Coloradans Travel to Washington to Hand-Deliver Letter Urging Congress to Reject Attacks on the Endangered Species Act

WASHINGTON, D.C., April 22, 2026 — Coloradans from across the state are in Washington this week to hand-deliver a letter to members of Congress urging them to oppose the ESA Amendments Act of 2025 (H.R. 1897), legislation they say would undermine protections for Colorado’s wildlife, habitats, and the communities and businesses that depend on them.

Representing communities from the Front Range to the Western Slope, the San Luis Valley, and mountain towns across the state, the delegation’s message is clear: the Endangered Species Act is not only one of America’s most effective conservation laws, it is also vital to Colorado’s economy, outdoor heritage, and quality of life. The letter highlights the direct connection between wildlife protection and the state’s recreation economy, tourism industry, healthy watersheds, and natural resources.

“Colorado’s wildlife is part of who we are,” said Ryan Sedgeley, Southern Rockies Representative for the Endangered Species Coalition. “From gray wolves in the West and monarch butterflies crossing our landscapes to the many species that depend on healthy rivers, forests, and grasslands, threatened and endangered wildlife are deeply connected to the places Coloradans love. Coloradans are coming to Capitol Hill to remind lawmakers that the Endangered Species Act works — and that weakening it would put both wildlife and communities at risk.”

Colorado is part of the range of species whose futures still depend on strong federal protections, including the gray wolf, one of the most iconic examples of how the Endangered Species Act can help restore wildlife to the landscape. As the letter delivered today makes clear, protecting species and the habitats they rely on also protects the healthy ecosystems that support Colorado’s outdoor economy, clean water, and way of life.

The letter also points to the law’s record of success. For more than 50 years, the Endangered Species Act has prevented the extinction of 99% of listed species and helped drive recovery efforts for wildlife across the country. Gray wolves, for example, were once nearly wiped out across much of the American West, but ESA protections cleared a path for their return and helped restore ecological balance in places where they had disappeared.

The Coloradans’ letter warns that H.R. 1897 would weaken recovery efforts by shrinking critical habitat protections, limiting public accountability, preventing balanced mitigation for harm to listed species, and shifting too much responsibility onto under-resourced state agencies. The delegation argues that species recovery requires strong national standards and science-based decision-making, not a patchwork of weaker protections.

“For over 50 years, the Endangered Species Act has helped bring species back from the brink and protected the natural systems all life depends on,” said Susan Holmes, Executive Director of the Endangered Species Coalition. “Congress should be strengthening this law, not dismantling it. Coloradans understand that protecting wildlife also protects healthy forests, clean water, local economies, and our shared future.”

The Endangered Species Coalition and Colorado signers are urging members of Congress to reject H.R. 1897 and uphold the Endangered Species Act’s science-based framework.

The full letter and list of signatories is available here.