Hickenlooper: “To Protect Our Public Lands, We Need to Flip the Senate & Defeat Donald Trump”
As Senator Cory Gardner evades questions about his opposition to the CORE Act, today John Hickenlooper, Senator Michael Bennet, Congressman Joe Neguse, and Senator Martin Heinrich on behalf of Biden for America held a Zoom conversation with Colorado public lands advocates to discuss the collaborative wilderness bill and why this election is crucial to protecting public lands.
“President Trump and Senator Gardner have overseen the largest rollback of protected public lands in the history of this country,” said Hickenlooper. “We need someone in Washington who knows that our public lands are much more just than a political pawn to be pushed back and forth. They’re part of what makes Colorado so special. I’ve committed to being a strong advocate for our public lands my entire public life, and I’ll be so in the Senate.”
“The CORE Act was created from the ground up in Colorado, not top down from Washington,” said Bennet. “On the CORE Act — and on climate change and public lands — Senator Gardner has been missing in action. Gardner has supported all of the Trump administration’s regulatory rollbacks, including the regulations to capture fugitive methane that were modeled on the work John Hickenlooper did as Governor of Colorado. There is a huge difference in their records. This is just one of the many reasons it’s essential to elect John Hickenlooper to the Senate.”
“We have a long history in Colorado — across party lines — of folks being willing to protect our public lands for future generations, and to ensure our wilderness areas are preserved for years to come,” said Neguse. “The CORE Act, which was crafted by Coloradans and for Coloradans, is such an important part of that legacy, and it is crucial that we secure its passage.”
“I want to partner with people like John Hickenlooper and Joe Biden to get these places the recognition they deserve — and to build the future for our kids that they deserve,” said Heinrich. “I could not be happier about the people we have running for office this fall who get public lands, who want to protect these places and want to do it in a way that is grounded in community.”
Congress left protections for new Colorado wilderness out of the last major public lands bill. The CORE Act would protect 400,000 acres of Colorado public lands and passed the House last fall. Bennet is pushing to pass it in the Senate, but Senator Gardner and President Trump refuse to support the locally-driven bill.
Gunnison County Commissioner Jonathan Houck and Grand Valley outdoor recreation leader Sarah Shrader, both public land advocates, moderated the conversation.
Passing the CORE Act is a key piece of Hickenlooper’s aggressive plan to protect and preserve Colorado’s outdoor heritage and stop Washington’s attacks on our public lands.
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