Issues

We work to advance conservation issues that the National Sierra Club and the Colorado Sierra Club advocate, as well as our own regional issues. Here are some current ones, followed by more information in order, and their links:

*"Productive Public Lands Act" needs letters.

*Protect America's Roadless Areas

*Encourage AG Phil Weiser to stop the Uintah Basin RR Project 

*Support the Voluntary Grazing Permit Retirement Act

*Wild For Good

*Colorado's furbearer's need YOU!

*SB26-141 Wildlife Crossings

 

"Productive Public Lands Act" HR 1997,

 

Congressman Hurd has introduced a bill: "Productive Public Lands Act", HR1997 that would nullify several Biden-era resource management plans and replace them with Trump-era alternatives. This action is intended to "lift" or reverse restrictions on public lands. 

This bill would affect several areas across the West including Colorado, specifically the Grand Junction and Colorado River Valley Field Offices.
 
Much time, expertise and collaboration went into the RMPs in the areas in Colorado. The public was able to comment, industry was able to comment and five plans were put together by the Bureau of Land Management for the final comments. Alternative F was the most desired plan which protected watersheds, views, animal corridors and more while allowing oil and gas development in certain areas.  The town of Palisade voted for alternative F. Now, Rep. Hurd wants to erase the will of the people and the work of the BLM. He wants to erase Democracy. 
 
Please call or email Con. Jeff Hurd's office and say you oppose his bill HR 1997. Unfortunately, there are six Republican co-sponsors on this bill. If you want to write a letter to the editor it may help to get this out to the public. 
 
Grand Junction office: (970) 208-0455
Wash. DC: (202) 225-4676
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 

*Protect America's Roadless Areas

 
 

Together, we successfully beat back a disastrous proposal to sell off millions of acres of public lands. But the fight isn’t over – now, 45 million acres of National Forest lands could lose protections afforded by the Roadless Rule. 

We need your help – tell the USDA to protect roadless areas.  

What happened? The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has published a Notice of Intent (NOI), beginning the process to rescind the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule and potentially open our roadless public lands up to harmful development, industrial-scale logging, and increased wildfire risk. The NOI triggers a 21-day comment period and it’s up to us to tell the USDA to protect our public lands.  

NOTE: The Colorado Roadless Rule is not included in the current rulemaking. But we still need Coloradans to take action! While Colorado’s roadless protections will, for now, remain intact, quality fish and wildlife habitat on public lands throughout the country are under threat. So please, use your voice and follow the links below!  

Why does the roadless rule matter? Roadless areas provide some of the best fish and wildlife habitat and hunting and angling opportunities for Americans of all walks of life, as well as some of the last strongholds for native trout and salmon. In fact, 70% of public land within roadless areas is home to native trout and salmon. This includes cutthroat trout in the Rockies, brook trout in Appalachia, and salmon and steelhead in the Pacific Northwest. 

How can I help? Click here to submit your comment to the USDA. It only takes 2 minutes and your voice makes a big difference for our public lands.  

Thank you for standing up for public lands. 

Sophia Kaelke 

Protection Campaign Center Manager 

Trout Unlimited 

 

 

 

 

*Encourage AG Weiser to join lawsuit to stop the Unita Basin Railway "Carbon Bomb" Project

 

Please help encourage Colorado's Attorney General to join 15 other states in a lawsuit against Trump's violations of the Environmental Species Act.  We also call on AG Weiser to join the suit against Trump's imaginary "energy emergency" executive order that is being used to fast-track oil and gas, mining and other climate killing projects across the country.  Weiser is making his decision now, so please send the one-click email below.

Send One-Click Email

We believe that AG Weiser can multiply his effectiveness by joining with other states to aggressively fight these projects.  If successful, these lawsuits could stop the Uinta Basin Railway project and the related Wildcat Loadout Facility proposals that threaten Colorado's communities.  Read more details below:

Background: As you know, the Uinta Basin Railway scheme would route up to 10 trains per day carrying heated railcars full of waxy crude oil through treacherous Glenwood Canyon and Denver... along the Colorado River... over high mountain passes... and amongst our tinder-dry forests... to refineries on the Gulf.  The high likelihood of derailments, spills into the Colorado River, and wildfires is too great a risk for Colorado's drinking water sources, communities, agriculture and tourist economies.


Constructing 88 new miles of railway (at a cost of $1.5 Billion) and re-activating dormant stretches will do permanent damage to 10,000 acres of land designated wilderness/roadless, blast 3 new tunnels, affect 400 streams and disrupt endangered wildlife habitat.  The alternative "work around" project called the Wildcat Loadout Facility is just as bad: it uses public funding to enable 260 oil-filled tanker trucks (per day!) to drive a mountainous, fire-prone, 2-lane road.  

