Colorado Wilderness Act of 2019

Floor Speech

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Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Chairman, I would like to thank my friend from Idaho for yielding.

The legislation before us today represents the same failed policies that have caused recent fire seasons to be some of the worst on record. Over 1.5 million acres of new wilderness is created by this bill.

Mr. Chairman, a wilderness designation is the most restrictive land classification that can be levied by the Federal Government. Wilderness designations such as these greatly hinder Federal and local agencies' ability to actively manage our forests, which greatly enhances the risk of catastrophic wildfires.

Just yesterday, I hosted a roundtable with stakeholders from across the West representing local governments, State governments, animal conservation groups, and private companies that are developing groundbreaking technologies to help us fight the threat of catastrophic fire. Every participant in the panel spoke to the importance of actively managing our forests.

Wildfire prevention saves money, human lives, and protects vital wildlife habitats. Passage of this bill puts all of that at risk.

This legislation also represents another attempt by the majority to legislate in other Members' districts without their support. I especially want to highlight the provisions in this bill dealing particularly with Colorado.

The vast majority of the 700,000 acres of new wilderness created by this bill in Colorado is located in Mr. Tipton's district and Mr. Lamborn's district. Neither of these Members support this legislation.

This is a continuation of legislation previously taken up by this House restricting mining in my district that I did not support and attempts by the other side to restrict mining in northern Minnesota and oil and gas development in ANWR completely against the wishes of local Members of Congress as well as people back home.

Legislation like this before us today flies in the face of what public lands legislation should be. It should be locally driven and benefit those who live closest to those lands.

This legislation does none of that. Instead, it applies a top-down approach to land management, with decrees being levied from Washington, D.C., without the input of local stakeholders.

Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to oppose this disastrous legislation.

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