Conservation E-news - Holiday Edition

Welcome to the holiday edition of the CMC Conservation E-news, a once monthly interesting mix of news and action items that seeks to connect CMC members and the public with the work we are doing in CMC Conservation. Thank you for your support of our fourfold mission: Protecting Wild Places, Defending Quiet Recreation, Promoting Stewardship and Access. Happy holidays from CMC Conservation! Please remember CMC Conservation programs in your year-end giving. CMC Conservation is Colorado’s leader for sustainable recreation and conservation.  It is this unique perspective, as a large user-group, that informs our conservation ethic.  We are a respected voice connecting hikers and winter backcountry users with stewardship of our public lands.   With your support we have been able to advocate for additional wilderness in Summit , Eagle and Pitkin counties. With your voices, we have been able to help craft a better Colorado Roadless Rule, protecting over 4 million acres.  With your help, we are working actively on trail projects from Dillon to Grand Junction, bringing the hiker and mountain climber voice to the table.  With your help, we’ve been able to give over 3,000 hours of volunteer service in the last field season.    We are supported by gifts from individuals like you and some grants.  CMC membership dues do not directly support our Conservation.  Thank you for your support and for caring about protecting what is best about our state and working to steward it for a sustainable future!  Donate to Conservation at http://www.cmc.org/support. ACTION ITEM: Comment today on the proposed Bang’s Canyon motorized trail near Grand Junction.  This proposed system of motorcycle, ATV and Jeep trails threatens the quiet hiking experiences popular with Western Slope CMC members and the public.  CMC Conservation has been working to protect hikers experiences and these beautiful redrock canyons for a decade now.  Unfortunately, the BLM is once again trying to expand motorized trails into primitive, quiet areas.  Comments are due by this Friday December 21  – check out our ALERT. CMC Conservation invites winter recreation users to get involved with our program serving the human-powered winter backcountry recreation community – the Backcountry Snowsports Initiative, or BSI.  BSI seeks to defend human-powered winter recreation for skiers, snowshoers, snowboarders, and other users, while protecting the wild lands that support these activities. .  Join this community by signing up for our winter season monthly BSI e-news. We are pleased to announce that CMC is a founding member of Outdoor Alliance Colorado, a coalition representing voices for human powered recreation and conservation.  Members include CMC, Colorado Mountain Bike Association ( COMBA), and local affiliates of Access Fund and American Whitewater.  We believe that we can influence public policy and stewardship as the authentic voices for hikers, paddlers, climbers, mountain bikers and winter backcountry users.   Recent studies show that outdoor recreation is a huge positive economic driver in the West. We want to be able to help link that conservation of public lands is an economic engine for Colorado.  Recently, OAC representatives, including CMC Conservation Director Scott Braden, met with Sen. Mark Udall’s staff to endorse the senator’s proposal to create a national monument and wilderness for Browns Canyon of the Arkansas River.  Stay tuned for more news of this exciting new partnership!

Standing Up for Our Public Lands

(L-R) John Fielder, Kurt Kunkle (CEC) and Scott Braden (CMC)

Colorado Mountain Club joined renowned landscape photographer John Fielder, a representative of Senator Mark Udall and Colorado Environmental Coalition (CEC) to call attention to a raft of anti-conservation bills in the U.S. Congress.  A new report on the bills has been released by the group Environment Colorado.

These bills, outlined in the report, would turn back the clock on hard won conservation rules that help keep Colorado's wildernesses and open spaces pristine and open to recreation.  The bills, all in the House of Representatives, would open protected wilderness areas to logging and motor vehicles, gut the Colorado Roadless Rule, release lands from protection as Wilderness Study Areas, and force the Bureau of Land Management to sell of "excess" federal lands to the highest bidder.

The lands that would be adversely impacted by these bills in Colorado are critical to our state's robust and growing outdoor recreation economy.  A new study by the Outdoor Industry Association determined that outdoor recreation spending tops $645 billion per year in the U.S. and is responsible for 6.1 million jobs.  Additionally, a recent Colorado College poll indicates that 93% of Coloradans agree that “Our national parks, forests, monuments, and wildlife areas are an essential part of Colorado’s economy.”

