FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 25, 2000

Contact: Josh Freed
(202) 225-4431

WASHINGTON, DC — U.S. Representative Diana DeGette (CO-1) celebrated the passage of legislation in the House of Representatives today to create the Great Sand Dunes National Park in southern Colorado.

“Colorado’s Great Sand Dunes area is an amazing site worthy of the protection afforded by a national park designation, and it will be a place for all Americans to experience the magnificence of the West,” said Rep. Diana DeGette. “I hope Colorado’s congressional delegation will continue to work in a strong bipartisan spirit in the interest of protecting our state’s most pristine areas.”

Rep. DeGette also spoke about the need to pass protections for 48 other wilderness areas contained in legislation she introduced in 1999. “I am hopeful that creation of this national park is the next step in a concentrated effort to safeguard all lands in Colorado which are deserving of protection – especially those areas now threatened by growth and development,” said Rep. DeGette.

Rep. DeGette is the author of the Colorado Wilderness Act of 1999, which calls for protection of 49 areas throughout the state with strong wilderness characteristics. The legislation designates 1.4 million acres as wilderness to ensure the lands are preserved in their natural condition for future generations.
 
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