Press Releases

Roan Plateau, East Fork Falls December 2026 lease sale proposes drilling in priority wildlife habitat and ecologically significant landscapes FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 9, 2026 Contact: Richard Mylott, richard@wildernessworkshop.org RIFLE, Colo. — A coalition of western conservation organizations strongly condemned the Trump administration’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for proposing new oil and gas leases on Colorado’s iconic Roan Plateau today. Wilderness Workshop, Conservation Colorado, and The Wilderness Society warned that moving forward with new fossil fuel development threatens one of Colorado’s most biologically rich landscapes and undermines decades of collaborative planning, legal agreements, and public processes. The Roan [...]

Contact: Richard Mylott, richard@wildernessworkshop.org Date: May 12, 2026 Regarding today's Pitkin County Press Release It is a sad state of affairs when the Forest Service is no longer able to manage the Maroon Bells Scenic Area, one of the most iconic, beloved, and heavily visited landscapes in the West. While we are grateful to Pitkin County for backfilling an unthinkable gap created by the Trump Administration, it is time for our Congress to shake off its anemia and restore full funding for our public lands -- which we know is supported by the vast majority of Americans. We are fortunate [...]

Contact: Juli Slivka, Senior Director of Policy and Programs at Wilderness Workshop Date: April 2, 2026 The Trump Administration’s plan to shutter the Forest Service’s national headquarters, regional offices, and research and development facilities is a thinly veiled ploy to decimate our public lands by dismantling the agency that manages our national forests. “Relocating” the Forest Service headquarters to Utah will uproot, demoralize, and ultimately eliminate staff and expertise, as we saw when the first Trump administration employed the same ruthless strategy against the Bureau of Land Management. This sweeping and baseless reorganization will do real damage to our national [...]

Wilderness Workshop joins wildlife advocates in thanking Sen. Bennet and Rep. Neguse for leadership in opposing Berlaimont Estates access road. Contact: Peter Hart, Wilderness Workshop peter@wildernessworkshop.org; 303.475.4915 FOR RELEASE: March 24, 2026 Edwards, Colo. – Today, Wilderness Workshop joined community members from Eagle County, Colo., to support Senator Michael Bennet’s and Representative Joe Neguse’s introduction of legislation to prohibit the Forest Service from opening, improving, authorizing, permitting, or constructing a year-round road on public land located north of Edwards, Colorado. The legislation would also clarify that the existing unpaved, seasonal road provides adequate access to inholdings on the federal land [...]

Wilderness Workshop Statement on BLM E-bike proposal for the Colorado River Valley Field Office Today, the Bureau of Land Management’s Colorado River Valley Field Office (BLM CRVFO) announced a proposal to allow motorized mountain bikes, also known as e-bikes or eMTBs, on backcountry trails on our public lands – including many trails that human-powered recreationists such as mountain bikers and hikers have sought to keep non-motorized. This blanket approval would apply without exception to the more than 220 miles of designated mountain biking trails across the BLM field office in Eagle, Garfield, and Pitkin counties. This change threatens wildlife and [...]

Community members welcome Senator Bennet’s action on Berlaimont Estates in Edwards, Colo. Action to prohibit use of federal funding for paved road through National Forest a win for critical wildlife habitat and recreation in Eagle County Contact: Peter Hart, Wilderness Workshop peter@wildernessworkshop.org; 303.475.4915 FOR RELEASE: January 14, 2026 Edwards, Colo. – Today, Wilderness Workshop joined community members from across Eagle County, Colo., to celebrate Senator Michael Bennet’s introduction of an amendment to appropriations legislation preventing the use of federal funding for actions related to the permitting, approval, and/or construction of an access road across U.S. Forest Service lands in the White River National Forest. The proposed [...]

BLM oil and gas lease sales continue to insult Colorado’s communities and the highest value of our public lands Cut-rate lease sales disregard higher uses sustaining wildlife, recreation, and local economies FOR RELEASE: January, 8, 2026 Contact: Richard Mylott, Wilderness Workshop Communications Manager, 970.581.8244 | richard@wildernessworkshop.org DENVER – A series of recent BLM oil and gas lease sales across Colorado, and a rushed “replacement sale” of the same parcels, continue to demonstrate the fiscal and social irresponsibility of the Trump Administration’s effort to cheapen and giveaway public lands to the fossil fuel industry. On December 9, 2025, BLM Colorado held an [...]

Wilderness Workshop’s Annual Community Party Celebrates Hope in Public Lands Protection, and Plans for the Future For more information contact: Francis Sanzaro, Communications Director at Wilderness Workshop, francis@wildernessworkshop.org, 315.415.7861 May 22, 2025 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Carbondale, CO: On June 12th, in Sopris Park, Wilderness Workshop will be hosting its annual Community Party. This year’s party, from 5:30 – 8:30 p.m, will celebrate our incredible community and the beautiful public lands that surround our homes and towns. And, of course, we will eat some good food and dance in the park. The event is free and open to the public. [...]

Colorado Leaders Comment Senator Michael Bennet and Representative Joe Neguse's Perseverance with their Reintroduction of the CORE Act FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Thursday February 27, 2025 Contact: Francis Sanzaro, Wilderness Workshop Communications Director, 315.415.7861 | francis@wildernessworkshop.org Denver, CO – Conservation groups, outdoor recreation advocates, and local leaders across Colorado are celebrating the reintroduction of the Colorado Outdoor Recreation & Economy (CORE) Act in Congress. The bill, led by Senator Michael Bennet and Representative Joe Neguse, builds on over a decade of collaboration among local communities, businesses and stakeholders to safeguard Colorado’s outdoor heritage. “For years, Coloradans have broadly and consistently rallied [...]

‘Naturalist Nights’ Speaker Series Set to Launch in January, Addresses Variety of Environmental Topics‘Naturalist Nights’ Speaker Series Set to Launch in January, Addresses Variety of Environmental Topics FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Francis Sanzaro, Wilderness Workshop Communications Director, 315-415-7861 | francis@wildernessworkshop.org, or Morgan Gosda, ACES Communications Director, 205-886-8428 | mgosda@aspennature.org Carbondale, Colorado, December 12, 2024 — The long-running speaker series Naturalist Nights is set to launch in early January. Addressing a variety of environmental topics, the series is a collaboration between Wilderness Workshop, Aspen Center for Environmental Studies (ACES) and Roaring Fork Audubon. The first lecture is on January 8th and 9th, [...]