ACTION ALERT: Protecting Wild Places

Upper San Juan River near Wolf Creek Pass - photo Scott Braden

We have a few areas that really could use your voice speaking out for recreation and conservation.  Please take a few moments to respond to these important action steps for places we love.

Wolf Creek Pass

We are passing along this alert from Friends of Wolf Creek, since this is an area of interest for many Colorado Mountain Club members:

The future of the Wolf Creek Pass area hinges on a decision the US Forest Service will soon make on a proposed land exchange. Your opportunity to declare, "No thanks to the Village at Wolf Creek - I support the No Action Alternative" is open until September 30. Save the views, wildlife, wetlands and support local business interests - ACT in defense of this cherished natural treasure. Read more and Take Action.  http://friendsofwolfcreek.org/take-action/

Central Rocky Mountains Wilderness

If you haven't already, Senator Mark Udall still needs to hear from you on the possible designation of wilderness for up to 32 areas in Pitkin, Summit and Eagle counties. It is important that the Senator receive a clear signal for public support for protection of these important mid-elevation lands that are critical wildlife habitat and popular for human-powered recreation. Please comment and view proposal maps by clicking here.

Browns Canyon National Monument and Wilderness

Sen. Udall is also listening to public input for protecting Browns Canyon of the Arkansas River. This proposal would be a great boon to the outdoor recreation economy of the Arkansas Valley. The proposal includes designation of a National Monument for about 32,000 acres with an additional wilderness designation within that boundary. Maps of the proposal and the public comment form can be found here.

Final Colorado Roadless Rule Announced

Yesterday the USFS released the final draft of the Colorado Roadless Rule, a state-specific rule that will replace the 2001 national Roadless Rule for management of 4.2 million acres of inventoried roadless lands in Colorado. 

In response, the CMC released the following public statement:

The Colorado Mountain Club (CMC) applauds the improvements to the Colorado Roadless Rule and appreciates the US Forest Service for dramatically increasing to 1.2 million acres the “upper tier” of protected lands and the tightening of exemptions.  These are a significant improvement from the earlier draft versions of the state-specific rule.

The CMC’s 7,000 members and the outdoor recreating public deeply value these roadless lands as places for hiking, nature watching, quiet contemplation and refuge from an increasingly hectic and mechanized world. 

Since the 2001 national Roadless Area Conservation Rule has been upheld in courts and affirmed as the law of the land, CMC and others have called on the Obama administration to either apply the national rule to Colorado or to increase the level of protection in the Colorado-specific rule to a level that is truly consistent with the national rule.

While in many ways the Colorado Roadless Rule has improved, there are still some troubling elements that preclude the CMC’s full endorsement, including exemptions for coal mine methane venting, ski area expansions and new roads in roadless areas.  These exceptions to roadless protections prevent our full endorsement of the Final Rule as released today.  We hope that the Obama administration will continue to strengthen the Colorado Rule’s protections and close some of the exceptions in the final weeks of the rulemaking.

Colorado Roadless Rule at USFS

Map of Colorado roadless lands

Media:

Denver Post: http://goo.gl/NGHMu

Associated Press: http://goo.gl/Yq4dB

Summit Daily News: http://goo.gl/CZZhL

Grand Junction Daily Sentinel: http://goo.gl/gvs1N

The Coloradoan: http://goo.gl/vz3H9

Aspen Times: http://goo.gl/r4a12

Summit County Citizens Voice: http://goo.gl/IlHFb

Colorado Independent: http://goo.gl/ooCJY

Good News: Vail Resorts Supports Wilderness in Eagle and Summit Counties

CMC Conservation along with other conservation groups today lauded Vail Resorts for backing the efforts of Sen. Mark Udall and Rep. Jared Polis to designate new wilderness in the Central Colorado Rockies.

The company publicly endorsed the efforts of Sen. Udall and Rep. Polis to protect nearly 175,000 acres of public lands in Summit and Eagle counties with either wilderness or special management designations.

  

The announcement is posted on the Vail Resorts website.

Vail Resorts operates ski and snowboard areas in Colorado, California and Nevada, including Vail and Beaver Creek ski areas in Eagle County, and Breckenridge and Keystone ski resorts in Summit County.

Vail Resorts’ endorsement adds to the already lengthy list of businesses in Summit and Eagle Counties that have urged Udall and Polis to protect ecologically important backcountry lands.

In late 2011, 103 businesses in Pitkin County signed on to a letter urging Colorado’s Congressional Delegation to protect lands outside Carbondale and around Aspen, and 189 businesses in Summit and Eagle County sent a letter to Sen. Udall urging him to work with Rep. Polis and protect lands in those counties.

The Central Colorado Outdoor Heritage Act, which Sen. Udall and his staff is currently vetting in local communities, would protect 32 areas comprising 236,000 acres of public lands managed by the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management in Summit, Eagle and Pitkin Counties.

“Wilderness is good for business,” says Jay Heeter, Campaigns Coordinator with Colorado Mountain Club. “I’ve personally spoken with more than 100 business based in Summit County who understand that a healthy environment helps them thrive.”

Hanging Lake Trail and Rest Area Closed Beginning May 1

The Forest Service will undertake several reconstruction and maintenance projects on the Hanging Lake Trail this summer beginning May 1 of this year. To facilitate this activity, the Hanging Lake Trail will be closed from May 1 to approximately August 1, 2010. Located in Glenwood Canyon on the White River National Forest, the Hanging Lake Trail is one of the most popular recreation attractions along the I-70 corridor with over 80,000 visitors annually.
For more information and updates, contact the Eagle-Holy Cross Ranger District at: 970-328-6388.