Interior Secretary nominee invited to tour Thompson Divide

Sen. John Hickenlooper is inviting the newest Secretary of the Interior nominee to tour Thompson Divide — a 224,713-acre swath of mostly public land between Pitkin, Garfield, and Gunnison counties that for years has been a focal point for prospective gas drilling.

Doug Burgum, serving as North Dakota governor from 2016-2024, is incoming President Donald Trump’s pick for Interior Secretary. He was questioned on Thursday morning by the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources about his priorities.

During the meeting, Sen. Hickenlooper made a point of telling Burgum about the Thompson Divide, saying that in Colorado “we have some places where local governments, the local community, the ranchers … joined arms side by side to protect lands.”

In April 2024, the Biden-Harris administration finalized a public land order that withdrew about 221,898 acres of Thompson Divide from any future mineral development over a 20-year period.

Hickenlooper then extended an invite to Burgum to “come walk that landscape with some of the local ranchers and farmers there, so you can get a sense that this isn’t a partisan issue. This is a piece of land that pretty much everyone in the community has decided needs to be protected.”

Burgum said he “would look forward to it.”

Local ranchers and community members, like Carbondale rancher Bill Fales, were quick to voice support for Hickenlooper and Thompson Divide protections.

“We’d relish the opportunity to get out onto Thompson Divide with Sen. Hickenlooper and Doug Burgum,” Fales said. “Local communities, including people from all walks of life and all political parties, have worked together to secure protection for this area for more than two decades. Unified for Thompson Divide is our rallying cry, and we’d love the opportunity to show him why that is.”