Our public lands are under attack. Let’s do something about it.

Welcome to the Conservation Watchdog action center – we’re glad to have you with us in this fight. Our public lands are under attack, but you can get involved and make a difference. The Trump administration has made it clear that energy dominance is their priority above all else, jeopardizing our clean air, water, wild places and way of life in western Colorado. It’s time for our community to stand up to defend the places we love.

On this page, you’ll find information about national threats most likely to affect our local public lands and shared environment as well as tools to join us in the fight. This work is going to take all of us, and Wilderness Workshop will keep you in the loop on ways you can continue to speak up and push back.

Below we’ve compiled some helpful resources to help you get started.

Oil and Gas Leasing on our Public Lands

The “One Big Beautiful Bill” that just passed Congress curtails the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) ability to say “no” to making public lands available for oil and gas leasing, including in response to local concerns. Under the bill, the BLM must make available for lease any eligible parcel of public land nominated by industry, including lands that have conflicts with other public lands resources, such as wildlife habitat and recreation areas. This risks disregarding the concerns of local communities, counties, states, hunters, anglers, recreationists and ranchers. Colorado is beginning to see the impacts of this bill that gives away control of millions of acres of our public lands to the oil and gas industry, costing tens of millions in royalty revenue to Coloradan taxpayers. Industry has already nominated 150,000 acres of Colorado’s public lands for oil and gas leasing in 2025 alone, so we can expect these lease sales to continue growing in size and conflict.

Repealing the Public Lands Rule

The Trump administration is repealing the Public Lands Rule, which is a framework for managing Bureau of Land Management (BLM) public lands that put conservation on equal footing with other multiple uses such as energy extraction and development. This rule established that conservation, access to nature, protection of cultural resources, wildlife preservation and climate change mitigation are just as important as energy development. Without the Public Lands Rule in place, the BLM will lose important tools for conserving our public lands for present and future generations.

Logging our National Forests

The Trump administration has issued a series of orders aimed at drastically increasing logging on our national forests. These orders include direction to the Forest Service to increase timber production, increase forest land offered for timber sales, streamline processes and expedite timelines for timber sales. One alarming memo, from the Secretary of Agriculture, unilaterally makes an “Emergency Situation Determination” for more than 100 million acres of national forest land. This determination enables the Forest Service to shortcut environmental review, public participation and judicial review for logging and other timber harvest activities.

Attacks on the National Environmental Policy Act

The Trump administration has repealed almost all regulations implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), our nation’s most important law for scrutinizing the environmental impacts of proposed actions and ensuring the public has opportunities to participate in decisions affecting our shared environment. Rolling back these regulations will drastically limit the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management’s ability to thoroughly assess the impacts of harmful projects on our public lands, take actions to protect wildlife, water and wilderness from those impacts, and include local communities in those decisions. For example, many projects on our local public lands, such as oil and gas drilling and timber harvest, can be exempted from public participation under the new procedures. Congress is also proposing legislation to significantly weaken NEPA under the guise of “permitting reform.”

1) Contact your elected officials

One of the most important things you can do to push back against the Trump agenda is to contact your federal elected officials and remind them these initiatives are not in Colorado’s best interest. A quick phone call or short email, letting them know you want them to stand strong for public lands, can make a meaningful difference. If you live in western Colorado, we’ve compiled contact info for your members of Congress. If you do not live in western Colorado, please visit this link to find your members of Congress.

Senator Michael Bennet
(202)-224-5852
Send an email

Senator John Hickenlooper
(202)-224-5941
Send an email

Representative Joe Neguse (CO-2)
(202) 225-2161
Send an email

Representative Jeff Hurd (CO-3)
(202) 225-4676
Send an email

In addition to voicing your concerns with the issues described above, here are some important messages to emphasize when speaking with members of Congress or their staff:

  • Trump’s energy dominance agenda is out of step with public sentiment in Colorado. Nearly 76% of Coloradans prefer that leaders place more emphasis on protecting water, air, wildlife habitat and recreation opportunities over maximizing the amount of land available for drilling and mining (2025 State of the Rockies Polling).
  • Protected public lands are the backbone of Colorado’s economy and way of life. According to the Colorado Outdoor Recreation Industry Office, outdoor recreation contributes more than $62 billion to our state’s economy and supports over 500,000 jobs, or 18% of our workforce.
  • Colorado’s public lands are home to some of our state’s most important wildlife habitat, treasured recreation areas, wildlands that should be protected for future generations, critical water resources, famed Colorado scenery and Indigenous cultural sites. We shouldn’t sacrifice these values for short-term gain.

