Michael Bennet’s Colorado Outdoor Recreation & Economy Act lands as the Colorado senator enjoys rare spotlight following tirade over government shutdown Thursday on Senate floor
By John Belvins | The Colorado Sun
A day after he lit up the national airwaves with a fiery blasting of the government shutdown, U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet on Friday unveiled the most ambitious public lands protection legislation for Colorado in more than 25 years.
“I think the time has come for us to think big and follow through with our commitment to the public lands of Colorado and the people who live around them and in them,” the Colorado Democrat said Friday on a call from Washington, D.C., announcing the Colorado Outdoor Recreation & Economy Act, or CORE Act.
Bennet joined U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse, D-Boulder, in announcing the CORE legislation, which corrals four previously introduced bills, some that have languished more than a decade: the Continental Divide Recreation, Wilderness and Camp Hale Legacy Act; the San Juan Mountains Wilderness Act’ the Thompson Divide Withdrawal and Protection Act; and the Curecanti National Recreation Area Boundary Establishment Act.
