Natural Resources
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As a native Westerner, I'm passionate about preserving our natural environment and quality of life. For generations, my family has hiked, skied and rafted many of Colorado's wild lands and rivers. I have a deep attachment to the West, its landscapes and way of life, and that is one of the primary reasons I sought public office.
As a member of the U.S. Senate, and previously the U.S. House of Representatives, protecting our natural resources has always been one of my top priorities. Along with my position on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, I chair the Senate's National Parks Subcommittee, which oversees legislation and other issues related to our national parks, including outdoor recreation, land use and historic preservation. These issues are vitally important to Colorado's economy and natural heritage, and my position gives me a powerful voice on important Colorado priorities.
In 2011, I successfully passed - and the President signed - a bill I've worked on for five years to allow summertime activities on ski areas on National Forest land. The act revises the 1986 law governing the permitting of ski areas on National Forests, clarifying that the U.S. Forest Service is authorized to permit year-round recreational activities where appropriate. It will increase opportunities for recreation in ski communities during the shoulder seasons, creating jobs and boosting local economies in Colorado and across the nation.
Another goal of mine has been full and dedicated funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Congress created LWCF in 1965 to protect and preserve open spaces for future generations of Americans. It is funded by a fraction of the royalties from offshore oil drilling. Although LWCF is authorized to receive $900 million annually, it is subject to congressional appropriations, meaning it has historically received significantly less. I have co-sponsored bipartisan legislation that would designate full and permanent funding, and I'll continue to push for passage.
Finally, I believe it's important to advocate for what is best for Colorado and our nation's natural resources by listening to all sides of the issues. That's how I've always worked, and I'll continue to build bridges across party and regional lines to get things done. Unless we find common ground on these often divisive issues, we can't enact successful federal policies that benefit Colorado's scenic beauty, its economy and its people.
Forest Management, Bark Beetles and Fire Risk
Colorado's economy, environment and water are all at risk when our forests are not healthy, and a special priority of mine is protecting Colorado communities from wildfire. I will continue to fight for adequate funding and policy changes to help our forest-management agencies protect our public safety, clean water, natural resources and local jobs.
In addition, as the mountain pine beetle epidemic continues to spread across our Western forests, it's clear that we need to address the problem more effectively. I believe we need to take action to protect our forests - as well as homeowners - from wildfire and beetle-weakened trees. I have led the effort to devote more federal resources to address this serious problem. And I've worked with Colorado's congressional delegation and others to look for creative solutions to better manage our forests and use dead and dying trees for other purposes.
I am also always looking for creative ways to support our forest-management industry, which is so important to rural communities. Most recently, I've seen how timber contract relief for our state’s few remaining sawmills, as well as encouraging more homebuilders to use beetle-kill in home construction, can help our state’s economy. In addition to employing hundreds of Coloradans, the mills play a crucial role in the fight against the bark beetle and wildfire by providing the infrastructure to help clear hazardous fuels and beetle-killed trees by processing them into wood products. I also think the new technologies that would create markets for beetle-killed wood hold a lot of promise. Bark beetles will be here for the long haul in Colorado, but we have an opportunity to mitigate the impact they have on our forests, homes and local economies, while creating jobs in the process.
Protecting our Public Lands
As an avid outdoorsman, I appreciate the need to respect and protect the land while also ensuring that the public can enjoy the resources and recreational opportunities it provides. Throughout my years in Congress, I have worked to balance these two needs. For example, I helped to establish new wilderness (James Peak and Rocky Mountain National Park) and wildlife refuges (Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge) in Colorado. In creating these and other proposals, I have always sought input from a wide range of stakeholders in an open and collaborative process.
In that spirit, I supported the 2009 Omnibus Public Lands Act. This law protects some of our nation's greatest treasures for future generations. It includes several provisions that I authored, making good on long-discussed efforts to preserve the Front Range Mountain Backdrop, resolving a Nixon-era promise for wilderness at Rocky Mountain National Park, and taking an important step toward protecting water supplies for the Arkansas Valley. The law represents 10 years of my work to bridge divides and work with people of all opinions. And on April 9, 2009, I proudly joined U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and several members of the Colorado delegation to dedicate the new wilderness area at Rocky Mountain National Park.
