"America's support for conservation showed up at the polls in the 2022 midterm elections, even though some tight races bucked the trend."

"When President Joe Biden picked up the phone to congratulate certain Democrats on their victories in Tuesday’s midterm elections, he was wearing a baseball cap with the name of America’s newest protected landscape.

Last month, Biden traveled to central Colorado to create Camp Hale-Continental Divide National Monument, which encompasses Camp Hale, a World War II-era military training site, and the nearby Tenmile Range. The designation, his first national monument as president, brought more than 50,000 federal acres under a new set of protections that bar new mining, drilling and other development.

That Biden donned a Camp Hale hat to make congratulatory phone calls “shows that he (and the political team) understood that public lands are a winning issue,” said Aaron Weiss, deputy director at the Colorado-based conservation group Center for Western Priorities.

Asked about Tuesday’s biggest victories for public lands in the U.S., Weiss said, “Only slightly tongue-in-cheek: the hat.”"

Chris D'Angelo reports for HuffPost November 12, 2022. [2]

SEE ALSO:

"Democrats See Policy Shift with Gains in State Legislatures" (Bloomberg Environment) [3]

"6 Wins And 2 Losses On Climate In The Midterms" (Vox) [4]