My bill seeks to preserve family farms and the heritage of our rural communities by helping families avoid the pressure to sell, break up or develop their property when it's handed down from one generation to the next. This bipartisan bill would update a 1997 provision in the tax code, enabling families to exclude up to 50 percent of the value of their land, totaling up to $5 million in exclusions, from a taxable estate if they protect its natural and historic value with a permanent conservation easement. A conservation easement is a voluntary agreement that prevents future commercialization, while still permitting historic farming and ranching operations to continue in the family. The tax code currently allows landowners to exclude up to 40 percent, but caps the exclusion at $500,000. With today's increasing land prices and the encroachment of development, the American Family Farm and Ranchland Protection Act would raise the exemption and provide additional relief for families, while also encouraging more robust conservation efforts.

This bipartisan legislation is supported by a wide array of stakeholders, including the Land Trust Alliance, the Nature Conservancy, the American Farmland Trust, the U.S. Cattlemen's Association, and the Environmental Defense Fund.

I introduced legislation (S.3387) to authorize the release of water from Ruedi Reservoir, on the Fryingpan River near Aspen, for the purposes of recovering four endangered fish species in the Upper Colorado River Basin. The water releases authorized in my bill will keep approximately 1,800 water projects on the Colorado River, including the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project and Colorado-Big Thompson Project, in compliance with the Endangered Species Act. These releases represent the West Slope's contribution of water for endangered fish recovery, but the bill does not take effect until East Slope water users have committed their corresponding share. This bill has the consensus support of Colorado River water users on both sides of the Continental Divide.

Since I was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, and now as a U.S. Senator, I have fought to help Colorado mitigate the threats to public safety and infrastructure caused by the bark beetle epidemic. At my urging, in February 2010, the U.S. Forest Service announced that it would allocate $30 million to our state - out of a total $40 million - to address the urgent needs caused by the bark beetle and spruce beetle. These resources will be focused in the Medicine Bow & Routt, Arapaho & Roosevelt, and White River national forests - which together contain almost 3 million acres of dead lodgepole pine trees - with $2 million going to address issues related to the spruce beetle in Southern Colorado and on the Western Slope.

I introduced the Sugar Loaf Fire Protection District Land Exchange Act of 2009 to help protect the Sugar Loaf, Colorado community from wildfire. The bill would facilitate a fair exchange of lands on the Arapahoe-Roosevelt National Forest near Boulder between the community and the Forest Service, enabling the Fire District to maintain and upgrade their fire stations serving the Sugar Loaf community and nearby properties at risk of wildfire. The land received in return by the federal government would become part of the Arapahoe-Roosevelt National Forest and managed accordingly by the Forest Service.

The Ski Area Recreation Opportunity Enhancement Act of 2009, which I introduced in March 2009, would boost year-round activity in ski resorts, provide more opportunities for outdoor recreation in Colorado, create jobs and aid local economies. My bill would revise the 1986 law governing the permitting of ski areas on National Forests, clarifying that the Forest Service is authorized to permit year-round recreational activities where appropriate.

I introduced the Federal Land REPAIR Act to help federal land management agencies pay for restoration of public lands damaged by illegal activity. Under the legislation, when violators pay fines for illegally harming public lands, the money collected could be used to help fix the damage and to educate the public about regulations and the need to protect sensitive areas.

I sponsored the Arkansas Valley Conduit Act of to protect the water supply for the Arkansas River Valley's communities and its productive agricultural lands by advancing the construction of the long-planned Arkansas Valley Conduit. The bill was included in Omnibus Public Land Management Act and signed into law on March 3, 2009.

I sponsored the Colorado Northern Front Range Mountain Backdrop Protection Study Act to help local communities identify ways to protect the Front Range Mountain Backdrop in the northern Denver-metro area and the region just west of Rocky Flats. The bill was included in Omnibus Public Land Management Act and signed into law on March 3, 2009.

I sponsored the National Trails System Willing Seller Act to allow people who want to sell land for inclusion in certain units of the National Trails System to do so. The bill was included in Omnibus Public Land Management Act and signed into law on March 3, 2009.

I sponsored the Rocky Mountain National Park Wilderness and Indian Peaks Wilderness Expansion Act to designate nearly 250,000 acres of Rocky Mountain National Park as wilderness. The bill was included in Omnibus Public Land Management Act and signed into law on March 3, 2009.

In 1870, the Bureau of Indian Affairs began to build and operate an irrigation system that now comprises 175 miles of canals and ditches to deliver water to tribal and non-tribal users.  Unfortunately, after decades ofneglect and deferred maintenance, the system is failing many of its users and putting more than 12,000 acres of agricultural land at risk.  In order to find a solution that helps all users of the system, I introduced the Pine River Indian Irrigation Project Act.  The bill would require the U.S. Secretary of the Interior to assess the current condition of the Project and then take appropriate action to rehabilitate it.  It is important that we protect and make efficient use of one of Colorado’s most valuable resources: water.  This is why I pushed the Senate Indian Affairs Committee to conduct a hearing on this important issue.  The hearing took place on April 29, 2010.  I will continue to work with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to bring adequate attention to this important issue.

I introduced the Water Accountability Tax Efficiency Reinvestment Act to create a tax credit equal to 30 percent of the amount any individual or business pays for any certified WaterSense product or service. Analogous to the Energy Star program, WaterSense is a program sponsored by EPA focused on products (such as toilets and faucets) and services (such as landscape irrigation professionals) that use water at least 20 percent more efficiently than their counterparts.

I introduced the Leadville Mine Drainage Tunnel Remediation Act to clarify that the Bureau of Reclamation has the authority to treat water that has become backed up in the Leadville Mine. In 2008, a blockage formed in the tunnel that backed up a large volume of water, thereby creating a potential safety hazard to the community in the event of a catastrophic failure.

I introduced the Camp Hale Study Act to direct the U.S. Secretary of the Interior to study the establishment of Camp Hale, near Leadville, Colorado, as a national historic district. Camp Hale, located in the mountains of central Colorado, was a facility that trained a number of soldiers for combat in high alpine and mountainous conditions and was principally a training venue for the Army's 10th Mountain Division and other elements of the U.S. Armed Forces.

I introduced the bipartisan Good Samaritan Cleanup of Abandoned Hardrock Mines Act to make the Clean Water Act more effective by allowing additional cleanup of water flowing out of abandoned mines. The Government Accountability Office estimates that there are over 160,000 abandoned hardrock mines scattered across the U.S., many of which pollute our nation’s streams, rivers and lakes.  My bill would make it easier for volunteers and nonprofit organizations – so-called “Good Samaritans” – to help clean up these sites.