Re: “Public land, on and off the chopping block, needs our continued support<\/a>,” June 25 commentary<\/p>\n I appreciate the commentary by T.A. Barron. Loss of our public lands, even in small increments, is stealing from our birthright. Furthermore, in addition to recreation, they support local economies, ranching, logging and natural resource extraction. Most of these lands will end up as either multi-million dollar homes used for a few weeks per year or as large properties the public is excluded from. Readers need to contact their congressional representatives and senators to demonstrate their opinions on this issue now. Democrats will certainly vote against this bill when it returns to the House, so constituents of Representatives Crank, Hurd, Evans and Boebert have the greatest opportunity to be effective.<\/p>\n York Miller, Denver<\/em><\/p>\n The megabill currently in the Senate includes a mandate to sell 2 million to 3 million acres of public lands, mostly in the West, that are currently managed by the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Here is why no bill should ever include such things.<\/p>\n First, public lands are a matter of economic well-being. A 2024 report states that recreation on BLM lands contributes $8.8 billion to the economy in Colorado alone. Recreation in U.S. National Forests contributes $12.5 billion in GDP nationwide.<\/p>\n Secondly, public lands are a matter of overall human well-being. Protected natural areas benefit our civilization in more ways than we realize. For example, forests and wetlands filter water, reducing water treatment costs. These places provide habitat for creatures that pollinate our crops. Also, spending time in nature has proven physical and mental health benefits. This sell-off of public lands has human health implications.<\/p>\n If this goes through, it won\u2019t just affect mountain town dwellers like me who want options for places to hike my dogs. Even if you live in a big city and would never dream of going camping, this will affect you and our country. To quote a renowned folk singer, \u201cthis land was made for you and me!\u201d<\/p>\n Laurel Smerch, Mancos<\/em><\/p>\n In The Denver Post Tuesday morning, June 24th, were two separate but\u00a0 interrelated articles: \u201cFactories having trouble filling nearly 400,000 open positions\u201d and \u201cJustices allow Trump to restart deportation of migrants away from their home countries.” Policies driven by logic and some compassion instead of unbending ideology and fear would benefit everyone in our country.<\/p>\n Robert Morales, Centennial<\/em><\/p>\n Re: “Hotline service tailored to LGBTQ+ youths to end<\/a>,” June 18 news story<\/p>\n As a family physician, I am concerned about the well-being of our LGBTQ+ neighbors. An executive order is terminating the Trevor Project, a suicide helpline for LGBTQ+ youth, on July 17.<\/p>\n The Colorado Health Institute indicates that 8.9% of Colorado adults, almost 400,000 individuals, identify as LGBTQ+. Twenty percent of Colorado youth under the age of 30 identify as LGBTQ+. This large minority of our population experiences major social stressors and disparities in access to mental health care.<\/p>\n According to the Centers for Disease Control, suicide is the second leading cause of death among 10 to 14-year-olds, and the third leading cause among 15 to 24-year-olds. LGBTQ+ individuals are four times more likely to attempt suicide. The Trevor Project estimates that more than 1.8 million young LGBTQ+ Americans seriously consider suicide each year, with one attempt every 45 seconds. These are sobering statistics!<\/p>\n The Trevor Project supported 1.3 million individuals in the past 3 years. It is unconscionable that LGBTQ+ individuals might be unable to access a critical and simple support: a lifeline to a sympathetic, understanding ear in a time of crisis. We cannot afford to lose the promise of these youth, who will be the leaders, teachers and scientists of tomorrow. We must promote their safety.<\/p>\n Please sign the Trevor Project\u2019s petition to reverse the planned cuts or ask your legislators to support the Trevor Project. If you are or someone you know is considering self-harm, call or text the Suicide Lifeline at 988. Time is of the essence!<\/p>\n Maria Yvonne Chansky, Denver<\/em><\/p>\n Sign up for Sound Off to get a weekly roundup of our columns, editorials and more. <\/a><\/em><\/p>\n To send a letter to the editor about this article, submit online<\/a> or check out our guidelines<\/a> for how to submit by email or mail.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Keep our public lands public Re: “Public land, on and off the chopping block, needs our continued support,” June 25 commentary I appreciate the commentary by T.A. Barron. Loss of our public lands, even in small increments, is stealing from our birthright. Furthermore, in addition […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":202,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-200","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/sleepystork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/sleepystork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/sleepystork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sleepystork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sleepystork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=200"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/sleepystork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":201,"href":"http:\/\/sleepystork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200\/revisions\/201"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sleepystork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/202"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/sleepystork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=200"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sleepystork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=200"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sleepystork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=200"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Deportations during labor shortage is not logical<\/h4>\n
Help save the Trevor Project<\/h4>\n