Grand Junction Daily Sentinel

Public lands: A test for Hurd

Jeff Hurd needs to take a clear stance on the potential sell-off of public lands.

The issue is buried under the Trump administration’s flurry of provocative moves aimed at trimming the size and scope of the federal government.

But last week, the news-gathering operation POLITICO obtained a document outlining potential budget cuts and revenue streams to be included in the upcoming House reconciliation package. Among the listed items was selling federal lands.

Montana Republican Rep. Ryan Zinke has come out publicly that he wouldn’t support a reconciliation package that includes selling off public lands, saying in a Washington Times article that “It’s a no now. It will be a no later. It will be a no forever.” Zinke has introduced the Public Lands in Public Hands Act (H.R. 718) along with Rep. Gabe Vasquez, D-N.M., that would ban the sale or transfer of most public lands.

Hurd’s chief of staff said there’s been no reconciliation package released and therefore nothing for Hurd to react to. “He will absolutely be thoughtful and specific in any vote he takes and will always put the district first,” said Nick Bayer.

We saw signs of that at Hurd’s local swearing-in ceremony Monday at the Wayne N. Aspinall Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in downtown Grand Junction.

He emphasized he intends to serve the people of the district rather than a political agenda and cited a quotation from Daniel Webster on a plaque inside the U.S. House chamber as an inspiration and guidepost:

“Let us develop the resources of our land, call forth its powers, build up its institutions, promote all its great interests, and see whether we also in our day and generation may not perform something worthy to be remembered.”

Hurd told crowd he’ll be focused on some specific policy areas to help western and southern Colorado succeed. One of them is public lands. Among other assignments, Hurd will serve on the House Committee on Natural Resources and one of its subcommittees on energy and mineral resources.

While he’s certain to support efforts to facilitate energy development on public lands — he said as much on the campaign trail — Hurd has an opportunity to demonstrate his commitment to the district by joining Zinke, a former secretary of the Interior, in opposing the sale of public lands.

As he campaigned for the job, Hurd crisscrossed an area of the state with an abundance of public lands. It should be clear to Hurd that Coloradans as a whole, and especially those of us who call the Western Slope home, have a deep, intimate relationship with the public lands in and around our communities.

These places provide clean water for drinking and agriculture, critical habitat for wildlife and opportunities for outdoor recreation that have come to define the Western Slope lifestyle.

The Third District has frequently been represented by people from both parties with strong conservation credentials.

During his 12-year tenure representing the 3rd, former Rep. Scott McInnis helped establish National Conservation Areas at the Gunnison Gorge and McInnis Canyons, both of which include wilderness within their boundaries.

McInnis was also the sponsor of the Spanish Peaks Wilderness Act and a co-sponsor of the Colorado Wilderness Act of 1993, which protected more than 600,000 acres of public lands across the state, including the establishment of the Sangre de Cristo and Powderhorn Wilderness areas and expanding the La Garita and South San Juan Wilderness areas on Colorado’s western slope.

Rep. Scott Tipton has the Hermosa Creek Wilderness and Chimney Rock National Monument to his credit. Even Rep. Lauren Boebert formally supported an effort to establish a National Conservation Area for the southern part of the Dolores River in Montezuma, Dolores and San Miguel Counties — though that bill didn’t receive a hearing in the House Natural Resources Committee during Rep. Boebert’s four years representing the Third District.

We’re hopeful that Hurd, like his predecessors, will recognize the enormous value of public lands to the citizens of Colorado and their critical importance to wildlife, recreation, agriculture and water storage, to name a few.

His support will be critical for keeping public lands in public hands and pushing back on extreme attempts at public lands seizure like we’ve seen by the state of Utah.