Washington, D.C. — This weekend, the League of Conservation Voters (LCV), in partnership with state affiliates in the Conservation Voter Movement (CVM), announced a nationwide tour to highlight some of the public lands and waters under threat from the Trump Administration’s relentless attacks. Each event will be organized alongside local communities, artists, advocates, and elected officials to fight back against the Trump administration’s sell off of public lands, threats to our clean water, and highlight the value of these cherished places and resources.

These events will take place across the country, starting in Boulder, Colorado, where U.S. House Assistant Minority Leader Neguse joined Conservation Colorado, LCV, and other local leaders for a solidarity hike through the Flatirons and spoke about the unique threats posed to his district and the state at large. 

The series will continue through August recess, in Arizona, California, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, and Oregon — dates and additional locations to be announced. Events in each state will highlight popular recreational activities in public spaces critical to community life, including hiking, camping, hunting, fishing, biking, kayaking, and sightseeing.

“From day one, the Trump administration launched countless attacks on our public lands and waters,” said LCV Conservation Program Director America Fitzpatrick. “Trump and his extreme allies have gutted our land management agencies, opened up millions of acres of our lands to drilling and logging, and allowed corporate polluters off the hook after they poison our lands and waters. We are all-in to fight back against the Trump administration’s sell-off of public lands to Big Polluters and corporate interests.”

“In Colorado, public lands aren’t just scenic backdrops,” said Conservation Colorado Public Lands Campaign Manager Brien Webster. “They’re essential to supporting our families, teaching our kids the value of nature, and finding solace in a world full of distractions. These lands support our watersheds, our wildlife and our well-being. Treating them like a commodity to be sold off is not only shortsighted, it’s deeply wrong. We’re standing up for a simple truth: these lands should remain in public hands for our children and grandchildren to enjoy.”

“In Colorado, access to the outdoors — and the preservation of our public lands — is a cornerstone of our state’s economy and a core part of our state’s identity and way of life,” said Representative Joe Neguse. “That’s why, at every turn, I’ve fought back against Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans’ efforts to sell off these treasured public lands and dismantle the agencies that protect them. And it’s also why I’m proud to join LCV this August in getting outside and highlighting the lands and waters we’re so lucky to have in our backyards.”

On Trump’s first day in office, he signed several executive orders declaring a national “energy emergency” calling for increased oil and gas leasing on federal lands, including in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and 13 million acres of the Western Arctic. He has issued executive orders repealing protections for Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument opening them up to industrial scale commercial fishing. The Trump Administration has also expanded oil drilling on millions of acres of public lands, fired thousands of career staff at Interior, issued executive orders expanding logging on millions of acres of national forests, and announced plans to roll back critical clean water safeguards. Just last month, Congressional Republicans passed the Big Ugly Bill, which cemented these efforts to drill, log, and mine even more of our cherished lands, including pristine places like the Arctic Refuge.

Public lands enjoy some of the widest support of any major issue. In April, a poll commissioned by the Trust for Public Lands found that 74% of Americans oppose the closure of national public lands, and 71% oppose selling public lands to the highest bidder. In Idaho, where the state hasn’t voted for a Democrat for president since Lyndon B. Johnson, 96% of residents think public lands should be in public hands. In addition, 88% of voters are concerned about the pollution of lakes and rivers and 82% of voters think the U.S. should protect more of its lands and waters.

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