Colorado Wildlife Federation The Colorado Senate passed 16-160 on March 31, a bill that would try to impose state concurrent jurisdiction over public lands managed by the US Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management. It passed on a party line vote 18-17. While purporting to address wildlifes, the language goes much further, providing, “The jurisdictional right of the state and its political subdivisions to mitigate potential risks to life and to the public health and safety should not be fettered by an intrusive and uncooperative federal bureaucracy.” This bill is another attempt (similiar to last year which failed) to embed into law the extreme displeasure by some legislators with federal management of public lands, and therefore, to undermine management of these lands by BLM and US Forest Service.
The bill now moves to the House.