MOUNTAIN COMMUNITIES FOR
ENVIRONMENTAL & ECONOMIC RESILIENCE
Through an innovative lens The Mountain Pact, which was founded in 2014, educates, empowers, and mobilizes local elected officials in over 100 Western mountain communities with outdoor recreation based economies to speak with a collective voice on federal climate, public lands, and outdoor recreation policy.
““The Mountain Pact has been a particularly effective partner to the town of Basalt in prior initiatives that will protect federal lands, will protect biodiversity, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and they are an organization and institution that deserves our support.””
THE MOUNTAIN PACT NEWS
Over 100 Western Local Elected Officials Sign-On to Thank the Bureau of Land Management for Final Public Lands Rule
The Mountain Pact ad ran in the Grand Junction Sentinel in July thanking the BLM for the Public Lands Rule
On June 11, 2014, The Mountain Pact, and over 100 Western U.S. county commissioners, mayors, and council members, sent a letter to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) thanking them for the recent finalization or a “Public Lands Rule.” The letter states: As “local elected officials, who represent communities across the Western U.S., are writing to commend you for the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) final Public Lands Rule which will provide a more balanced approach to public lands management for the West. Doing so will protect some of our communities’ important wildlife habitat, treasured recreation areas, critical water resources, and Indigenous cultural sites.”
Western Local Elected Officials Applaud Final Bureau of Land Management Public Lands Rule
Durango, Colorado - Today, county commissioners, mayors, and council members, along with The Mountain Pact, an organization that works with local elected officials across the West, responded in support of an announcement from the Department of Interior of a final “Public Lands Rule.” According to the agency, this is an “update to its regulations that will guide balanced management of America's public lands now and for the future.”
The Mountain Pact brought on over half of the over 100 signers on a letter from over 100 elected officials from across Colorado to all leadership and members of the U.S. House of Representatives in support of the Bureau of Land Management’s proposed Oil and Gas Rule, and urging them to vote against H.R. 6009, the Restoring American Energy Dominance Act, introduced by Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO). The bill, which the Colorado leaders ranging from mayors to county commissioners to state senators call “harmful,” would withdraw the BLM Oil and Gas Rule and prevent agency efforts to try for a similar rule again. The House is expected to hold a floor vote on H.R. 6009 soon. Read more in the release here and the final letter here. The letter was covered by Newsweek, E&E, and Westword.
REPORT: National Monuments - the Heart of the WEst
The Vital Role of National Monuments to Western Local Elected Officials and Communities
The Mountain Pact, a coalition of local elected officials in over 100 Western mountain communities, released a new report highlighting the conservation and economic benefits of national monuments in states across the West. The report includes statements and praise from over 50 county commissioners, mayors, and council members, highlighting the importance of the national monuments in their communities and urging the Biden administration to work to designate and protect additional public lands – with spotlights on new national monuments President Biden could designate or expand.
In March 2024, Chair of the Pitkin County Commission & descendant of a 10th Mountain Division solider, Greg Poschman, testified today in a House Federal Land Subcommittee hearing. He spoke in support of the Antiquities Act & national monuments like Camp Hale-Continental Divide. Thank you so much, Commissioner Poschman!
You can watch his testimony here.
The Mountain Pact Celebrates the Designations of Two New National Monuments!
In two weeks, President Biden has used his authority under the Antiquities Act to designate two new national monuments.
On Tuesday, July 25, on what would have been Emmett Till's 82nd birthday, President Biden designated Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument. In 1955, 14-year-old Emmett Till’s kidnapping & murder, along with the courageous response of his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, to hold an open casket funeral for her son, catalyzed the American Civil Rights Movement. The monument in their honor spans three sites in Illinois and Mississippi, marking locations that are a crucial and powerful part of America’s civil rights history.
On Tuesday, August 8, President Biden designated the Tribally-led Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni - Ancestral Footprints of Grand Canyon National Monument in Arizona. This action will protect lands around the Grand Canyon region and watershed, which has cultural connections to at least 12 Tribes and Nations. Indigenous people have inhabited and stewarded these lands since time immemorial. Many cultural resources and sites that are significant and sacred to Native peoples remain in the area, serve as their libraries and records, and testify to their continuous presence.
