FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 21, 2019
DENVER—Today, Colorado Governor Jared Polis will sign an executive order directing Colorado Parks and Wildlife, the Department of Natural Resources, and the Department of Transportation to research, identify, and execute projects that conserve wildlife migration corridors and big game winter range. In response, the Center for Western Priorities released the following statement from Executive Director Jennifer Rokala:
“At a time when we are losing more and more wildland to development and wildlife are feeling the crunch of climate change, it is critical that we protect wildlife corridors. Colorado has been a leader in conserving our natural heritage for future generations, and today’s announcement by Governor Polis ensures that the state will continue to lead in wildlife conservation.
“With the Trump administration doing everything in its power to strip wildlife protections and promote drilling and mining on our public lands, leadership at the state level is absolutely critical. Thankfully, with actions like the one today, Colorado and other Western states are stepping up to conserve our public lands, water, and wildlife.”
According to the Center for American Progress, from 2001 to 2017 the United States lost a football field worth of natural area every 30 seconds, or a total of roughly 24 million acres within that time frame. A recently released report from the United Nations found human activity has put 1 million animal and plant species at risk of extinction, more than at any point in human history.
For more information, visit westernpriorities.org. To speak with an expert on public lands, contact Aaron Weiss at 720-279-0019 or aaron@westernpriorities.org. Sign up for Look West to get daily public lands and energy news sent to your inbox.