Colorado Wildlife Federation Department of Interior Secretary Sally Jewell issued her first Secretarial Order on October 31, 2013. She focused on engaging youth in the “great outdoors” and on balancing development and conservation on public lands. The Secretary also noted the importance of the Land and Water Conservation Fund and the need to fully fund it. (it is funded with revenues from offshore oil and gas development.)
CWF applauds her intent to “ensure that whenever our public lands or resources are impacted by development activity, that we are also considering how to mitigate those impacts at a landscape level through strategic conservation and restoration.” She continued: ” Part of the answer is encouraging development in the right ways and in the right places. Part of the answer is recognizing that there are some places that are too special to develop.” This language is consistent with CWF’s philosophy and actions to protect important wildlife habitat on public lands.