U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet testified in favor of the Glenwood Hot Springs Protection Act in a hearing held Wednesday by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. A link to watch the testimony is below.

Ranking member calls legislation ‘a great example of locally-driven public lands management’

The Glenwood Hot Springs Protection Act got its first hearing in Congress on Wednesday, with to-the-point testimony by U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet and comments by U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper.

“Despite years of public opposition, the company is once again proposing to triple the size of a gravel quarry on BLM lands just outside of Glenwood Springs,” Bennet said. “This expansion would permanently disrupt the limestone formation that feeds the hot springs, undermining one part of the Roaring Fork Valley’s economy and damaging the region’s quality of life.”

Bennet’s bill, S. 5101, and an identical bill introduced in the House by U.S. Rep. Jeff Hurd, H.R. 9826, would prohibit the U.S. Department of Interior from approving any size expansion of the limestone mine near Glenwood Springs. The Bureau of Land Management, an agency within Interior, is conducting a technical review of a new mining permit application submitted by Rocky Mountain Industrials.

Bennet’s testimony came in a hearing of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., the committee’s ranking member, called the bill “a great example of locally-driven public lands management.” Any vote on the legislation will come on a later date in a business meeting of the committee.

Bennet said any potential approval of the mining permit would be “a short-sighted and irresponsible decision to make,” and noted that it “would only benefit a handful of interests.”

“This is not how we do things in Colorado,” Bennet said. “That is why local elected officials, the Southern Ute Tribe, the Glenwood Springs business community and thousands of community members oppose the quarry’s expansion.”

Sen. John Hickenlooper, a co-sponsor of the Senate bill, also commented in the bill’s favor. “As a recovering geologist, I can speak full well that there’s a complex plumbing situation that allows the Glenwood hot springs to be continuous, sustainable, and that hopefully will last forever. Large-scale mining would put that at risk … and I think the local community is nearly unanimous in opposing it.”

At the end of his testimony, Bennet introduced a sheaf of resolutions and letters of support for the bill. The hearing record will remain open until early next Wednesday, Sept. 23. The Citizens’ Alliance is gathering more resolutions and letters of support to add.

“I’m especially grateful to Sen. Hickenlooper, Representative Jeff Hurd and the entire Roaring Fork Valley for their ongoing partnership and advocacy in support of this bill,” Bennet added.

The House version of the Glenwood Hot Springs Protection Act is unlikely to see any action until November, since the House of Representatives is adjourned until the mid-term election.

 

Watch Sen. Michael Bennet’s full testimony on the Congress.gov website.
Jump forward to minute 41:30. The testimony ends after five minutes with comments from Sen. John Hickenlooper.

Read coverage in the Aspen Daily News, Sept. 17, 2026
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