Fremont County Commissioners Debbie Bell and Dwayne McFall attended the National Association of Counties legislative conference Feb. 21-24 in Washington D.C., where they narrowly avoided losing their voice in federal land decisions and advocated for rural Colorado issues on the national stage. The commissioners hold leadership positions in NACO representing western counties – Bell serves as vice president of the Rural Action Caucus and sits on the Agriculture and Rural Affairs committee, while McFall will become president of the Western Interstate Region in May, representing 17 states from the 54th meridian westward.
During the conference, NACO staff caught federal officials quietly removing language from National Environmental Policy Act regulations that would have eliminated counties’ status as “cooperating agencies” on federal land studies. The change would have excluded counties from consultation on projects affecting their communities. NACO had the language restored before the bills passed.
“We wouldn’t have known it until it was way too late,” McFall said during a podcast recording at the Library of Congress. “The bill would have been enacted and we were not at the table.”
The near-miss demonstrated why Fremont County maintains advocacy presence in Washington, according to both commissioners. Without cooperating agency status, federal projects could proceed on lands affecting Fremont County – where over 50 percent of land is federally owned – without local input.
McFall serves on NACO’s public lands steering committee, addressing issues critical to Fremont County including the roadless rule, cattle grazing allotments, forest management for wildfire prevention, and watershed protection. Bell advocated on the Agriculture and Rural Affairs committee for Congress to pass a new farm bill to replace the 2018 version, which hasn’t been updated in nine years despite the intended five-year renewal cycle.
The commissioners also addressed ongoing battles over local land use authority, with federal and state governments both attempting to take control from counties. They shared Fremont County’s conservative budgeting approach with struggling counties and scheduled all-day meetings on Capitol Hill with Colorado’s senators and congressional representatives.
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