{"id":38827,"date":"2022-08-17T22:21:09","date_gmt":"2022-08-18T04:21:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/with-core-act-stalled-supporters-want-biden-to-use-executive-action\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T02:46:57","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T08:46:57","slug":"with-core-act-stalled-supporters-want-biden-to-use-executive-action","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/with-core-act-stalled-supporters-want-biden-to-use-executive-action\/","title":{"rendered":"With CORE Act stalled, supporters want Biden to use executive action"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Remnants
Remnants of Camp Hale on Tuesday near Leadville. Camp Hale was a mountain and winter training center for the U.S. Army. (Hugh Carey\/The Colorado Sun)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

CAMP HALE \u2013 Supporters of the Colorado Outdoor Recreation Economy Act, after watching the bill fail to advance past the U.S. Senate for several years, are asking President Joe Biden to take executive action to protect the tens of thousands of acres of federal land in Colorado the measure aims to shield.<\/p>\n

And they appear to have Tom Vilsack, Biden\u2019s secretary of agriculture, in their corner.<\/p>\n

Vilsack, speaking Tuesday to a group gathered for a roundtable near Camp Hale, the former military base near Leadville where 10th Mountain Division soldiers trained before heading to battle in World War II and that would get further protections under the CORE Act, said he would encourage Biden to help.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrankly,\u201d Vilsack said, \u201cI don\u2019t want to disappoint.\u201d<\/p>\n

The decision to seek executive action from Biden on portions of the CORE Act is tacit acknowledgment that the legislation doesn\u2019t currently have a path toward passage in the 50-50 U.S. Senate, where Republicans have been leery about expanding protections on federal lands. The Democrats who back the bill need the support of all of the members of their party in the Senate as well as at least 10 Republicans to overcome the filibuster and send the measure to Biden\u2019s desk.<\/p>\n

That appears unlikely to happen anytime soon.<\/p>\n

U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, a Colorado Democrat who is among the sponsors of the CORE Act, organized the gathering Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think our preference, obviously, is to pass the CORE Act,\u201d Bennet, who is facing election-year pressure to get the CORE Act done, told reporters. \u201cWe\u2019re going to continue to fight for that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"From
From left, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Thomas Vilsack, U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet and U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper answer reporters\u2019 questions on Tuesday during a visit at Camp Hale near Leadville. (Hugh Carey\/The Colorado Sun)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

But in the meantime, Bennet said, national monument designations and mineral withdrawals through executive action will be sought in an effort to speed up the protections.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re just going to have to decide what\u2019s going to be appropriate,\u201d Bennet said. \u201cWe haven\u2019t made those decisions yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Antiquities Act of 1906 gives presidents the power to declare areas a national monument, protecting them from oil and gas drilling and mining. But national monument designations can potentially be granted by one president and amended or rescinded by the next.<\/p>\n

President Barack Obama, for instance, created the Bears Ears National Monument in southeast Utah in 2016. The monument designation area was reduced by President Donald Trump in 2017. Biden then restored the monument in 2021.<\/p>\n

Executive actions are also subject to lawsuits.<\/p>\n

The CORE Act, in addition to protecting the land around Camp Hale by designating it the nation\u2019s first National Historic Landscape, calls for creating about 100,000 acres of wilderness, recreation and conservation areas in the White River National Forest along the Continental Divide.<\/p>\n

The measure offers permanent protections, including wilderness designations, for about 60,000 acres of land in the San Juan Mountains in Southwest Colorado. It would also formally establish the boundary for the Curecanti National Recreation Area near the Blue Mesa Reservoir in Gunnison and prevent mineral development on about 6,500 acres outside of Norwood at Naturita Canyon.<\/p>\n

\"A
A map of lands affected by the CORE Act in Colorado. (Handout from U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse and U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Portions of the CORE Act have been debated in Congress for many years, and supporters of the bill are frustrated with the lack of progress.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are perfect solutions and then there are good solutions that deserve consideration now just to get something over the finish line,\u201d John Gale, who oversees policy and government relations for Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, said during Tuesday\u2019s roundtable. \u201cAnd I think that now\u2019s the time not to let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Let\u2019s get done what we can now while we can. There\u2019s too much on the table.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Storm
Storm clouds roll over Camp Hale Memorial Campground near Leadville. (Hugh Carey\/The Colorado Sun)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Bill Fales, a rancher near Carbondale, said protections for the Thompson Divide are urgently needed. \u201cWe really need to get the administrative withdrawal to protect this area,\u201d he said, acknowledging the failure to get the CORE Act through the Senate.<\/p>\n

The bill has passed the U.S. House several times.<\/p>\n

Asked why Biden hasn\u2019t taken action already, U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper exclaimed, \u201cHe\u2019s been busy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vilsack echoed that sentiment, but also acknowledged that conversations with the president about protecting lands targeted by the CORE Act should have happened \u201cyesterday.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it really is a model of what we should be doing in this country,\u201d Vilsack said, nodding to how the bill was formed through conversations with groups and elected leaders across Colorado. \u201cI\u2019m gonna go back and make sure that the president and the White House are fully briefed on this and make sure that our team is moving as expeditiously as we possibly can to do whatever we can.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gov. Jared Polis, another CORE Act supporter who attended the meeting Tuesday, said pursuing executive action from Biden doesn\u2019t mean the bill is dead.<\/p>\n

\"From
From left, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Thomas Vilsack, U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet and U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper answer questions on Tuesday during a visit at Camp Hale near Leadville. (Hugh Carey\/The Colorado Sun)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cThe two paths are not mutually exclusive,\u201d he said. \u201cTaking additional executive actions can help provide momentum for the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hickenlooper said he still thinks there\u2019s a path toward passing the CORE Act in Congress.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re close,\u201d he said, explaining that he\u2019s gotten verbal support from Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Kevin Kramer of North Dakota.<\/p>\n

Murkowski and Cassidy sit on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, where the CORE Act has been assigned.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we had three Republicans on the committee, we\u2019d get 10 in the Senate. That\u2019s my feeling,\u201d Hickenlooper said.<\/p>\n

The Colorado Sun is a reader-supported, nonpartisan news organization dedicated to covering Colorado issues. To learn more, go to coloradosun.com<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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