Wayne N. Aspinall

Who was Wayne N. Aspinall?

Wayne Norviel Aspinall was a lawyer and politician from Colorado. He is largely known for his tenure in the United States House of Representatives, serving as a Democrat from 1949-1973 from Colorado’s Fourth District. Aspinall became known for his direction of the House Interior and Insular Affairs Committee, of which he was the chairman from 1959-1973. Aspinall focused the majority of his efforts on western land and water issues.

His actions supporting resource development often drew the ire of the increasingly powerful environmental lobby in the 1960s. David Brower, a prominent executive director of the Sierra Club, said that the environmental movement had seen “dream after dream dashed on the stony continents of Wayne Aspinall.” The congressman returned the animosity, calling environmentalists “over-indulged zealots” and “aristocrats” to whom “balance means nothing.” This battle shaped Aspinall’s congressional career.