Howdy everybody? Welcome back to another episode of The Blister Podcast on the Blister Podcast Network.

My name is Luke Kappa. I am the managing editor here at Blister, and I'm coming to you from our home base in Elevation Hotel in Crested Butte, Colorado.

As always, you can check out everything we're doing and reviewing over at blisterreview.com.

For today's conversation, I sat down in Blister H.Q with John Hare, the advocacy director

for high country conservation advocates, to discuss something called the Gorp Act.

As you'll hear, this proposed legislation happens to be particularly relevant to our home

in the Gunnison, Creston-Bute Valley.

However, the reason I really wanted to have John on the podcast is that I think this act

and the highly collaborative process through which it was created could serve as a point

of inspiration and optimism for anyone

who's concerned with the responsible long-term management of all of our public lands.

In today's divisive climate, I get really excited when people and organizations of very disparate

backgrounds can still work together towards a common goal.

In the case of the Gorp Act, that goal is to protect key portions of certain federal

public lands for generations to come, all while maintaining and or improving existing access

for all sorts of folks who utilize them.

Now I can't think of many things that have simultaneously garnered the support of mountain

bikers, hunters, wildlife biologists, backcountry skiers, anglers, snowmobilers, dirt

bikers, kayakers, and public land ranchers.

But the Gorp Act has.

It's also officially supported by the Ute Mountain Tribe,

six counties with very different political makeups,

...