Colorado’s iconic landscapes are a part of who we are as a state. They are essential for our economy and our lifestyles, for clean water and for wildlife, and so much more.  For decades, Colorado’s elected leaders have worked together on a bipartisan basis to protect our public lands so that future generations can continue to recreate and live off the land. 

That work continues today: Colorado’s U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet and U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse have introduced the Colorado Outdoor Recreation & Economy (CORE) Act, which passed the U.S. House on Oct. 31, and Colorado U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton has circulated and held listening sessions on a draft bill, the Colorado Recreation Enhancement and Conservation (REC) Act, that would protect many of the same areas in the CORE Act that are located in his district.

Both efforts reflect the respect and love that Coloradans feel for our public lands and the hard work of local community leaders of all political persuasions. Unfortunately, the partisan politics that is infecting Washington is getting in the way of actually protecting treasured places such as the San Juan Mountains, Thompson Divide, Continental Divide and Camp Hale, and Curecanti National Recreation Area. If our elected officials aren’t careful, the opportunity to deliver a huge win for Colorado’s public lands may slip away. 

Colorado U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner has been a passionate defender of public lands during his time in the Senate and has delivered many important wins on this critical issue, such as securing permanent reauthorization of the Land Water Conservation Fund. Now that the CORE Act has passed the House, it’s up to the Senate, and specifically Gardner and Bennet, to work together as Coloradans to advance this important public policy. As co-chair of the Roosevelt Conservation Caucus, which works to promote environmental and conservation legislation and champion the environmental legacy of conservatives of the past, Sen. Gardner is well positioned to protect Colorado’s outdoor, hunting and fishing, ranching, and military heritage. 

This is a great opportunity for Gardner to use his influence and secure a hearing on the CORE Act so that we can cut through the partisan differences and propose some common-sense solutions for resolving them; and also for Bennet to work across the aisle and act on that bipartisanship he so often speaks about and help Gardner get this done and make the legislation amenable enough to pass through the Senate.

Enacting a Colorado public lands bill is going to require both of our state’s U.S. senators, along with Reps. Neguse and Tipton, to work together and compromise. Everyone is going to have to give a little, and no one is going to get everything they want. The 2020 election may make this more difficult, with political rivals wanting to deny the other side a win. But when either side, Democrat or Republican, takes that approach, the real losers are the people of Colorado.

Earlier this year, President Trump signed a landmark public lands bill with overwhelming bipartisan support. It wasn’t easy, but this bill, the result of painstaking, across-the-aisle compromise, protected nearly 2.5 million acres of public land across the west while also allowing responsible development that would benefit local communities. Gardner and Bennet as well as Tipton and Neguse all voted for it.

Colorado’s congressional delegation must work together to protect our public lands, before it’s too late.

Jeff Wasden is president of the Colorado Business Roundtable.