Our Voices, Our Power: Reflections on BCNA’s 2026 Ecosymposium
Public Lands in Public Hands for the Public Good
Engaging law, policy, and advocacy to protect our shared natural heritage
What do you picture when you think of Boulder County? Maybe it’s the foothills rising to the west, a quiet trail, the call of birds, or the simple joy of being outside. These moments feel personal—but they’re made possible by something bigger: public lands that belong to all of us.
On April 4, over 100 of us gathered to discuss how we can impact the management of lands under federal ownership. The atmosphere was one of cautious optimism as we heard from experts about the challenges and victories of the past year, of the themes of hope, community, and empowerment. Erin Robertson emphasized this with her poems throughout the day.
The local background
Just over a half of Boulder County is owned by government agencies, about 1/3 federally and the remaining portion by cities, Boulder County, and the state of Colorado. Public lands have a power to bring us together–nearly 150,000 of us visit Brainard Lake every year, for example. However, keeping these lands in public hands requires more than just appreciation; it requires a defense of the legal principles that protect them.
The Power of the Collective Voice
Chris Winter gave a good historical overview of public lands, including the congressional mandate rather than an executive branch mandate. He also discussed the 50-year approach to multiple-use management and the collaboration among so many agencies on a shared mission, to protect public lands for future generations. In addition, he shared a powerful example of advocacy in action. When a June, 2025 bill in Congress proposed selling two million acres of public land, a “tidal wave” of opposition from hunters, anglers, and environmentalists forced the proposal’s defeat. It was a stark reminder: when we speak up, the needle moves.
The Reality of the Front Lines
Adam Auerbach, a former park ranger, gave us a sobering look at the impact of recent staff reductions and funding cuts. Beyond just maintenance, these cuts affect safety and ecological preservation. He also noted a troubling trend of removing references to diversity, equity, and inclusion from park signage—though groups like “Save Our Signs” are already working to document and preserve that history.
Data is on Our Side
Kathryn Hahne of New Bridge Strategy shared encouraging polling data: the vast majority of voters in eight Western states want to protect public lands. In fact, over 80% of voters consider conservation issues a deciding factor when choosing an elected official.
A More Inclusive Story
Brooke Neely and Karen Wilde centered the conversation on Native American perspectives. Karen, the Tribal Liaison for the Sand Creek Massacre Site, reminded us that what happens on the land is the story of the people, too. Elevating Tribal voices in land management is essential to honoring the history and memory of the spaces we walk today.
Your Toolkit for Action
The thread running through it all? Hope—and responsibility.
Again and again, speakers emphasized that our voices matter. When people speak up—together—they shape outcomes. Public lands remain public because people care, participate, and act. So what can we do?
- Use Your Voice: Speak up against abuses and resist the rewriting of our shared history.
- Contact Representatives: Write to your officials in the U.S. and Colorado House and Senate.
- Support the Protectors: Invest in local, state, and national environmental organizations.
- Lead by Example: Live in harmony with the land and show others what stewardship looks like.
- Vote: Use your ballot to protect the places that cannot vote for themselves.
Public lands don’t just happen—they are protected, over time, by people who show up. The Ecosymposium closed with a sense of connection and momentum. These lands give us so much—space to breathe, to explore, to belong. In return, they ask something simple but powerful: that we stand up for them. Because when we do, we’re not just preserving landscapes—we’re sustaining the idea that some things are meant to be shared, protected, and passed on.
Program
9:00 am Introductions and welcome
9:20 am Chris Winter – today’s legal landscape for public lands
10:15 am Coffee break
10:35 am Erin Robertson – poetry from the land
10:45 am JD Tanner – impacts on Front Range public lands
11:05 am Adam Auerbach – impacts on the national parks, RMNP and beyond
11:30 am Discussion with JD Tanner and Adam Auerbach
11:50 pm Lunch (Catered by Illegal Pete’s)
1:00 pm Kathryn Hahne – public support for public lands
1:45 pm Karen Wilde, Brooke Neely – Native American voices on public lands
2:45 pm Closing & evaluations
3:00 pm Adjourn
Speaker Spotlights
Speaker Slides: Coming Soon
Chris Winter, executive director, Getches-Wilkinson Center for Natural Resources, Energy, and the Environment, University of Colorado Law School.
Abstract: Groundswell – The People’s Power to Protect Public Lands
America’s public lands are facing unprecedented threats, but we have the power to protect the places that inspire and sustain us. This keynote address will explore the emerging legal and policy threats and the collective power of the public to protect these special places for current and future generations.
Bio: Chris is an environmental lawyer with 30 years of experience working to protect public lands across the country. In 2001, he founded a public interest environmental law center in Portland, Oregon, and has litigated dozens of successful cases at all levels of the federal court system. Chris now runs an environmental law research institute at Colorado Law School and supports the next generation of leaders in the field of conservation. Chris is a veteran of many successful conservation campaigns protecting iconic landscapes like Bears Ears National Monument, the Columbia River Gorge, the Arctic Ocean, and the Tongass National Forest.
Erin Robertson, poet, nature writing teacher, and explorer, erinrobertson.org.
Bio: Erin Robertson (erinrobertson.org) teaches outdoor nature writing classes in Boulder County (@bocowildwriters) and serves as Writer in Residence for Friends of Coal Creek. Her award-winning poetry has been performed by choirs and published in the North American Review, Cold Mountain Review, Poet Lore, Deep Wild, and elsewhere. She has been an artist in residence with the U.S. Consulate in Kazakhstan, Koyukuk National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska, and Boulder County’s Caribou Ranch, and has published two books of poems. Erin studied botany and environmental interpretation at CU Boulder and worked as a conservation biologist in the Rocky Mountain West for 9 years. She lives in Louisville with her remarkable husband, two sons, parakeet, and pup, who teach her about wonder every day.
