MTG Sends Letter to the editor - Solidarity with our local federal public lands employees

Mancos Trails Group board of directors sends letter to the editor of The Cortez Journal expressing our solidarity with federal workers and our unwavering support of public lands. You can read the letter in the Journal or below:

The Mancos Trails Group has long partnered with the United States Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management to plan and maintain several local trail systems. We are writing to express our solidarity with the staff of these agencies in the face of unprecedented threats.

We know firsthand the commitment these federal land managers have toward stewarding our public resources in alignment with their expertise. They are our friends, our neighbors, fellow trail users and people we see in the community on a daily basis. We salute them for navigating management of the land and resources to balance the needs of wildlife, recreationists, commercial interests and the public-at-large.

As a small, volunteer-run nonprofit organization, we are no strangers to the limits of budgets and to making smart choices about how to most responsibly direct funds. Outdoor recreation contributes $17.2 billion per year to Colorado’s economy, and according to a local 2024 economic impact study, brings over $100 million per year and 724 jobs to the economy in Montezuma County. Investment in stewardship of public lands keeps people visiting Montezuma County, keeps dollars flowing into local pockets, keeps many of our neighbors employed, and gives us all something fun to do on our days off.

We, the board of Mancos Trails Group, express gratitude to our friends and partners on staff at all of our local public lands agencies, and urge our representatives at the federal level to act to protect these invaluable human and natural resources.

Jen Magnuson, Board Member-at-Large, for the Mancos Trails Group
Mancos