Project 2025 is 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 and outdoor recreation. But more importantly, wildlife species like elk, deer, turkeys, and many others need that habitat for their survival.
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.
A July 19, 2024, 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.”
In a July 9, 2024, Colorado Newsline op-ed (“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 (written by Pendley) starts on p. 517 and includes, for example, the following proposals:
- Restoring mining claims and oil and gas leases in Colorado’s Thompson Divide
- Reviewing national monument designations and reducing their size (p. 532)
- Seeking repeal of the Antiquities Act of 1906 (p. 532).
And that’s just the tip of a very rotten iceberg that would decimate public lands 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 and Project 2025 are coming for our public lands.
David Lien from Colorado Springs, Colo., is a hunter, author, and former Air Force officer.