Walt Dabney spent a career protecting some of America’s most treasured landscapes — from Yellowstone and the Everglades to Arches and Canyonlands. This week, he’s coming to Western Colorado to deliver a powerful message: don’t take public lands for granted.
Dabney will be screening his documentary, The History and Future of America's Public Land, followed by a community discussion. You can catch him on Wednesday, September 10 at 7:30 pm at the Sherbino Theater in Ridgway and Thursday, September 11at 7:00 pm at the Ute Museum in Montrose. Both events begin in the evening and are free to attend.
Dabney spoke with KVNF’s Brody Wilson about why these talks matter. “So much of Texas is privately owned,” he said. “If you don’t have your own place… you’re out of luck for the kind of things we take for granted here.”
After decades with the National Park Service and Texas State Parks, Dabney says he began hearing alarming rhetoric: that the federal government shouldn’t own land, or that western states were promised control of federal lands at statehood. Not true, he says — and he points directly to the Constitution and statehood agreements to back that up.
“It would be an absolute irreversible tragedy to lose these lands out of our common ownership,” he told KVNF.
But Dabney’s message isn’t just about access and values. It’s economic, too. Outdoor recreation is now a $1.2 trillion industry in the U.S. In Utah alone, it’s a $9.5 billion business supporting more than 70,000 jobs. He’s not opposed to grazing, drilling, or mining — but says those who use public lands should pay fair market rates, just like they would on private land.
“If you’re going to drill for oil and gas, pay a royalty that is industry standard,” he said. “Just charge what the state does.”
Dabney warns that if states ever take control of federal lands, they’ll quickly discover they can’t afford to manage them — and the likely outcome is that those lands would be sold to the highest bidder.
“That wouldn’t be me,” he said. “Maybe it would be you… but it wouldn’t be me. And we would forever be posted out of it.”
Ultimately, Dabney says public lands belong to everyone — regardless of politics.
“If you’re a hunter, a fisherman, a four-wheel-drive user, a mushroom collector, a mountain biker, a hiker — whatever you are — you’re from every possible political persuasion,” he said. “These lands are your. You own them.”
