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Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet and U.S. Congressman Joe Neguse’s Colorado Outdoor Recreation & Economy (CORE) Act protects approximately 400,000 acres of public land in Colorado, establishing new wilderness areas and safeguarding existing outdoor recreation opportunities to boost the economy for future generations.

Colorado counties, in close coordination with businesses, recreation groups, sportsmen, and conservationists, helped write each element of the CORE Act over the last decade.

Of the land protected, about 73,000 acres are new wilderness areas, and nearly 80,000 acres are new recreation and conservation management areas that preserve existing outdoor uses, such as hiking and mountain biking. The bill also includes a first-of-its-kind National Historic Landscape to honor Colorado’s military legacy and prohibits new oil and gas development in areas important to ranchers and sportsmen.

The CORE Act unites and improves four previously introduced bills:

1. Continental Divide Recreation, Wilderness, and Camp Hale Legacy Act

2. San Juan Mountains Wilderness Act

3. Thompson Divide Withdrawal and Protection Act

4. Curecanti National Recreation Area Boundary Establishment Act