2) Write a letter to the editor

Writing letters to the editor is another important way to speak up for our public lands and get the attention of important decision makers like elected officials, including our members of Congress. These are letters that a community member writes to the editor of a paper to increase the public’s awareness of a specific issue, and they can make a big difference. Letters to the editor are also a great way to demonstrate where public sentiment lies.

For example, if you read an article about President Trump’s cuts to the federal workforce, you can write a letter to the editor in response voicing your perspective on why those actions are harmful to our public lands and communities. Typically, news outlets provide contact information for submitting a letter to the editor on their website under submissions.

When writing a letter to the editor, here are some tips to consider:

  • Be clear and concise. Many newspapers will have word counts you’ll need to follow, so make sure you’re effectively communicating your point within the parameters you have.
  • Personalize it. Our personal stories or connection to an issues will always be the most powerful persuaders
  • Make it timely and relevant. Can you connect this issue to anything else going on in the news? Can you draw a local connection to a national issue? That may increase your chances of publication.
  • Cite any relevant data or studies. Bolstering your argument with these lends credibility to you as the author.
  • End with an ask or call to action. This is a great way to inspire action and get more people involved in your cause.

If you would like additional support for writing a letter to the editor, reach out to Wilderness Workshop’s Advocacy Director Erin Riccio at erin@wildernessworkshop.org

Defend the Roadless Rule: Urge Congress to Codify Roadless Protections!

  • The Trump administration is proposing a rollback of the 2001 Roadless Rule, jeopardizing nearly 58 million acres of undeveloped backcountry forest managed by the Forest Service. Thankfully, there’s a bill in Congress that would codify the Roadless Rule so that our nation’s roadless areas have permanent protections. Contact Representative Hurd asking him to condemn this latest attack on public lands and to co-sponsor the Roadless Area Conservation Act of 2025, and contact Senator Hickenlooper, Senator Bennet, and Representative Neguse to thank them for their leadership in co-sponsoring this legislation.

Tell Colorado’s Members of Congress to Oppose the Fix Our Forests Act

  • Our forests are under attack from problematic legislation being proposed in both the House and Senate. Wrongly dubbed the ‘Fix Our Forests Act,’ the bill would open the door to increased logging, tie the hands of individuals attempting to hold the federal agencies accountable, and gut critical environmental laws like Endangered Species Act and the National Environmental Policy Act. Please let our Senators and Congressmen know that Coloradans oppose the Fix Our Forest Act.

Don’t let Congress abandon wildlife: Urge your legislators to oppose weakening the Endangered Species Act!

  • Congress is actively considering legislation that would eviscerate the Endangered Species Act, accelerating the extinction crisis and grievously harming America’s wildlife. Send a letter to our Members of Congress asking them to oppose H.R. 1897, Representative Bruce Westernman’s (R-Ark.) ESA Amendments Act.

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Support Colorado’s Senators in voting NO on Steve Pearce for BLM Director!

The Trump administration has nominated notoriously anti-public lands former Congressman Steve Pearce to be the Director of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), jeopardizing the 245 million acres of public lands the agency oversees. Mr. Pearce’s record in Congress, including his public support for selling off America’s public lands, his conflicts of interest with the oil and gas industry, and his efforts to undermine national monuments and the Antiquities Act, demonstrates that he is the wrong candidate to lead this complex multiple-use agency.

We’re grateful that Colorado’s Senators have both announced that they will vote against Pearce’s nomination. Please thank Senator Hickenlooper and Senator Bennet for their leadership in opposing this reckless nomination!