PROTESTS BY WATER AND BY LAND
Calen Golas, left, and Jordan Beckman raft on Core Creek to participate in the Swamp Monsters demonstration for Public Lands Protections during the Western Governors’ Association meeting Monday in Vail. Right: Eagle resident Susie Kincade, right, and others protest outside the meeting. Inside, Gov. Jared Polis touts Colorado as site for BLM headquarters.
VAIL» Gov. Jared Polis says he did not speak with Interior Secretary David Bernhardt on Monday about relocating the Bureau of Land Management headquarters to Colorado, but he continues to favor its move to Grand Junction or Denver.
“We’ve been working, obviously, with Grand Junction,” Polis said. “From an economic development perspective for our state, Grand Junction would be a site that would make a bigger contribution to our state, but we support anywhere in Colorado that wants to move forward.”
The governor and Interior secretary — a native of Rifle — were in attendance Monday at the Western Governors’ Association’s annual meeting at a Vail resort. So, too, were 10 other governors, at least two of whom represent states that also want the BLM headquarters.
In Colorado, competition between Denver and Grand Junction for the future headquarters has set off a small scramble to lure the agency.
Polis compared the competition to a similar debate over whether U.S. Space Command should be headquartered in Colorado Springs or Aurora, if it is placed in Colorado at all. In both competitions, Polis said he would support either Colorado city winning.
“Our goal in all of these things is just to make it clear that Colorado is the best place for BLM headquarters, the best place for Space Command. We pride ourselves on our talented workforce and our quality of life,” the governor told The Post after the day’s events at Hotel Talisa. “For both private-sector and public-sector employers, it’s the best place to be.”
Bernhardt took questions from governors Monday afternoon, but offered no insight when Utah Gov. Gary Herbert asked about the BLM headquarters.
Bernhardt said there is great value in moving it out of Washington, D.C., but he’s still trying to determine how best to allocate his department’s resources. The secretary said Interior will soon inform Congress about his recommendations. He did not say what those recommendations will be, when they will be presented or how many cities are competing.
The Interior Department has previously said it plans to make a decision by October. Outside of Colorado, Salt Lake City and Boise are believed to be competing for the new headquarters.
Polis has backed BLM’s decision to move West since before he was elected governor in 2018. A few environmental groups oppose the move and Rep. Diana DeGette, a Denver Democrat, has also been skeptical. She and some other Democrats in Congress are unsure it’s the best use of money.
Near Monday’s event, advocates for public lands hosted a small protest along a raging Gore Creek, wearing swamp monster masks to criticize Bernhardt’s ties to private industry. A Colorado Republican Party spokesman blamed the protests on “fringe anti-energy and anti-job” Democrats.