Currently, only 20 percent of the public lands managed by Colorado are open to the public for recreation. The other 80 percent is closed to the public and instead managed for extraction and development. In fact, the very first sentence on the webpage for the Colorado State Land Board is as follows: “Unlike federally owned land in Colorado, state trust land is not open for public recreational use.” We should not stand by idly and watch as our national public lands fall to the same fate.

National public lands are a shared common good that benefit more than just the people who live in our state; people come from all around the world to enjoy our backyard, and it is our responsibility to maintain and conserve them in a responsible manner.

Colorado’s 2.8 million acres of state land is managed with a budget of only $5 million. If Colorado were to seize national public lands within our borders, that would mean we’d be on the hook for managing an additional 24 million acres. How are we supposed to afford that? Are we going to cut back on public funding for schools? Health care? Perhaps state Sen. Ellen Roberts can answer me that.

Connor Brockmeier

Durango