Dear Editor:
During April I had the solemn honor and privilege of attending an interment ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery. “Few images linger in the national imagination as vividly as this hallowed ground,” Robert Poole wrote in On Hallowed Ground: The Story of Arlington National Cemetery. “Almost four million people visit the place each year, to pay homage …”
During a lifetime of public service (military and civilian) and public lands hunting, hiking, climbing, and related pursuits, I’ve been privileged to set foot in all 50 states, experiencing a wide swath of our great public lands estate while also paying homage to those who have fought and died for it since our Declaration of Independence in 1776, nearly 250 years ago.
Colorado is home to more than 23 million acres of public lands that provide clean drinking water for communities across the state, support wildlife habitat and sustain a thriving outdoor recreation economy. Recently the Colorado Senate passed Joint Resolution 26-015, reaffirming our state’s commitment to protecting public lands and opposing federal efforts to sell off public lands or silence public input in their management.
Hunters, anglers, and many others know from hard-earned, boots-on-the-ground experience that our public lands and waters are intertwined with our freedom and democracy. Lose one or the other and we’ll likely lose both. “None of our freedoms are here because they were gifted to us or were sure things; they’re here because those who came before us fought for them,” Backcountry Hunters & Anglers President and CEO Ryan “Cal” Callaghan said.
Veterans, perhaps better than most, understand that our public lands and waters are inextricably linked to our freedom and democracy.And I haven’t spent a lifetime outdoors hunting, hiking, climbing, camping, and canoeing, plus 15 years of military training and service, just to let a bunch of “Epstein class” billionaire buzzards and oligarch-wannabes waltz in and liquidate our democracy and public lands without a fight.
This Memorial Day, we honor those who died fighting for the freedoms which we are now losing, but we’re not backing down. Join us!
David A. Lien
Colorado Springs, Colo.
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