Author: Tom Ramstack for Colorado Politics

WASHINGTON – Colorado U.S. Rep. Ken Buck, a Republican, condemned conditions at detention centers used to hold illegal immigrants along the U.S. southern border during a congressional hearing Monday. “As a person, it pains me to see individuals in this kind of crowded condition,” Buck, a Windsor Republican, said. A House Judiciary subcommittee held the hearing…

WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette advocated for huge swaths of Colorado’s rural areas to be added to the state’s protected wilderness during a congressional hearing Wednesday. DeGette reintroduced a bill this year that would set aside 744,000 acres of federal land as wilderness for recreation and conservation in central and western Colorado. “The Colorado Wilderness…

Environmental groups sued the U.S. Department of the Interior this week to prevent Arch Coal from expanding its mine in western Colorado, saying the government failed to consider added methane emissions and climate change consequences. The planned expansion would allow nearly 18 million more tons of coal to be removed from the mine. The lawsuit,…

WASHINGTON – Some U.S. Senate Republicans — including Colorado’s Cory Gardner — joined Democrats on Tuesday in criticizing the Trump administration for plans to cut back on funding for public lands in Colorado and nationwide. The senators described the fund that pays for maintenance, projects, and acquisition of new land for national parks, forests, and other…

WASHINGTON – Colorado’s members of a U.S. House Natural Resources subcommittee split along party lines Tuesday during a hearing on a bill that would severely restrict uranium mining. The bill, called the Uranium Classification Act, seeks to protect public and tribal lands in western states from uranium mining. Democrats proposed it in response to the Trump…

WASHINGTON – Inadequate funding for public lands is hurting the slice of the economy that depends on them, as well as visitors who are confronted by crumbling facilities, a representative of the outdoor recreation industry told the U.S. Senate on Tuesday. “Federally managed lands and waters host more than one billion visits annually and are essential to outdoor…

WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette of Colorado joined former Environmental Protection Agency heads from Republican and Democratic administrations Tuesday in criticizing Trump administration cutbacks in environmental protections. “Communities across the country are facing grave environmental threats,” DeGette, a Denver Democrat, said during a congressional hearing. They include rising coastal waters from global warming, declining biodiversity…

WASHINGTON – A U.S. Senate hearing Tuesday gave a glimpse of the kind of activity planned for a new Space Command, for which Colorado is a lead contender. Although the Trump administration’s proposed Space Force is planned as a military venture, it will play a pivotal role in commercial development of space for the U.S. economy,…

WASHINGTON – Two of Colorado’s Democratic members of Congress sought answers Thursday on how to make their state more resilient to wildfires. At a Thursday hearing of the House Natural Resources’ subcommittee on national parks, forests and public lands, member U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Denver, expressed concern that wildfires will continue to damage forests in mountain areas…

WASHINGTON ? A congressional panel on Tuesday considered a proposal to move the headquarters of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and other functions of the U.S. Department of the Interior to the West as part of a reorganization. However, the Interior Department’s proposal met with skepticism from members of Congress who said it lacked…