Breckenridge Destinations supports independent journalism. Click for great deals on vacation lodging in Breckenridge.
Protected areas touted as driver of recreation economy
Summer in the Eagles Nest Wilderness.
By Bob Berwyn
SUMMIT COUNTY — A slew of wilderness proposals for lands in Summit and Eagle counties that have been stuck in a gridlocked, do-nothing U.S. House of Representatives could gain traction in the Senate, where Mark Udall says he will introduce a wilderness bill once he’s taken input from local communities and other stakeholders.
“Starting today, I am kicking off a collaborative, community-driven process to listen to the community and create legislation to protect Colorado’s outdoor heritage in two very special places in our state – the Central Mountains and the Arkansas River Canyon,” Udall wrote on his blog.
He announced his wilderness bid Sunday during a press conference in Frisco, with the gleaming, snow-covered peaks of the Eagles Nest Wilderness as a backdrop. So far, the proposal doesn’t include much detail and it’s not clear whether the legislation would include so-called companion designations for some areas carved out by mountain bikers, who say they support wilderness but want to retain access to favored trails.
Such companion designations were discussed in the context of the Polis wilderness measure. The lands designated under those alternate designations are sometimes known as national recreation or national conservation areas, and still prevent most extractive uses while allowing a little more flexibility for recreation than the ironclad wilderness designation.
Udall has a well-deserved reputation as a wilderness advocate, and has made repeated efforts to fashion bipartisan support in an era of polarized politics.
While serving in the House of Representatives, Udall worked across party lines in 2002 to craft a deal that expanded the James Peak wilderness in the northern Front Range. Udall is an avid outdoorsman and served as a course director for Outward Bound in Colorado before starting his political career.
Links to maps of the proposed areas are online here.
Udall specifically is aiming at two areas, including many parcels identified in what was first called the Hidden Gems proposal, then later dubbed the Summit-Eagle Wilderness Act by U.S. Rep. Jared Polis’ stalled legislation in the House.
Udall’s second targeted area is along the Arkansas River and Browns Canyon, where the idea of a potential new wilderness area dates back to about 2005, based on another stalled measure in the House.
Udall touted new wilderness as a potential economic driver for Colorado, and said he hopes to get stakeholder consensus before drafting legislation. The collaborative process touted be Udall is, in some ways, a re-invention of the wheel, as Rep. Polis went through a similar process before introducing his legislation.
“By hearing your comments from the outset, I hope to develop a plan that a majority of the community agrees will support their interests and further develop Colorado’s booming recreation economy,” Udall wrote in his blog.
He garnered support from U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, who has also been working to advance a multi-parcel wilderness plan through Congress.
“As a fourth-generation Coloradoan, I know firsthand that Colorado’s beautiful lands are one of our state’s greatest resources. These special lands not only provide clean air, clean water and critical wildlife habitat, they help drive tourism as our state’s number one economic engine,” DeGette said in a press release.
“Coloradoans want to preserve their quality of life and their opportunities. With efforts in the U.S. House and now the U.S. Senate, our state’s precious lands are that much closer to being protected. I look forward to working with Senator Udall to set forth a balanced approach to protecting some of the last remaining wild places in Colorado.”
Filed under: Colorado, economy, Environment, Hidden Gems wilderness, public lands, US Forest Service Tagged: | Colorado, Jared Polis, Mark Udall, new Colorado wilderness, Wilderness legislation
Arapahoe Basin supports independent journalism. Click to visit The Legend online.
Powder's falling at Monarch!! Have you reserved your spot yet?
Innovative energy underwrites coverage of energy stories.
Good luck to the the Senator on this all important issue. The last paragraph speaks volumes to what Colorado is. So, with input from the good citizens, hopefully this will come to fruition.
Previous wilderness bills sponsored by Democratic Representatives Degette and Polis have failed for the smae reasons. They seek to designate lands which DO NOT MEET THE CRITERIA for wilderness under the Wilderness Act. A majority of the affected local communities are opposed to the wilderness designations, fearing for the economic future and safety of their citizens. For instance, even the environmentally-sensitive communities of Aspen and Basalt are opposed to designating areas immediately adjacent to their borders as wilderness, because an enormous threat from fire in beetle-killed trees is present. They will not be able to ensure the safety of their citizens under wilderness control.
Senator Udall’s plans are a repetition of previously failed efforts. It would be wise for him to seek the support of groups other than wilderness advocates to make these designations – starting with the very agencies from whose lands these wilderness enclaves would be carved. It is a fact that maintaining wilderness is far more expensive than managed use of public lands. The budget for these expensive fantasies does not exist, and the bills do not provide any source of funds to support them.
I note that although this article pretends that there is economic benefit to wilderness and promotes the myth of increased benefit with increased wilderness, no actual study or link to those studies is cited. That is because they do not exist.
The billion-dollar economic benefit to rural communities from motorized recreation in Colorado is well documented by unbiased studies created by independent research institutes. Please go to http://cohvco.org to download your copy of these studies by the Louis Berger Group. It is irresponsible to promote grabbing all the land you can for vague save-the-world reasons. Neither the managing agencies, government authorities, or the public has indicated that this is the right path to follow.