Colorado lawmakers bring back CORE Act, which would add protections to 420,000 acres of public land 

Colorado lawmakers are once again bringing the Colorado Outdoor Recreation and Economy Act to the U.S. Congress. 

The CORE Act, as it is commonly known, would protect 420,000 acres of public land in Colorado, establish 71,000 acres of new wilderness areas and designate nearly 80,000 acres as new recreation and conservation management areas to safeguard existing outdoor recreation activities.

On Thursday, Feb. 27, Colorado Democrats Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper, and Rep. Joe Neguse reintroduced the bill — which has failed to achieve full congressional approval on multiple occasions. 

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Certain components of the public lands bill have found success, however. Both the 2022 designation of Camp Hale as a National Monument and the 2024 20-year mineral withdrawal in the Thompson Divide were provisions of the original CORE Act. 

The latest iteration furthers these protections, proposing the designation of the Sandy Treat Overlook and Tenmile Wilderness in the Camp Hale-Continental Divide National Monument and a permanent mineral withdrawal in the Thompson Divide.

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Despite these successes, Bennet said in a statement that the work is not yet done.

“It’s time to pass the CORE Act into law,” he said. 

The CORE Act — which combined four previous public land bills — would also protect the following: 

• 53,000 acres in the White River National Forest, including new wilderness areas in ​​Tenmile, Hoosier Ridge and Williams Fork Mountains; the expansion of Eagles Nest, Ptarmigan Peak, and Holy Cross wilderness areas; and new wildlife conservation areas
• 61,000 acres in the San Juan Mountains including ​​new wilderness areas near Telluride, Norwood, Ouray and Ridgway; expansion of the Lizard Head and Mount Sneffels wilderness areas; a mineral withdrawal outside of Norwood at Naturita Canyon and more
• An area near in Gunnison through the establishment of the Curecanti National Recreation Area 

The fate of public lands — including national monuments like Camp Hale — remains uncertain under the new Trump administration. Since President Donald Trump took office in January, a slew of orders handed down have sought to peel back safeguards on public lands to open up land for development and extraction. 

In February, the new Interior Secretary mandated a review of all public lands that have been withdrawn from drilling and mining development, including lands under national monument designations, critical habitat designations for endangered species and more. 

While the deadline for this review has come and gone, there has been little word on what these will lead to as advocates continue to press for the protections to stay in place.

Through Monuments For All, over 50,000 people have sent letters to U.S. lawmakers advocating for these protections to stay in place. Over 245 organizations signed on to a letter urging Congress to defend the Antiquities Act, which grants the presidential power to create monuments. It is a power some Republicans have claimed has been abused.