JD Tanner, Executive Director, NoCo Places, https://www.nocoplaces.com
Abstract: Ripple Effects: How Federal Decisions Shape Public Lands Across Colorado’s Front Range
Federal agencies manage many of the landscapes that define the Front Range recreation experience, but stewardship of these places increasingly depends on collaboration with state, county, and local partners. When federal policies, funding levels, or management priorities shift, the effects ripple across the regional land management system. This presentation offers a ground-level perspective on how those changes influence recreation management, resource protection, and agency capacity across Colorado’s Front Range. Drawing from the collaborative network of NoCo Places, the talk explores both the direct impacts on federal land managers and the secondary pressures placed on state and county agencies responsible for sustaining healthy ecosystems and high-quality recreation opportunities.
Bio: JD Tanner, EdD, CPRE, serves as the Executive Director for NoCo Places, a part of Colorado’s Regional Partnership Initiative. He coordinates the collaboration of nine public land agencies working to advance conservation and outdoor recreation across Northern Colorado. With 26 years of experience in nonprofit leadership, public engagement, and communications strategy, JD focuses on strengthening interagency coordination, common messaging, data-informed decision-making, and on-the-ground programming. He brings a systems-level perspective to public lands challenges, with experience supporting partnerships that span federal, state, and local jurisdictions. Through his work with NoCo Places, JD maintains close relationships with land managers across the region and tracks emerging policy and management trends affecting public lands.
Adam Auerbach, former ranger at Rocky Mountain National Park; Founder & Principal, Colorado Public Lands Advocacy & Conservation Expertise (CO-PLACE), LLC.
Abstract: Unprecedented Good: National Parks and the Power of Story
Our national parks and public lands tell stories, explicitly through public programs and educational materials, but also implicitly through what their very existence represents in the public conscience. This presentation will weave together a number of national park stories: the story of ongoing impacts at Rocky Mountain National Park and beyond, the stories being erased from our national parks by the current administration, the interrelated stories of national parks, public lands, and American democracy, and stories of the past that remind us of the hopeful future for parks and public lands we may yet collectively build.
Bio: Adam Auerbach is a public lands advocacy leader as a former ranger at Rocky Mountain National Park. Adam believes deeply in the power and promise of public lands and has worked for local, state, and federal public lands agencies in Colorado as well as aligned nonprofits. Today Adam supports clients in advocating for public lands and promoting their stewardship and public enjoyment. Adam is also a pro bono grassroots public lands organizer, media presence, and spokesperson.
Kathryn Hahne, New Bridge Strategy
Abstract: Standing on Common Ground: Public Opinion on Public Lands
This presentation will highlight the results of the 2026 Conservation in the West poll, a bipartisan survey of voters across eight Western states, conducted by Colorado College’s State of the Rockies project for the past 16 years. The poll reveals widespread concern about rollbacks of protections for land, water, and wildlife, along with cuts to public land management funding. At the same time, Western voters show strong, bipartisan support for safeguarding national public lands and a shared belief that these public lands issues provide an opportunity for common ground.
Bio: Kathryn Hahne is a Director at New Bridge Strategy, an opinion research company specializing in public policy and campaign research. She has worked across the U.S. and statewide on political, public affairs, and ballot measure campaigns on conservation and land use, tax policy, education, health care, and more. Kathryn co-directs Colorado College’s long-running State of the Rockies project, a public non-partisan survey, and teaches about survey research and polling for the University of Virginia, her alma mater. She also has an MBA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She lives in Denver where she enjoys gardening, hiking, and volunteering for Girls on the Run.
Brooke Neely, senior research fellow, Center of the American West; faculty affiliate, Center for Native American and Indigenous Studies, University of Colorado Boulder.
Bio: Brooke Neely is a researcher at the Center of the American West and a faculty affiliate at the Center for Native American and Indigenous Studies at CU Boulder. Her interdisciplinary research and teaching focuses on public history, community engagement, and belonging in the western United States. She edited and contributed to the book National Parks, Native Sovereignty: Experiments in Collaboration (with Christina Gish Hill and Matthew Hill, U. Oklahoma Press, 2024). Neely holds a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of California Santa Barbara and a B.A. in sociology from Whitman College. She loves chasing her family and dog around the public lands in Boulder County.
Karen Wilde, Muscogee (Creek) & Pawnee, Native American-American Indian Relations Manager, Boulder County.
Abstract: Presence, Protection and Resilience: Honoring Native American Voices on Public Lands.
As the original caretakers of lands now in government hands, Native Americans are essential contributors to the stories and stewardship of our public lands. In this moderated conversation, speakers will share their experiences in amplifying Native voices on public lands, including the US national parks. We will consider both the formal roles of Tribal Nations in managing natural and cultural resources held in the public trust, and pathways for elevating the memories, languages and histories of Native Americans on public lands.
Bio: Karen Wilde has years of experience in Native American/American Indian relations. She served as Tribal Liaison for the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site under the National Park Service (NPS) and as Tribal Relations Specialist for the US Forest Service at Mark Twain National Forest. While at the NPS, she coordinated active engagement with the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, both Northern and Southern, and worked on nationwide protections for Sacred Sites. She has held several gubernatorial appointments in Colorado and now works in a newly created Native American relations role in Boulder County. Karen is a first-generation college graduate, holding a paralegal certificate and Master of Jurisprudence in Indian Law. She is a mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and a proud citizen of the Muscogee Nation of Oklahoma.