In 2011, I oversaw passage of a bill to help protect the community of Sugar Loaf, Colorado, from wildfire. The bill would ensure that the Boulder County fire district owns the land under two of its three fire stations by allowing a small land exchange with the Arapaho-Roosevelt National Forest. This will enable the fire district to maintain and upgrade its fire stations serving the Sugar Loaf community and nearby properties at risk of wildfire.
I am continuing to work hard to protect Colorado’s special places. For example, I have introduced a new wilderness bill for southwest Colorado's San Juan Mountains. Led by former Congressman John Salazar, the San Juan Mountains Wilderness Act was developed through many months of work with stakeholders to ensure a balanced proposal that safeguards some of Colorado's most beautiful sceneries while maintaining fair access for all land users. This was not a simple or quick process, but it is a model for how wilderness should be proposed, one I intend to use as I continue working to keep Colorado the most beautiful state in the nation for generations to come. I have also co-sponsored a bill with Senator Bennet to create the Chimney Rock National Monument – a unique Chacoan archeological site located between Durango and Pagosa Springs.
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Protecting our Outdoor Heritage
I am in the midst of a collaborative, community-driven process that I hope will ultimately allow Colorado to create legislation for wilderness and national monument designations in two very special places in our state – the Central Mountains (236,000 acres Summit, Eagle, and Pitkin counties) and Browns Canyon on the Arkansas River (20,000 acres in Chaffee County). By hearing your comments from the outset, I hope to develop a plan that a majority of the community agrees will support their interests and further develop Colorado’s booming recreation economy. If we do it in the right way — with a bottom-up rather than top-down approach — protecting public lands will support jobs, our economy, and the quality of life that makes Colorado the envy of the world. In order to facilitate the conversation with these communities, I've developed draft maps of possible wilderness boundaries, which will give us a firm base to compare notes and ideas. All of the maps are online at http://markudall.senate.gov/outdoorheritage, along with an e-mail comment form. I encourage you to share your thoughts about the maps, how the land is used today and your vision for the future of these special places.
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Sugar Loaf Fire Protection District Land Exchange
I introduced the Sugar Loaf Fire Protection District Land Exchange Act to help protect the Sugar Loaf, Colorado, community from wildfire. The bill would ensure that the Boulder County fire district owns the land under two of its three fire stations by allowing the fire district to swap 5.17 acres of land in the Arapaho-Roosevelt National Forest between the communities of Boulder and Nederland. The lands transferred to the federal government will become part of the Arapaho-Roosevelt National Forest and managed accordingly, enabling the Fire District to maintain and upgrade its fire stations serving the Sugar Loaf community and nearby properties at risk of wildfire. The bill was signed into law by the President on Dec. 23, 2011.
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Ski Area Recreational Opportunity Enhancement Act
Colorado's mountain communities won a small but important victory on Nov. 7, 2011, when the president signed into law my Ski Area Recreational Opportunity Enhancement Act. After five years of work, I was thrilled that we were able to move it through the U.S. House of Representatives and a gridlocked U.S. Senate and get it to the president's desk. The act revises the 1986 law governing the permitting of ski areas on National Forests, clarifying that the U.S. Forest Service is authorized to permit year-round recreational activities where appropriate. It will boost year-round activity in ski communities, provide more opportunities for outdoor recreation in Colorado, create jobs and aid local economies.
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Helping Americans Connect to Active Outdoor Lifestyles
Our sedentary lifestyles have led to many public health problems, such as epidemic levels of childhood obesity, and even national security concerns: nearly one in four applicants to the military is rejected for being overweight. This summer, I spearheaded a Kids to Parks initiative to engage the next generation of American youth in the outdoors. That's also why I introduced the Healthy Kids Outdoors Act (S.1802), along with my House colleague Rep. Ron Kind, to help Americans, especially kids, connect with healthy, active, outdoor lifestyles. Connecting with the outdoors is an excellent way to promote good physical and mental health and bolster America’s conservation legacy. It also supports our vibrant outdoor economy, which is especially important in Colorado and to our rural mountain communities.
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Developing Clean Energy Resources on Federal Lands to Boost Local Economies
I co-sponsored bipartisan legislation to help advance clean energy development on public lands while also ensuring that development is being done in a responsible way. America – and Colorado, in particular – is blessed with bountiful renewable resources on expansive federal lands. This bill would create a pilot leasing program for renewable energy development on public lands, potentially streamlining development of renewable energy while also directing revenues to states, counties and a fish and wildlife conservation fund. This bill continues the Western tradition of a balanced land use policy that supports development as well as conservation.