Chair of the Eagle County Commission, Kathy Chandler-Henry, testified in a House Committee on Natural Resources hearing - she spoke out in support of the Bureau of Land Management Public Lands Rule.
New Mexico Local Elected Officials Call for a Strong Public Lands Rule
Ahead of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) proposed Public Land Rule public meeting in Albuquerque in May 2023, The Mountain Pact released statements from New Mexico Local elected officials urging the BLM to prioritize the conservation of our shared public lands.
Over 80 Colorado Local Officials Call for More Protections for Bureau of Land Management Lands and URGE THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION TO ADOPT A STRONG PUBLIC LANDS RULE
On May 23, 2023, the Mountain Pact released a letter signed by over 80 Colorado local elected officials urging the BLM to “prioritize the conservation of our shared public lands.” The letter is in response to a March 30 announcement from the Department of Interior of a draft “Public Lands Rule which lays the groundwork for conserving wildlife habitat, restoring places impacted by wildfire and drought, expanding outdoor recreation, and thoughtful development.”
On Tuesday, March 21, at the Conservation in Action Summit in Washington, D.C., President Biden designated Avi Kwa Ame in southern Nevada and Castner Range in west Texas as national monuments!
Anna Peterson, Executive Director of The Mountain Pact was invited to attend the Conservation Summit and was in attendance (behind Senators Rosen, Cortez-Masto, and Representatives Titus, Lee, and Escobar).
The Mountain Pact sent out this media release on Tuesday which had quotes that were included in the White House’s What They are Saying wrap up.
We had a Mountain Pact ad run in the Las Vegas Review Journal and Reno Gazette Journal today thanking President Biden; Senators Cortez Masto and Rosen; and Representatives Titus and Lee for protecting and designating Avi Kwa Ame.
President Biden’s commitment to saving more nature will continue to require bold action. In his first two years as president, he and his administration have accomplished many forward-looking climate, land, water, air, and wildlife protective actions. Yet, with an almost evenly split Congress, more congressional protections are unlikely, and President Biden and his administration must recognize the time-sensitive need to do more.
Hundreds of western local elected officials have been calling on the president and his administration to follow through on many of his campaign promises including to “establish national parks and monuments that reflect America’s natural heritage.”
The Biden administration can achieve its goal of protecting more nature by using the Antiquities Act to create new national monuments. Community-based solutions, like locally-led national monument efforts, can protect archeological, historical, and cultural resources; ensure more equitable access to nature; address the climate crisis; restore America’s biodiversity and wildlife; and begin to reckon with historic and present social injustices.
THANK YOU AD
On Sunday, November 13, via an ad in the Denver Post, over 100 Colorado mountain community local elected officials thanked President Biden, Senators Bennet and Hickenlooper, Representative Neguse, and Governor Polis for their leadership to permanently protect Camp Hale-Continental Divide National Monument!
THANK YOU LETTER
On November 10, 2022, The Mountain Pact sent a letter signed by 106 Colorado mountain community county commissioners, mayors, and council members thanking the Biden administration for designating Camp Hale-Continental Divide National Monument to protect Camp Hale, the Tenmile Range and its rich history while helping communities that depend on outdoor recreation and sustainable public lands succeed. They also thanked the administration for initiating consideration of a 20-year withdrawal of the Thompson Divide area from new oil and gas leasing and mining.
We are honored to have so many quotes from our media release from local elected officials who participate with The Mountain Pact included in the White House’s "What the Are Saying" celebrating the designation of Camp Hale-Continental Divide National Monument!
Over 120 Western Local Officials Call for More Protections for Bureau of Land Management Lands
Officials Urge the Biden Administration to Take Administrative Action as Part of the America the Beautiful Initiative
On May 24, 2022, The Mountain Pact released a letter signed by 123 local elected officials from Western states that calls on the Biden administration to protect more Bureau of Land Management lands as part of the administration’s America the Beautiful initiative.
The letter, signed by county commissioners, mayors, and council members from U.S. Western states, urges the Department of Interior and Bureau of Land Management to “do all that it can through administrative processes to better restore, conserve, and protect our nation’s important public lands and waters in tandem with locally-led efforts.”
