National perspectives and decision-making on public land continue to create pressure for state and local governments and organizations. Attempts this year to include provisions in federal legislation for selling public lands to private developers, ostensibly for housing and energy development, received bipartisan opposition from the public and from Colorado elected politicians, including District 3 representative Jeff Hurd (R) and senators John Hickenlooper and Michael Bennet (D).
November and December have seen multiple developments around land and environmental issues. One way Roaring Fork Valley governments have responded to national legislative attempts to privatize lands is by partnering with local and national nonprofits to purchase private property or federally-owned public land to designate as county or city-owned wilderness.
Two recent purchases in the region include the 20-acre Busher Claim and 650-acre Snowmass Falls Ranch, both in the Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness. The Busher Claim is located in the upper Castle Creek valley, close to the seasonal four-wheel-drive Pearl Pass Road, which connects Pitkin and Gunnison counties. While the Busher purchase was completed by a national nonprofit, The Wilderness Land Trust, the organization intends to transfer it to fully public ownership by having it designated as wilderness when the United States Forest Service is able to acquire it. The process is expected to take two to three years.
The latter is located close to Snowmass Village, and has long been a negotiated access point for recreationalists to pass through for Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness. Pitkin County partnered with The Wilderness Land Trust this year to purchase the land for $34 million. Once the property is passed into Forest Service ownership, over 600 of the 650 acres are expected to be officially added to the Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness area designation. The White River National Forest has noted the land package as its top priority for 2026, but Pitkin County representatives confirmed that it is committed to protecting the property regardless of how long it takes to transfer to Forest Service ownership and management.
On the state level, Colorado lawmakers introduced many bills in 2025 that would affect outdoor conservation, recreation and wildfire management. On Dec. 2, following the record 43-day government shutdown, the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources held a hearing on over two dozen public lands bills under consideration.
Some of the legislation that affects Colorado include the CORE Act, which would create new wilderness areas along the Continental Divide and in southwestern Colorado as well as remove areas near Thompson Divide from future mineral and oil and gas leasing. The CORE Act remains under consideration by the Senate subcommittee. It is sponsored by Colorado’s entire national Democratic representation in both the House and Senate.
Senator Bennet’s signature piece of legislation, the Gunnison Outdoor Resource Protection (GORP) Act, has not yet received a Senate hearing, and also requires further procedure from House committees before it can proceed. It aims to protect over 730,000 acres of land in Colorado, including expanding wilderness areas in Pitkin County.
Competing bills for wildfire mitigation were among those considered in the Senate subcommittee hearing. The Cross-Boundary Wildfire Solutions Act and Western Wildfire Support Act respectively propose a study on federal programs inhibiting wildfire mitigation and increasing funding and training for federal and local firefighters. The controversial Fix Our Forests Act is closest to congressional approval. Senator Hickenlooper is among the bill’s sponsors; it is supported by all of Colorado’s House Republican representatives and opposed by three state Democrat representatives as well as Senator Bennet. The bill’s language around wildfire management and restoration work has been debated by stakeholders, and it includes stipulations for minimizing the review and approval process for logging initiatives.
Locally, the Roaring Fork Public Land and Water Forum, founded by area governments and nonprofits this past spring, will become part of the Roaring Fork Outdoor Coalition in coming months. The group will continue its work of regional information campaigns and filling in gaps from federal Forest Service layoffs and budget restrictions.
On Jan. 7 and 8, public lands take center stage in the first of Wilderness Workshop and Aspen Center for Environmental Studies’ 2026 Naturalist Nights series. Former White River National Forest supervisor Scott Fitzwilliams and local journalist Elizabeth Stewart-Severy will discuss threats to public lands and public and local options for addressing these concerns. Fitzwilliams retired earlier this year as part of the Trump administration’s Deferred Resignation Program after serving as the local supervisor for 15 years; this will be the first time he has publicly commented following his retirement. Stewart-Severy reports on local environmental issues through Aspen Journalism. The free presentations, titled “A Crisis of the Commons, Uncovering the Impacts of Federal Neglect of Public Lands,” will be held at the Third Street Center and Hallam Lake at 6pm on consecutive evenings.