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Kerry Donovan cheers establishment of Public Lands Day as permanent state holiday

By Ernest Luning 05/04/2017 | updated 8 years ago

Gov. John Hickenlooper on Wednesday signed a proclamation recognizing Public Lands Day and establishing a permanent state holiday every third Saturday in May. State Sen. Kerry Donovan, a Vail Democrat, sponsored the legislation last year to create the holiday and was on hand for the governor’s official action.

“To celebrate our public lands is to celebrate Colorado and our way of life,” Donovan said in a statement. “Having an annual day to celebrate the importance of our shared public lands is not only appropriate but imperative. As Colorado moves into the future, this day reminds us of our greatness — everything we were, are, and can be.”

House sponsors of the bill to create the holiday were House Majority Leader K.C. Becker, D-Boulder, and state Rep. Diane Mitsch Bush, D-Steamboat Springs.

More than 100 activities are already planned across the state for this year’s Public Lands Day, which falls on May 20. They include everything from guided hikes and trail projects to concerts and local festivals.

U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter will be sponsoring a symposium about the future of public lands in Colorado that evening in Golden in conjunction with Conservation Colorado. Billed as the holiday’s marquee event on the Front Range, the event is scheduled to include speakers, presentations and films about looming threats to public lands and information about how state residents can get involved to protect them, organizers say. The event will be from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the American Mountaineering Center in Golden.

— ernest@coloradostatesman.com

Ernest Luning

Reporter

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