/ The Denver Post file
CORE Act still faces an uphill road in the Senate and White House opposition
By Justin Wintergerter | The Denver Post
The U.S. House voted Thursday to approve the Colorado Outdoor Recreation and Economy Act, a large public lands bill that protects 400,000 acres in Colorado from further development.
The House voted 227-182 on the bill, sending it to the Senate. Within Colorado’s delegation, all Democrats voted in favor and all Republicans opposed the legislation, known as the CORE Act.
The bill would preserve Continental Divide land in the White River National Forest, designate more of the San Juan Mountains as wilderness, and safeguard about 200,000 acres in the Thompson Divide from oil and gas leases, the most controversial provision in the bill.
It would also create the nation’s first national historic landscape at Camp Hale, where the Army’s 10th Mountain Division trained in preparation for World War II. It would set aside 28,728 acres at the former camp, which is in Eagle County.
