DENVER (July 16, 2015) – Colorado Senator Michael Bennet is making a rare appearance in Colorado this weekend for the dedication of Brown’s Canyon as part of a lobbying junket to keep federal lands in the hands of an absentee landlord, the federal government. Sen. Bennet will dedicate the park along with Governor John Hickenlooper and Secretary of Interior Sally Jewell. Secretary Jewell declined to appeal a decision by the Sen. Bennet-backed Judge R. Brooke Jackson that puts Craig’s Colowyo mine at risk for closure. The 220 jobs associated with that mine are in limbo because of this decision.
Sen. Bennet was a critical supporter of both
Judge Jackson and Secretary Jewell in their respective appointments, and now finds himself at odds with both in his call to preserve Colorado mining jobs. Bennet will attend the ceremony with Jewell instead of meeting with the people of Craig, whose livelihood is at risk due to Bennet’s judge pick and Jewell’s lack of action.“Bennet supported the key players who are putting Colorado jobs at risk, and is now making time for lobby events rather than urging a dialogue with the people of Craig. Instead of lobbying for federal lands, Colorado demands that Bennet lobby for Craig’s jobs,” said Kelly Maher, executive director of Compass Colorado. “
Making time for a press event with the players responsible for this situation instead of making time for the people of Craig shows who Bennet represents, and it’s not Colorado.”