Friday, April 24, 2015

Proposed Public Land Transfer Denounced by Recreation Businesses

More than two dozen Grand Valley businesses have joined up with an environmental lobby organization to denounce any transfer of federally controlled public lands to the state. The local businesses have signed onto a letter heading to lawmakers in Denver. The letter argues that “the huge cost to the state of managing these lands would lead to greatly increased development and a loss of access that would put our businesses at risk.” The debate over public land ownership is heating up this week as a proposed law moving through state legislature hopes to take away the federal government’s ultimate control over hundreds of thousands of acres of area currently watched over by the Bureau of Land Management and the US Forest Service. A vast majority of the letter’s signatories are businesses with an invested interest in recreation and tourist opportunities. Some say they've come out in support of the status quo, citing fears that any shake up in control could create instability in the economy. Co-owner of Rapid Creek Cycles in Palisade Scott Winans said although he doesn’t always agree with BLM decisions, he believes their management is currently the best course of action. Senate Bill 15-039 was introduced by Republicans in January and passed through the state senate this week. It seeks to give Colorado concurrent jurisdiction over federal lands...more

If your whole business model is based on the public having access to federal lands, you are in deep doo doo and should be praying that these lands are transferred. 

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