The Thompson Divide Coalition

Over 73,500 individuals and organizations submitted public comments to the Bureau of Land Management recently. The agency is currently evaluating an application to withdraw the Thompson Divide from extraction activity for 20 years. The next step in this process will be a U.S. Forest Service National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) analysis, including receiving more public comments in 2023.

Visit www.thompsondivide.org and sign up for our newsletter. We'll keep you informed of the process and what's up next for protecting this special area.

TODAY, Wednesday, Dec. 14., the U.S. Forest Service and BLM will host an important informational Open House at the Carbondale Fire Department. There are two sessions - one at 5pm and one at 6pm. Please join in. Your support is important!

Today, DOI and USDA are also announcing steps to conserve the Thompson Divide area in western Colorado, one of the state’s most cherished landscapes. In response to broad concerns about protecting Thompson Divide’s important wildlife habitat, recreation opportunities, grazing lands and clean air and water, the administration is proposing a 20-year withdrawal of the Thompson Divide area from disposition under the public land laws, mining laws, and mineral and geothermal leasing laws, subject to valid existing rights.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Forest Service have jointly submitted the withdrawal petition and application to Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland. Secretary Haaland’s acceptance of the petition and publication of a notice in the Federal Register will initiate a two-year segregation that will prohibit new mining claims and the issuance of new Federal mineral leases on approximately 225,000 acres in the Thompson Divide area. During this time, the BLM and Forest Service will seek public comment, and conduct a science-based environmental analysis of the impacts of a 20-year withdrawal.

FACT SHEET: President Biden Designates Camp Hale – Continental Divide National Monument | The White House Departments of Agriculture and the Interior Also Take Steps to Conserve Thompson Divide; Administration Announces Inflation Reduction Act Funding to Address Drought in the Colorado River Basin As part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to protect, conserve, and restore our country’s...