Lifetime Citizen Portal Access — AI Briefings, Alerts & Unlimited Follows
Fremont County commissioners report public-lands, farm-bill and land-use priorities from NACo conference in Washington
Loading...
Summary
Fremont County Commissioners Debbie Bell and Duane McCall spoke from the National Association of Counties conference in Washington, D.C., emphasizing public-lands stewardship, the need for a new farm bill, concerns about data centers and efforts to preserve local control over land use.
Fremont County Commissioners Debbie Bell and Duane McCall reported from the National Association of Counties conference at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., where they spent several days meeting with county leaders and federal officials to press local priorities.
Bell said the delegation’s top priorities include agricultural supports and a renewed Farm Bill. "We're working very, very hard to get an actual new farm bill passed, not to just once again renew the 2018 version of the farm bill," she said, noting that Congress has not enacted a new farm bill in nine years. McCall relayed a remark from Rep. Bruce Westerman that "the 2018 Farm Bill was great for 2018," using it to underline the need for updates to reflect current conditions.
Public lands and local control were central themes. McCall said public lands matter to Fremont County "because we have over half over 50% public lands in Fremont County," and argued that counties must have a seat at the table when federal rulemaking affects grazing allotments and other uses. He said he serves on public-lands steering committees and on the Western Interstate Region; McCall noted he is first vice president of WIR and will become its president in May, representing 17 Western states.
The commissioners also raised concerns about large private projects that they said can strain local resources. McCall warned that some data centers "take a lot of water" and could be deployed without adequate local safeguards, and said the delegation is advocating to keep land-use decisions local.
McCall described a drafting error in proposed NEPA language that would have removed counties’ opportunity to be cooperating agencies during federal reviews. "They'd taken out a paragraph which cut counties out of being at the table," he said, and credited the National Association of Counties for catching and restoring that language in two bills so counties would remain involved in federal environmental studies.
Bell said rural health care, water and other western agriculture issues were recurring topics and that the delegation will take ideas home to Fremont County. She noted the Colorado Counties Incorporated delegation planned Capitol Hill meetings the following day to press their priorities with the county’s senators and representatives.
On the recording the commissioners said they expected a session with Robert F. Kennedy Jr.; the recording described him as "health and human services secretary," a description that does not match any official federal title for Kennedy. The commissioners did not indicate that conferences produced formal local policy changes; they described the trip as advocacy and networking intended to influence federal decision-making for counties.
The update closed with both commissioners reiterating their intent to keep advocating for rural Colorado interests and returning to Fremont County with ideas and connections from the conference.
