Helicopters allow Colorado Parks and Wildlife biologists to fly low enough to photograph and effectively count herds of elk and deer as they make their annual assessment of big game herds. (Courtesy of Colorado Parks and Wildlife)
Google “Project 2025.” It’s a 920-page manifesto for a potential second Trump administration that has something (bad) for everyone, but our great public lands estate is put in particular peril. Like most elk (and other) hunters in Western states, I depend on public lands for hunting, hiking, camping and outdoor recreation in general. But more importantly, wildlife species like elk, deer, turkeys and dozens of others need that habitat for their survival.
As my friend David “ Elkheart ” Petersen (a former U.S. Marine Corps helicopter pilot) explains, “If you want to hunt, first you have to have animals to hunt. And if you want animals, first they’ve got to have habitat to live in. So, if you’re not trying to protect habitat and improve it and increase it, then you’re working against yourself as a hunter.”
Recently I was interviewed by Marshall Zelinger from 9News about the potential impacts of Project 2025 on public lands in Colorado. “David Lien, a Colorado hunter-conservationist … is concerned about the elk herds in Colorado,” Zelinger said . Former Trump administration Bureau of Land Management Acting Director William Perry Pendley was interviewed, too. He wrote the Department of Interior section of Project 2025.
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A July 19 High Country News story — “ Project 2025’s extreme vision for the West ” — noted that Pendley is “ a vociferous opponent of protections for public lands and wildlife .”
“Pendley is … outspoken about wanting to do away with the Antiquities Act, which allows presidents to designate national monuments like President Obama did with Browns Canyon in 2015 and President Biden did with Camp Hale in 2022,” Zelinger explained.
In a July 9 Colorado Newsline commentary — “ Project 2025 is coming for our public lands ” — I added, “Pendley is an anti-public lands zealot and a dire threat to our great public lands hunting and angling heritage.”
The Department of Interior section of Project 2025 starts on page 517 and includes, for example, the following proposals :
- Restoring mining claims and oil and gas leases in Colorado’s Thompson Divide (page 523)
- Reviewing national monument designations with an eye to reducing their size (page 532)
- Seeking repeal of the Antiquities Act of 1906 (page 532)
- Putting states in charge of managing the greater sage grouse (page 534)
And that’s just the tip of a very rotten iceberg that would decimate public lands habitat.
During the 9News interview I added, “Just opening up public lands to every form of recreation, and Mr. Pendley may be leaning towards motorized recreation, that is going to have the most impact on public lands habitat.”
Every Colorado Parks and Wildlife district wildlife manager I talk to emphasizes that the proliferation of motorized and mechanized trails (legal and illegal) is negatively impacting elk herds.
“As I analyze a new area, the first thing I do is pull it up in my hunting app and study all access in and out. This includes roads, off-road routes and hiking trails,” American Hunter field editor Mark Kayser explains. “And with today’s invasion of e-bikes, I am also researching to see if they are allowed in the area. The fewer designated routes the better for increased possibilities of elk meetings.”
“In conclusion,” Petersen wrote in a 2013 Traditional Bowhunter story, “the three-part formula for assuring a rich elk hunting future in North America could hardly be simpler, or more in need of our acknowledgment and help right now. Those three essential elements are: habitat, habitat, and habitat .”
If you’re a hunter, angler, hiker, climber, mountain biker or anyone who recreates on or values our great public lands estate, beware . Pendley, Trump, and Project 2025, are coming for our public lands.
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