Colorado Department of Natural Resources Announces a New Shared Stewardship Agreement

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For Immediate Release – March 10, 2026

Contact: Chris Arend,

Communications Director,

Department of Natural Resources,

303-264-8615, [email protected]

CO Dept of Natural Resources Announces a New Shared Stewardship Agreement with CO Bureau of Land Management to Benefit Public Lands and Rural Communities

(Denver) — Colorado Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced the finalization of a Shared Stewardship memorandum of understanding (MOU) today between the two agencies. Working as partners, DNR and BLM recognize that Colorado’s public lands, including forests, watersheds, wildlife, rangelands, and outdoor recreation resources, are of critical importance to rural communities. Yet, our public lands face a multitude of challenges, including catastrophic wildfires, invasive species, degraded water quality, population pressures, and epidemics of insects and disease. These challenges are best met head-on through a collaborative shared stewardship strategy that takes advantage of DNR and BLM’s unique assets and expertise across land-ownership boundaries.

“By working together, DNR and BLM will build wildfire resilient watersheds, enhance forest health and wildlife populations, provide for robust recreational opportunities and management strategies, create jobs, and protect communities in the wildland-urban interface,” said Dan Gibbs, Executive Director, DNR. “BLM is a key partner and the second largest landowner in Colorado, and like our shared stewardship agreement with the U.S. Forest Service, this MOU will foster collaboration and communication between the state and our federal partners to enhance public land management for all Coloradans.”

The MOU outlines shared priorities, principles, and actions that each agency can take to achieve common goals. Shared Stewardship provides the structure to combine funding sources to do the right work, in the right place, at the right scale, based on collaborative input to manage our public lands. In addition to the MOU’s focus on forest health and reducing the impacts of wildfires, it is an important tool to enable collaborative management of trails, water resources, wildlife, and more.

“This Shared Stewardship MOU has been years in the making and represents a milestone for collaborative management of our public lands here in Colorado,” said Doug Vilsack, BLM’s Colorado State Director. “The state and federal government must work across boundaries and with private landowners to protect rural communities in the wildland-urban interface, enhance outdoor recreation opportunities, conserve wildlife, and strengthen relationships with our partners in agriculture.”

The DNR and BLM have a history of working on cross-boundary projects, including partnerships spanning over three decades to manage federal public lands in the Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area and along the Yampa River as units in the state park system. More recently, BLM and Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW), a Division of DNR, commenced a public engagement process to gather input on the potential future management of a North Sand Hills Recreation Area in Jackson County, a world-renowned off-highway vehicle recreation area.

DNR and the Colorado State Forest Services also partner with BLM on fuels mitigation projects utilizing Good Neighbor Authority, such as the recently-proposed King Mountain fuels project in Routt County, and on post-fire wildlife habitat restoration and seeding, including projects to address the impacts of the Lee Fire and other catastrophic wildfires during the 2025 fire season. BLM also works with CPW and agricultural producers to conserve wildlife habitat and reduce wildlife impacts through the Habitat Partnership Program, including innovative work to expand the use of virtual fencing technologies to benefit both ranchers and wildlife.

Beyond collaboration between DNR and BLM, the new shared stewardship strategy presents numerous opportunities to enhance collaboration with stakeholders.

“The Nature Conservancy — guided by science — works with wide-ranging partners to conserve our lands and waters to benefit people and nature,” said Carlos Fernández, State Director for The Nature Conservancy in Colorado. “We believe that collaboration and coordination are among the most strategic and efficient ways to confront Colorado’s growing conservation challenges. This new agreement between the Bureau of Land Management and the Colorado Department of Natural Resources — both longstanding TNC partners — will help advance healthier forests, protect clean water supplies, enhance wildlife habitat, and support Colorado’s vital outdoor recreation economy.”

“We deeply appreciate BLM and the State of Colorado’s strong leadership in shaping this shared stewardship agreement and are optimistic about what it means for Colorado’s world-renowned waterways, forests, mountains, deserts, and plains,” said Emily Olsen, Rocky Mountain Vice President at Trout Unlimited (TU). “This agreement encourages collaborative stewardship with communities that rely upon healthy forests, wildfire-resilient watersheds, gold medal quality fishing, and premier rafting opportunities on our state’s iconic rivers. Collectively, these initiatives will strengthen rural economies and help our public lands and waters better withstand the impacts of wildfire and drought.”

“Colorado’s wildlife, wild landscapes, and recreational access are world-renowned, and formal coordination between state and federal natural resource managers is necessary to ensure these resources endure,” said Madeleine West, Vice President for Western Conservation at the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership. “This MOU will foster government efficiency to reduce wildfire risk, improve forest and watershed health, support voluntary private land conservation, and increase habitat quality and connectivity for fish and wildlife across the state. Cooperation is the best way forward for Colorado to remain a vibrant place for people to live, work, hunt, fish, and enjoy many outdoor recreational pursuits.”

The MOU also advances the implementation of Colorado’s Outdoor Strategy, which was finalized in 2025. BLM was a key member of the Steering Committee that supported the development of Colorado’s Outdoor Strategy. Through the new shared stewardship strategy, DNR and BLM will coordinate across all levels of government to enhance our treasured public lands and the communities that depend on them. Find out more about shared stewardship in Colorado at our Shared Stewardship in Colorado webpage.

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