Biden asked to protect high mountain meadows and forests

The Thompson Divide, a large area spanning the White River and Gunnison National Forests, could gain protections from mining and drilling for oil and gas if Pres. Biden grants a recent request from Colorado state and federal leaders. The letter also asks Pres. Biden to designate Colorado’s Camp Hale and the Tenmile Range, former World War II training grounds of the 10th Mountain Division, as the Camp Hale – Continental Divide National Monument, and to protect areas proposed as wilderness in the Colorado Outdoor Recreation and Economy (CORE) Act.

Coloradans have for more than a decade sought protections for iconic and spectacular landscapes in the San Juan Mountains, including some of the state’s most recognizable mountain scenes and two fourteeners: Mount Sneffels and Wilson Peak. The CORE Act, which is cosponsored by Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper in the U.S. Senate and Reps. Joe Neguse, Jason Crow, Diana DeGette and Ed Perlmutter in the U.S. House, has broad support from Colorado farmers, ranchers, local officials across the political spectrum and many who love the great outdoors, but it is stuck in the Senate. 

In addition to protecting the Thompson Divide, San Juan Mountains and Camp Hale, the CORE Act would safeguard beloved high country destinations, like Ice Lake Basin, from future mining in the more than 21,000-acre Sheep Mountain Special Management Area, and protect more than 6,500 acres of community watersheds from energy development.