Should our beloved but flat broke White River National Forest sell an asset worth more than half its annual budget or just give that asset away?

Retired White River National Forest Supervisor Scott Fitzwilliams’ 2021 plan to effectively donate 832 acres surrounding Sweetwater Lake to Colorado Parks & Wildlife for the creation of a state park might have made sense prior to the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency cuts to the White River National Forest budget. It also might have made sense before the $23,860,000 Derby Fire burned 5,453 acres in the White River National Forest just one mile east of the lake. 

However, the White River National Forest is now so destitute that even before the federal shutdown visitor centers were closed, volunteers emptied latrines, and its maintenance budget for 2,800 miles of roads was bupkis, zero, zilch, nada. The nation’s most visited national forest is not in any position to make donations.

Gov. Polis desires Sweetwater Lake for a state park, so a logical solution is for the White River National Forest to sell those 832 acres at fair market value. Colorado Parks and Wildlife is an “enterprise agency” and fiscally sound despite Colorado’s budget woes. Furthermore, the Trump administration has shown a willingness to divest federal lands thereby creating a win-win.

Selling the Sweetwater Lake land requested by the Colorado Parks and Wildlife should generate more than $13 million for the White River National Forest to fund operations or cover expenditures incurred fighting the Derby Fire. It would be a dereliction of duty for current White River National Forest Supervisor Brian Glaspell to execute this eight-figure donation as proposed by his predecessor.