The current Wildcat Loadout Facility sits on public land and has a long history of blatant violations - being out of compliance with state and federal air quality rules for the last 6 years. Inspectors have found that the facility has been illegally releasing at least 40 tons of VOCs per year (probably since it was built) and they admit that the actual amount is likely much higher - yet no fines have been levied and no equipment fixes have been made.

Whichever method transports the Uinta Basin oil to gulf coast refineries (either via a new UBR rail or via truck at Wildcat) - it will result in 4 times the current amount of tar sands crude oil reaching markets, resulting in increased oil production, drilling ~3330 new wells, and more oil use.  This obviously contributes to more climate disasters - just when we need to stop using fossil fuels.  Let's do everything we can to stop this huge "climate bomb!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Urge your U.S. House rep to co-sponsor and pass the Voluntary Grazing Permit Retirement Act

Wilderness Watch applauds Representative Adam Smith of Washington State for reintroducing the Voluntary Grazing Permit Retirement Act (VGPRA). The legislation will expand the successful model of voluntary federal livestock grazing permit retirement across the western U.S., including in Wilderness. Wilderness Watch has supported similar legislation in previous Congresses.

Incredibly, permitted livestock grazing is authorized on over 200 million acres of federal public lands, including on over 13 million acres of the 52 million acres of protected Wilderness in the lower 48 states. Taxpayers heavily subsidize privately-owned livestock to trample and eat native vegetation on public lands as ranching corporations pay just $1.35 per month for the privilege of grazing a cow and her calf, or five sheep, on our public lands, including in Wilderness.

Wilderness Watch strongly supports the VGPRA as it offers a solution toward ending livestock damage in Wilderness. This bill will work to bolster protection of public lands and Wilderness areas, allotment-by-allotment, fairly and permanently.

Please urge your representative to co-sponsor and pass this critical piece of legislation to protect Wilderness and its wildlife.

Specifically, the VGPRA:

  • Authorizes ranchers in 16 Western states to voluntarily waive federal grazing permits or leases with the intent to permanently end livestock grazing on an allotment, including those in Wilderness.
  • Ensures that any retired allotment cannot be re-leased for new grazing permits.
  • Helps restore wildlife corridors, protect water quality, and reduce the costs of administering grazing programs.

Livestock grazing damages Wilderness and our public lands in a number of ways—including harming water quality, spreading invasive weeds, trampling riparian vegetation, and displacing wildlife.

Yet at 0.1 percent of all forage fed to livestock in the United States, grazing in Wilderness hardly contributes to the U.S. livestock industry. However, due to the grazing language in the 1964 Wilderness Act and its 1980s-era corollary, the Congressional Grazing Guidelines, livestock grazing has been occurring in otherwise undomesticated Wilderness areas for over half a century.

Domestic cattle and sheep grazing are fundamentally at odds with the ideals of the Wilderness Act. Livestock grazing in Wilderness creates conflict with native species, including bighorn sheep, grizzly bears, wolves, sage-grouse, fish, amphibians, and rare plants. Livestock grazing also contributes to a “de-wilding” of the landscape for visitors, many of whom head to Wilderness areas to escape reminders of human influence.

Representative Smith’s VGPRA stands in stark contrast to current administrative and legislative efforts to stock every vacant allotment—including in Wilderness—with livestock or increase grazing by reducing environmental review.

Please speak up for Wilderness and wildlife today by urging your representative to co-sponsor and pass the Voluntary Grazing Permit Retirement Act (H.R.5785)!

TAKE ACTION
 
 
 

 

*Wild For Good

Read The Report

Wild for Good is a call to action and, we hope, an inspiration for you to join us in work that future generations will thank us for. We highlight 10 landscapes that Wilderness Workshop is invested in for the long haul. They are places where we explore nature with our friends and families, float boats in the summer, and backcountry ski in the winter. They provide critical wildlife habitat and connectivity corridors, and safeguard ecosystems that are necessary for climate resilience. And they may be lost to us forever if we don’t rally for their protection.

There are many, many more lands in our region that must also be protected and conserved so that we have a vibrant wildlands network to sustain our human and natural communities – ranging from roadless areas to working lands. These 10 priority landscapes are anchors in that network, places we’ve identified as deserving of and needing durable protections to support the ecological vitality of the whole region. By creating and sustaining thriving ecosystems in our neck of the woods, we in turn sustain and contribute to healthier natural systems across the state of Colorado and the West.

