I’m a life-long resident of Southwest Colorado, a hunter and angler, and a father. I’m writing because I believe that Scott Tipton is reckless and out of touch with what it means to live in rural Colorado.

He has consistently voted to do away with one of the bedrocks of this country, our public lands. My family and friends gather firewood, hunt for food, camp, hike and live here because of the incredible access to public lands we all enjoy.

In July 2016, Tipton co-sponsored H.R. 5836, The HEARD Act, which calls for the “orderly disposal of certain federal lands ... through the sales of such lands.”

Tipton cosponsored H.R. 866 in 2015, which advocates turning federal public lands to the states without any oversight from the National Environmental Policy Act, the Endangered Species Act, or the National Historic Preservation Act. This bill is directly aimed at privatizing and selling our public lands for gas and oil development.

Those are just two examples, some quick web research will deliver many more. In general, Tipton has predictably voted for bills that eliminate or limit public lands protections. He has an abysmal 8 percent lifetime rating from the League of Conservation Voters, which should be troubling for those who support public lands and who want their children to be able to hunt, fish, hike and camp in the places that we take for granted.

Scott Tipton’s disregard for our rural lifestyle and our dependence on public lands for sustenance, as well as just for having fun with our families, shows me has no business representing us in Congress. I urge you to look into these issues further. Gail Schwartz has a balanced voting record and her past career, as well as the campaign, has shown that she won’t be trying to sell our heritage out from under us at every turn.

Tipton had a chance to represent us and has failed, it’s time to show him that we value our public lands and our Western heritage.

Matthew Clark

Dolores