President Joe Biden has not created a national monument since taking office. A group of top Colorado Democrats want that to change.
Two senators, a congressman and the governor sent a letter to Biden on Friday, pushing him to declare a ninth national monument in The Centennial State. It would be located in the heart of the Rocky Mountains, a preserve centered on Camp Hale near Vail, where the legendary 10th Mountain Division trained for alpine warfare during World War II.
If Biden takes action, Camp Hale-Continental Divide National Monument would become the country’s 130th national monument and the first since then-President Donald Trump declared Camp Nelson National Monument in Kentucky in 2018.
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“The history of this area, including the role that it played in preparing the 10th Mountain Division for some of the most difficult moments of World War II, makes it the ideal candidate for a national monument designation,” Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper, Gov. Jared Polis and Rep. Joe Neguse wrote in their letter to Biden.
The request comes as a massive conservation bill including Camp Hale has stalled in Congress. The CORE Act was introduced by Bennet, Hickenlooper and Neguse and Democrats contend the act would grow the state’s outdoor recreation economy and protect public lands
But Colorado Republicans have called it a federal land…