Please join us in this important work. Together, our community can keep our treasured public lands and waters…Wild for Good.

 
 
Wild for Good: Together We Can Protect What We Love
Download the Report

*Colorado's Furbearers need YOU!

Sierra Club Members,
 
Please take some time to sign the petition and read up on how you can make a short comment to the commissioners. You can email now and sign up to speak for one minute online too. It is important to show the commissioners that there is a voice out there for the wildlife and not just the hunters and trappers. Janet


Letter from Colorado Wildlife Alliance:

We have a rare opportunity over the next three months to make real change for Colorado’s furbearers–beavers, martens, foxes, ringtails and so many more–through a proposal initiative to reform and modernize Colorado Parks and Wildlife's (CPW) management of our state’s furbearers and bring balance to nature.


 

We’re calling this initiative’s campaign, “Five for their Future.”


 

CWA’s Samantha Miller has submitted a proposal to CPW with five (5) practical, science-based reforms to the agency’s management of furbearers. A 1994 study highlighted the need but almost none of the detailed, species-specific recommendations for science-based reform have been implemented. That’s known, needed reform sitting idle for over 30 years.


 

We recognize that any meaningful wildlife reform will face resistance from segments of the trapping community, particularly where furbearers have historically been treated as a source of personal profit rather than as integral components of healthy ecosystems.

 

The stakes are high and our campaign is working toward the March 5-6, 2026 CPW Commission meeting so the time to get engaged and speak up for the 17 species of furbearers in Colorado is NOW.


 

We are asking all CWA members to do three simple things:


 

  1. Go to our website to learn more about the history, issues and five reforms being proposed for modernizing CPW’s management of furbearers.

  2. Email the CPW Commissioners to voice your support and sign a petition we’re gathering for the March, 2026 CPW meeting. You can do both of these through our website.

  3. Go to both our Instagram and Facebook pages, like them and please share our content as we post communications over the coming weeks in support of the reform proposal. (We’ll be adding more social media platforms soon and will let you know when those are live.)


 

Also, please tell your forward-thinking, conservation-minded friends about this campaign and that their voices are needed and matter! (Okay, that was four things.)


 

We hope you join us over the next several weeks as we work to let the CPW Commissioners know your support for furbearer reform in Colorado!


 

For the animals,

 

Colorado Wildlife Alliance


 

 

Mark Surls

COLORADO & NORTHERN ROCKIES COORDINATOR

PROJECT COYOTE

msurls@projectcoyote.org

3038862141

projectcoyote.org

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

-- 
 

Deanna Meyer
Executive Director
Prairie Protection Colorado
Fighting for the Prairies
720-722-1691

 

 

Wildlife Crossings, SB26-141

 
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As spring arrives and Colorado's roads grow busier with seasonal traffic, the Colorado Wildlife and Transportation Alliance is advancing wildlife connectivity through expanded funding partnerships, public outreach, and continued focus on high-priority corridors across the state.

Recent happenings include opportunities for collaboration between CWTA and CPW's Regional Partnerships Initiative which has committed $50 million over five years to support climate-resilient conservation, sustainable outdoor recreation, and coordinated regional planning across Colorado; the release of a powerful new wildlife-vehicle collision video featuring three Coloradans with personal stories; and a spotlight on the US 287 Safe Wildlife Movement Project. Together, we continue to strive toward a safer, more connected Colorado for both wildlife and travelers.

In this newsletter, we highlight:

Visit the Alliance's Website
 

Regional Partnerships Initiative and The Alliance

Climate-resilient conservation is at the heart of Colorado’s Outdoors Strategy, and wildlife-focused infrastructure is critical to achieving this vision. The Regional Partnerships Initiative Grant Program is again offering funding to support regionally driven collaboratives that advance the Strategy’s ‘north star’ goals of climate-resilient conservation and restoration, exceptional and sustainable outdoor recreation, and coordinated planning and funding. 

Starting in 2025, Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) and Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO) committed $50 million over five years to Regional Partnerships to support the Strategy’s implementation. The Strategy highlights wildlife crossings as a priority for advancing CPW’s Habitat Conservation Connectivity Plan through coordinating partner actions, and identifies the need to grow, diversity, and close gaps in related funding opportunities. 

In 2025, the grant program awarded $225,000 to Gunnison County Sustainable Tourism and Outdoor Recreation Committee in part to plan wildlife crossings in coordination with CDOT. CPW's Regional Partnerships Initiative and CWTA are increasingly collaborating through shared workshop presentations to align strategies, connect participants with resources across both programs, and advance their overlapping missions around wildlife-friendly infrastructure and conservation. To learn more about the Grant Program, connect with the Regional Partnerships Initiative here. 

