With rolling fields of sage, spectacular alpine wildflowers, and subalpine forests, Gunnison County is quintessential Colorado. The Gunnison Basin boasts some of the state’s most productive big game units, a long heritage of family ranching operations, and world-class outdoor recreation opportunities.  Senator Michael Bennet’s Gunnison Outdoor Resources Protection (GORP) Act will protect and enhance key portions of this incredible landscape for generations of future Coloradans through a variety of public land management tools, including special designations focused on recreation, wildlife, scientific research, and conservation.

 

The GORP Act was developed through a decade of local, grassroots work. Responding to constituent requests for public lands protection in the Gunnison Basin, Senator Bennet invited local public land user groups to work together to develop a common vision for the future of public lands in the Basin. In response, the Gunnison County Commissioners assembled local ranchers, sportsmen, conservation groups, mountain bikers, motorized users, and water interests to work with community members and public land stakeholders across the region to develop a legislative proposal for Senator Bennet. This grassroots working group became known as the Gunnison Public Lands Initiative (GPLI).

 

GPLI has met extensively to develop a consensus-based proposal for public lands protection and to vet their proposal with the public and stakeholders on the ground. Their proposal was built on the commonly-held belief among group members that public land recreation, conservation, hunting, fishing, and ranching form the fabric of the Gunnison Basin’s culture, economy, and way of life. We are proud to support the GORP Act and work diligently to pass it in Congress, so public lands in the Gunnison Country will be protected for generations to come.