It’s true that we live in a land-locked state a thousand miles away from any ocean — and that some Coloradans think Rocky Mountain oysters are the only (ahem) connection we have to the coast.
But the fact is, even if we can’t see the ocean, we are connected to it in many different ways. We eat in seafood restaurants. We head to the coast for rest and relaxation on vacation. Many Coloradans who enjoy fishing in our local lakes and rivers also have a passion for saltwater fishing. Our state’s weather systems are shaped far out in the Pacific Ocean. Approximately half of the air we breathe comes from phytoplankton in the ocean. While Colorado is surrounded by land, we actually have the largest number of scuba divers of any state without a coastline and we are home to over 25 scuba diving shops.
Healthy oceans are critical to the health of our planet and its people, including those of us here in Colorado. And they don’t just belong to people who live on the coast.
Managing them requires leaders who understand the importance of finding a balance between accessing the ocean’s resources and ensuring that those resources are properly managed so the ocean stays healthy now and in the future.
Those leaders can’t just come from coastal states.
Members of Colorado’s congressional delegation have often stepped up as leaders to achieve this kind of balance on our public lands and waters. We need our current delegation to call on Congress to use this same balanced approach to ocean management.
Timing is critical. The ocean is under serious attack from the Trump administration and some members of Congress who don’t seem to care about what goes into the ocean or the impact of what they take out of it. They are not interested in taking care of this resource or protecting it for the future.
The long list of attacks on our oceans, marine life, and coastal communities includes efforts to open 90 percent of all U.S. waters to offshore oil and gas drilling and shrink marine national monuments and national marine sanctuaries.
The burning of fossil fuels — especially from the coal power plants being promoted by the Trump administration — causes mercury pollution in the ocean, not to mention higher ocean temperatures and ocean acidification.
The fish that live in the ocean aren’t getting a break either. It’s common sense to make sure that we have abundant, healthy fish populations for both commercial and recreational fishermen. Congress is considering legislation that would strip critical, science-based conservation measures from the Magnuson-Stevens Act — the federal law that protects these fisheries.
The federal budget highlights how little respect this administration has for the conservation ethic that is needed to ensure that the ocean stays healthy now and in the future. They proposed cutting more than $1 billion in funding for science, coastal collaborations, and law enforcement at NOAA, the agency that manages our oceans.
It’s time for someone to call for balance in how we are managing our oceans and the fish that live in them — and the leaders from our landlocked state can and should speak up. I am counting on the members of our Colorado delegation to bring the same commitment they’ve shown for finding balance between access and protection on public lands to the debates being held in Congress on our oceans and fisheries.
We may not be able to see the ocean from here — but we sure can have a say in how to protect it now and in the future.
Vicki Nichols Goldstein is founder and executive director of Colorado Ocean Coalition.