Protection

Our mission is to protect the wilderness, water, and wildlife of Western Colorado’s public lands.

Working hand-in-hand with our community and using strategic advocacy, we protect public lands and waters from threats such as industrial development, climate change, and short-term exploitation, but perhaps more important is what we protect public lands for – intact ecosystems, free-roaming wildlife, thriving biodiversity, a livable planet for current and future generations, and the awe inspired by wild places.

We’re always working towards permanent, legislative protection of wild places – knowing that in today’s political climate, even the most community-driven and supported proposals, can take years or decades to become reality. This is why you’ll often find us advocating for agency actions or interim measures on the long path to permanent protections. As the first Executive Director of the Sierra Club, David Brower, said “All of our victories are temporary, and all of our defeats are permanent.”

The path to permanent protection includes a wide spectrum of activities.

For example, our work to inventory and document public lands ensures we know them inside and out, allowing us to then advocate for increased protections through administration actions, agency planning processes, and other measures. And once we’ve built support from the community, we advocate for new federal designations, such as Wilderness, Wildlife Conservation Areas, National Monuments, or Wild and Scenic Rivers.