.
“It is part of a larger agenda to assert increased state control over our public lands,” said Scott Braden, representing Conservation Colorado. “We think this represents an assault on our national parks, on our national monuments, wilderness areas, forests and existing multi-use lands, which are critically important to our state’s economy and our high quality of life in Colorado.”
The debate revolved around whether SB 39 was an initial step toward the state taking control of federal lands, which opponents worried would lead to shutting down precious recreational areas because of costs associated with management.
Critics pointed out that the language of the measure was similar to a proposal pushed by the conservative American Legislative Exchange Council. Similarly, they opposed a separate bill this year that would have studied transferring federal lands over to the state’s authority, which died last month. Supporters and opponents of those efforts often found themselves trading jabs on social media over the proposals.
Supporters of the jurisdiction effort downplayed management concerns, suggesting that the federal government would still have handled emergencies.
“The federal government takes care of disasters no matter where they are,” said Rep. Don Coram, R-Montrose, who supported the bill. “The government is there to help us, and the fact that it’s private or nonprivate is not an issue here. ... I don’t see anything in this bill that’s taking the ownership, it’s simply saying that we want to be at the table in managing some of the things that are going on.”
Rep. J. Paul Brown, R-Ignacio, added, “This isn’t a dangerous bill that all of a sudden the state is going to take over federal lands because of this bill. That’s just not the case.”
pmarcus@durangoherald.com