Last year, state senator Ellen Roberts voted yes twice on bills that supported the idea of state takeovers of our national public lands. Now that she’s had a year to think about it, I hope she’s gotten the message that these oil-and-gas funded efforts are really about industry access, and strongly opposed by her constituents here in southwest Colorado. On March 31, she missed the chance to redeem last year’s stance with a vote on Senate Bill 160 — yet another attempt in the state legislature to seize control of our public lands.
This bill, which passed the Senate Thursday with help from Roberts’ yes vote, and others like it across the West are being shopped around to state legislators by people manipulating rural frustrations in order to serve their own private business interests. These are bad bills and bad ideas that pose a real danger to southwest Colorado.
As a farmer in Archuleta County, I know first-hand that our national public lands — like the Weminuche Wilderness, Chimney Rock National Monument, and Mesa Verde National Park — provide many benefits to our local farming community and rural economy. These lands protect our headwaters and make sure our irrigation water is clean and plentiful. They attract tourists from around the country who shop at local businesses and eat at local restaurants.
My neighbors and I wake up every morning to the sight of our livestock grazing in the shadow of Chimney Rock National Monument, a view that feeds my spirit, both in its beauty and its cultural significance to our tri-ethnic community.
If the Colorado Legislature genuinely wants to cultivate community control of public land, this bill isn’t the way to do it. Senator Roberts should not have followed the lead of an industry with profit as its goal, not the quality of our air, water, and access to local food.
Anderson Podschun
Pagosa Springs
