Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper, a member of the Senate’s Energy and Natural Resources Committee which oversees confirmation of the next Secretary of the Interior, met today with nominee Deb Haaland. The pair discussed a number of shared priorities, including growing the outdoor recreation economy, responsibly protecting and conserving natural resources, ensuring outdoor spaces are accessible for all — especially for communities of color — and working in a bipartisan way to get things done.
Hickenlooper specifically emphasized the importance of maintaining a headquarters for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in Grand Junction and invited Haaland to visit the area to hear from the community first-hand. The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hold a hearing on Haaland’s nomination in the coming weeks.
“Congresswoman Haaland is a historic nominee for Interior Secretary. She has a deep understanding and lived experience of how policy impacts our most vulnerable communities. And she shares Colorado’s love for the outdoors, a commitment to bipartisanship, and a desire to expand access to our public lands and boost our outdoor recreation economy,” Hickenlooper said following the meeting. “Given these shared values, I made the case that, done correctly, we can better protect and manage our public lands by having a BLM headquarters out west. I look forward to working with her when she’s confirmed as Interior Secretary to make this a reality.”
Yesterday, Hickenlooper met with Western Colorado economic development leaders who support keeping the BLM headquarters in Grand Junction.
Hickenlooper and Senator Michael Bennet have made the case to President Biden that “a full [BLM] headquarters in Colorado would not only grow the Western Colorado economy, but also send an important signal that rural America is an appropriate place for such a prestigious institution.” As Governor, Hickenlooper advocated for the BLM to move its headquarters to Grand Junction, touting the economic benefits it would bring to the state.