Regional Partnerships Initiative Grant Program
 

SB26-141

A bipartisan bill related to wildlife crossing funding is currently under consideration at the Colorado Capitol. SB 26-141, co-sponsored by Senator Dylan Roberts and Senate Minority Leader Cleave Simpson, passed its third reading and now heads to the governor's desk to be signed into law. The bill would create an optional $5 fee collected at the time of vehicle registration, with the intent of establishing a dedicated funding stream for wildlife safe-passage infrastructure.

Under the proposal, seventy-five percent of the revenue would go to a newly created Collision Prevention Fund, administered by CDOT's Bridge and Tunnel Enterprise, for use on wildlife crossing projects and federal grant matching. The remaining 25% would be credited to Colorado Parks and Wildlife's wildlife cash fund to support connectivity and conservation efforts. The bill would also require the enterprise to consult with CPW and the Colorado Wildlife and Transportation Alliance in determining which projects to prioritize. Legislative analysts project the fee could raise roughly $2 million in partial-year revenue during fiscal 2026-27 and approximately $3.9 million annually, based on expected participation rates. The bill's progress can be tracked on the Colorado General Assembly website.

Learn More about SB26-141
 

Wildlife Vehicle Collision Video

In February, The Alliance distributed a new video featuring three Coloradans whose lives were profoundly affected by wildlife-vehicle collisions — crashes that each year cause injuries, loss of life, and significant economic costs for drivers and families across Colorado. Professional skier Chris Davenport survived a collision with an elk and reflects on how roadway safety connects to Colorado's outdoor economy. Mary Rodriguez lost her father in a wildlife-vehicle crash and speaks to why preventing similar tragedies matters deeply to her family. Rancher Mike Ritschard lost both parents in a collision with wildlife and describes the efforts that have helped advance wildlife crossing projects in the state.

Wildlife crossings are widely recognized as one of the most effective tools for reducing these incidents, with studies showing they can decrease collisions by up to 90% in some locations. Colorado has made meaningful progress in recent years, and significant opportunities remain to address high-risk corridors across the state. If you haven't seen the video yet, we encourage you to watch and share it across your networks. 

Watch the WVC Video above
 

Video: A Conversation from the Capitol

CoPIRG Foundation has been a voice for the public interest in Colorado since 1983, including on transportation safety issues. In a new video produced by CoPIRG Foundation, Senate Minority Leader Cleave Simpson makes the case for wildlife crossings and their effectiveness. Having driven the 247 miles between his home and the Capitol countless times, Senator Simpson knows firsthand the collision risks Colorado's roads pose — and has seen the difference that crossings can make. That experience led him to spearhead an effort last fall to rally fellow state legislators in calling on the federal government for greater investment in wildlife crossing infrastructure.

Watch the conversation from the Capitol
 

Priority Project Highlight - US 287 Safe Wildlife Movement Project

US 287 runs through the foothills and rolling terrain between northern Colorado and Wyoming, bisecting habitat for mule deer, pronghorn, elk, bighorn sheep, and other species. With increased traffic, excessive speeds, and the narrow and winding design of the road, there have been numerous serious injuries and fatalities. All these factors underscore the urgency of addressing safety concerns along this stretch of highway.

CDOT is examining infrastructural improvements along US 287 to better connect lands managed by the U.S. Forest Service, Larimer County Open Space, and private landowners. The effort is collaborative and data-driven, involving CDOT, Colorado Parks and Wildlife, and a range of regional stakeholders. Several existing structures have already been identified to be tied together with wildlife exclusion fence to improve wildlife movement, with ongoing collaboration guiding where additional underpasses or overpasses will be most effective if future funding becomes available. Construction of wildlife fencing, including jumpout, gates, and deer guards is anticipated to start in early 2027

The corridor carries recognition at multiple levels — included in CDOT Region 4's 10-year plan, ranked in the top 5% of the Eastern Slope and Plains Wildlife Prioritization Study, and designated as one of six CWTA priority projects in 2025. It represents a meaningful opportunity to reduce collisions and improve safety for both wildlife and motorists.

Photos documenting fence modifications along US 287, a collaboration with CDOT and Front Range Community College, showing improved wildlife permeability between pastures including a deer moving through the updated fence line.

Learn More about the US 287 Safe Wildlife Movement Project
 

Wildlife and Transportation in the News

 

Previous Editions

View our newsletter archive for previous editions of “The Crossing:”

 

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