Now that Colorado has a real shot at becoming the new home to several federal Interior Department agencies, Western Slope leaders are stepping up their game to lobby for one in particular, the BLM, to settle on their side of the mountains.
Denver is being eyed as the home for the agencies that include the Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife Service and Bureau of Reclamation.
But Grand Junction should be the new headquarters for the BLM, says the Associated Governments of Northwest Colorado.
Gary Harman of the Daily Sentinel writes that the group voted Wednesday to encourage the counties and cities within its area to write Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and push for Mesa County.
It only makes sense because nearly half the county — more than 2 million acres — is managed by the federal agency, they argue.
We’re not ready to step into the middle of a potential Western Slope vs. Front Range war for the agencies. But it does make more sense to locate the agencies near the lands they manage, rather than an office building in downtown Denver.