Colorado Wilderness Act of 2021

Floor Speech

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Mrs. BOEBERT. Mr. Speaker, I thank the ranking member for yielding. I rise today to oppose the latest Democrat land grab, in the form of H.R. 803.

This bill, which is actually eight bills piled into one, adds nearly 1.5 million acres of new wilderness and permanently withdraws 1.2 million acres from mineral production. Seriously? This is the approach we are taking?

Democrats want to stop mineral production, lock up our lands, and depend on our enemies in Russia, Saudi Arabia, and China for our energy, all while pretending to be green.

It is unacceptable to outsource our energy development to countries that often use child and slave labor. We literally have children mining in Congo with their bare hands to appease these not-in-my-backyard extremists.

Speaking of backyards, Mr. Speaker, the sponsor of title I in this bill doesn't have a single acre designated as new wilderness in her district, yet title I alone locks up 510,000 acres in my district. The Grand Junction Chamber sent me a letter opposing this, stating: These are lands that are literally in our backyard in Mesa County, yet Congresswoman DeGette continues to ignore us, does not meet with us, and does not even consider the consequences of her bill on the hardworking families of our district.

Could anyone here imagine me legislating away any part of Denver or Boulder? The Member who authored title I's attack on my district simply responds to doubts and concerns by inviting D.C. swampers to my district on horseback to look at the pretty views, and then they call it a day.

Dolores County is mentioned several times in this massive land grab. The locals, elected officials, and experts have expressed their disdain for this bill repeatedly over the years, with no regard from the bill's sponsors.

After the past year of statewide lockdowns, the last thing communities in my district need is further restrictions imposed by the Federal Government on what they can do on public lands. Mr. Speaker, the majority is silencing the people of my district in order to ram through a 3 million-acre land grab.

Have supporters of this legislation considered the disastrous wildfires that will result from the new wilderness designation and other land grabs in this bill? Wilderness is the most restrictive land use designation possible. It prevents active management of our forests, which is critical for mitigation against catastrophic wildfires. If we don't manage our forests, Mother Nature will continue to manage them for us.

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