These laws, which unfortunately have support from some Colorado Congressmen, including Reps. Tipton, Lamborn and Coffman, undermine what is beautiful and great about our state, would damage our vibrant recreation economy, and are out of step with the values of Coloradans. 

ACTION ALERT: Your Knowledge and Comments Needed

Map of the Colorado River Valley Field Office courtesy of the BLM The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has extended the comment period for the Colorado River Valley (formerly Glenwood Springs) Resource Management Plan (RMP) until February 29.  We have a little more time to get in some quality comments for this plan affecting over a half million acres of our public lands in central Colorado.  We are focusing comments on Lands with Wilderness Characteristics (LWC) – which is a bureaucratic way of saying our unprotected wild lands, many of which are already proposed for permanent wilderness designation.  The BLM has identified 47,000 acres in 6 different units that meet the technical requirements, and several are adjacent to already-protected lands or Forest Service Roadless lands.  Click here for more info on these wild lands. Shockingly, the BLM preferred alternative would protect zero of these LWC acres to protect their wild values.  We need to demonstrate to the BLM that we are paying attention and that there is a constituency for these wild places.  The best approach is to concentrate your comments on places where you have recreated and care about.  If you can say that you go to a place and that protection of its wild character is a benefit to your recreation.  Additionally, talking about how it would damage your enjoyment of these places if oil and gas, off-road vehicles or other disturbing activities were allowed - and that you would probably go elsewhere - is an effective argument.

Thompson Creek proposed wilderness. Photo Hidden Gems campaign. By next Wednesday, CMC members and others need to step up and tell the BLM to protect these last wild places to their fullest capability.  Special interests are putting lots of pressure on the BLM to roll back protections, so we must show that there is a strong constituency for wild lands. Please take a moment to write the BLM and tell them to protect these wild lands and your quiet recreational opportunities.  Remember, specific notes about specific places work best. Please send us a copy of your comments too, so we can keep track of what folks are saying. 1) Send comments to:  co_crvrmp@blm.gov 2) Send us a copy, please:  conservation@cmc.org The RMP is posted online at http://www.blm.gov/co/st/en/BLM_Programs/land_use_planning/rmp/kfo-gsfo/crv.html

Lands with Wilderness Characteristics and links to maps and more information: Castle Creek Addition  -  lands contiguous with the existing Castle Peak Wilderness Study Area, proposed for wilderness and currently before Congress in Rep. Jared Polis’ Eagle and Summit County Wilderness Preservation Act.                                         Deep Creek – A large roadless gorge draining the Flat Tops Wilderness, eventually into the Colorado River, a popular hiking destination.  Proposed for wilderness in Rep. Diana DeGette’s Colorado Wilderness Act of 2011.      Flat Tops Addition/Hack Lake – A large companion roadless area adjacent to the existing Falt Tops Wilderness, including popular Hack Lake. Proposed for wilderness in Rep. Diana DeGette’s Colorado Wilderness Act of 2011. Grand Hogback – Dramatic jagged mountains near Rifle Falls State Park that separate the Roan Plateau from the Flat Tops plateau.  Proposed for wilderness in Rep. Diana DeGette’s Colorado Wilderness Act of 2011.          Pisgah Mountain – Desolate mid-elevation cliffs along the Colorado River below Statebridge. Proposed for wilderness and currently being considered as a Special Management Area before Congress in Rep. Jared Polis’ Eagle and Summit County Wilderness Preservation Act.    Thompson Creek – Popular hiking destination west of Carbondale, threatened by oil and gas development. Proposed for wilderness and currently before Congress in Rep. Jared Polis’ Eagle and Summit County Wilderness Preservation Act.    Thank you for your help and commitment to Colorado's public lands!

Scott Braden Director of Conservation and Education Colorado Mountain Club