Meeting with National Park Director Chuck Sams III
Western U.S. local elected officials from The Mountain Pact network were honored to meet with National Park Service Director Chuck Sams III, National Park Service staff & U.S. Department of the Interior staff in May 2022 to discuss impacts of national parks to gateway communities. We thank Director Sams for taking so much time to meet with us and look forward to doing more to protect our lands, waters, and wildlife through this locally-led and collaborative effort.
New Fact Sheets Highlight the Bi-Partisan Nature of National Monument Designations
Western Local Elected Officials Celebrate National Monuments in Their Backyards and Call on President Biden to Designate More National Monuments as Part of the America the Beautiful Initiative
In April 2022, The Mountain Pact, released fact sheets highlighting the nearly 100 national monuments in ten Western states that were designated by an equal number of Republican and Democratic presidents through the use of the Antiquities Act. The factsheets come after the Mountain Pact sent a letter to the Biden administration signed by over 115 Western local elected officials thanking the administration for the America the Beautiful initiative; restoring Bears Ears, Grand Staircase-Escalante, and Northeast Canyons and Seamounts national monuments; and urging the president to use the Antiquities Act to protect more lands as national monuments.
Our western communities are burning, flooding and drying up. Wildfires, now year-round, are forcing people to evacuate as entire neighborhoods burn to the ground. Flooding and mudslides have overwhelmed towns and forced major highways to close. Smoke-filled air has socked in many cities for months, while the drought has dried up our rivers and caused our national forests to close. Heatwaves have caused temperatures to increase to levels never seen before, killing hundreds of people.
This isn’t a disaster movie - it’s devastating and real. These climate emergency events are deadly and incredibly expensive for local communities.
Local elected leaders and two-thirds of Americans want climate action now. National leaders need to take and support prudent and pragmatic steps to prevent more climate disasters. While I commend the Biden administration for taking this first step by raising royalty rates, I urge it to take bold and permanent action to address the climate crisis’ costly impacts that are devastating our communities.
The White House covered The Mountain Pact statement in support of President Joe Biden’s April 2022 “America the Beautiful Challenge” announcement a project that will dedicate $1 billion to support & accelerate locally led conservation & restoration projects.
115 Western Local Elected Officials Urge President Biden to use the Antiquities Act to Protect More Lands
In mid December, 2021, The Mountain Pact released a letter addressed to the administration thanking them for the restoration of Bears Ears, Grand Staircase-Escalante, and Northeast Canyons and Seamounts national monuments. It also urges President Joe Biden to use the Antiquities Act to protect more lands as national monuments as part of the America The Beautiful initiative.
The letter is signed by over 115 Western state legislators, county commissioners, mayors, and council members, with representatives from all 11 Western states.
Quotes included are from County Commissioners from Grand County, Utah, and Clark County, Nevada; the Mayors of Aspen, Colorado and Santa Fe, New Mexico; as well as the Mayor Pro Tem of Las Cruces, New Mexico.
The Mountain Pact Supports the Restoration of National Monuments
The Mountain Pact released media statements in support of the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition's response to the President's signing three proclamations that restore protections to Bears Ears, Grand Staircase-Escalante, and Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine national monuments after protections were stripped away by President Trump. The White House highlighted our statement in its media release.
America the Beautiful Report
The Mountain Pact released a report that highlights examples from all eleven Western states on what Western mountain communities are doing to conserve nature and contribute to the America the Beautiful Initiative. The report offers recommendations for on-the-ground conservation work, policy recommendations, as well as new strategies and projects to help achieve the goals of the America the Beautiful effort.
Meeting with Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland
Western U.S. local elected officials from The Mountain Pact network were honored to meet with Secretary Deb Haaland & U.S. Department of the Interior officials in May 2021 to discuss the community-based & inclusive America The Beautiful Initiative & what protecting more lands & waters can mean for communities. We thank Madam Secretary for taking so much time to meet with us and look forward to doing more to protect our lands, waters, and wildlife through this locally-led and collaborative effort.
See Town/City/County Resolutions in support of the pause to new oil and gas leasing on public lands and protecting 30% of our lands & waters by 2030 through the America the Beautiful Initiative - Public Lands Conservation.
Letter to President Biden signed by over 140 Mountain Pact network Western U.S. local elected officials.
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““The Mountain Pact has brought us the ability to reach out to a broader audience and find like-minded communities.””