On Monday July 1st, a special panel visited Carbondale to celebrate protecting the Thompson Divide for the next twenty years from oil, mineral, and gas leasing. The Divide covers roughly 250,000 acres on Colorado’s Western Slope, over 220,000 of which have been withdrawn from future leasing. It is cherished for its untouched wildlands, clean water, recreation opportunities, and natural heritage. Among the event attendees were Will Roush, the executive director of Wilderness Workshop, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, and Colorado Senator Michael Bennet.
Wilderness Workshop is a nonprofit organization based in the Roaring Fork Valley that has been advocating for the Thompson Divide since the early 2000s. Will Roush says that this is a major victory for ranchers, conservationists, and everyone who benefits from keeping our wild places intact.
“I feel grateful to have been a part of this. I feel grateful to hundreds of community members who’ve spent hundreds and hundreds if not thousands of hours working to protect this special place. I feel humbled that Secretary Haaland came here, and that she wanted to go on a hike in the Thompson Divide and really feel what this place means to so many people.”
Secretary Haaland signed the protection order into law on April 3rd of this year withdrawing over two hundred and twenty thousand acres from extractive leases until 2044. Long term protections for the Thompson Divide are part of a larger bill called the CORE act that includes three other areas of concern. The CORE act was first proposed by Senators Michael Bennet, John Hickenlooper, and Congressman Joe Neguse in 2019, and reintroduced in May of 2023. The reintroduced bill is still in its early stages, having not yet passed the Senate. When asked about the roadblocks the bill faces, Senator Bennet had this to say.
“The main roadblock by far has nothing to do with the CORE Act. The main roadblock is that there has not been a bipartisan public lands bill in the Congress for years and years and years. That makes it very hard to pass something like the CORE Act. If we can get to a public lands bill in the lame duck session after the election’s over, I think there’s every reason to believe that we’re gonna be able to attach the CORE Act, and we’re gonna fight very very hard to do that. To put it another way, I would not like to see a public lands bill pass the Senate that does not have the CORE Act as part of it and we’re gonna fight to make sure it’s in there.”
Roush says that he is hopeful the bill will pass soon but in the meantime, the 20 year protection will allow advocates more time to focus on policy and preservation.
“You know we continue just to really showcase the incredible community support from every corner of this community. It’s the ranching community, it’s mountain bikers, it’s snowmobilers , it’s elected officials, conservationists. And that’s truly, believe that’s what will get the CORE Act passed and across the finish line, just that continued drum beat from people from all walks of life saying this place is important, this place matters to me and we’ll get it protected.”
Information about the Thompson Divide protections can be found on the Department of the Interiors website. Elected officials encourage community members to reach out and contact them on the subject.
