landusepbb
01-05-2006, 10:19 AM
Roadless areas touted as critical to Colorado
By BILL McKEOWN THE GAZETTE
Protecting Colorado’s roadless areas is crucial for successful hunting and fishing, and those pastimes are critical to the state’s economy.
That was the message sent Wednesday by Trout Unlimited officials, a fly-rod manufacturer and two retired Colorado Division of Wildlife biologists.
The advocates of roadless areas held a teleconference to publicize the release of a report by Trout Unlimited on the importance of preserving pristine areas of the state for fish and wildlife. They also criticized a recent Bush administration policy that could allow road building on millions of acres of roadless land in Colorado and across the West controlled by the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management.
“The best thing we can do for Colorado’s roadless lands is to leave them just as they are,” said Chris Hunt of Trout Unlimited. “The balance we have between roads and roadless lands is very workable.”
There are 14.5 million acres of Forest Service land in Colorado. Wilderness areas account for 3.3 million of those acres, roadless areas 4.4 million, and the rest is open for mixed use, including off-road recreation and energy exploration.
That balance went up for grabs in May when President Bush repealed a rule enacted by the Clinton administration that extended protection to nearly 59 million acres of roadless lands, mostly in 12 Western states. That action, critics say, makes those lands vulnerable to possible timber and oil and gas leasing and other development.
The Colorado Oil and Gas Association, which represents the majority of oil and gas producers in the state, is opposed to the prohibition on road building on the 4 million acres of Colorado roadless land. The association has argued that keeping the areas off limits is tantamount to declaring the areas wilderness, depriving the nation of needed energy sources.
Governors in three Western states — California, Oregon and New Mexico — sued the Bush administration, charging that the rule change violates environmental laws and puts an undue burden on states. Those suits have not been resolved.
In Colorado, the Legislature decided to take advantage of an offer by the U.S. Agriculture Department that allows governors to petition to keep roadless areas in their states intact; those petitions are due Nov. 13.
A bipartisan task force created by lawmakers has been holding a series of public meetings across the state — the next will be Friday in Pueblo — to gather public comment.
In a process that could take several years, the task force will make recommendations to the Colorado governor, who will submit a proposal to a national review committee. That committee will forward its suggestions to the U.S. secretary of agriculture, who will make a final decision on which roadless lands in Colorado will be protected.
Sharon Lance, president of Colorado Trout Unlimited, said the 10,000-plus members of the conservation group in this state want the roadless areas left alone. In fact, she said, so do a majority of Coloradans: She cited a survey five years ago in which more than 90 percent of 100,000 people supported the preservation of roadless areas.
She and retired Colorado Division of Wildlife biologists Tom Beck and John Ellenberger said backcountry areas protect watersheds that supply drinking water to a majority of Colorado residents; provide habitat for Colorado’s threatened native cutthroat trout and give shelter to big-game animals harried by growth on private land.
Hunt added that it seems foolish to build more roads in forests when the Forest Service doesn’t have enough money to maintain the roads it has.
He cited a report by the Taxpayers for Common Sense, which reports a $232 million backlog in maintenance and capital improvements on roads in Colorado’s national forests.
Jim Bartschi, president of Montrose-based Scott Fly Rods, said Colorado’s roadless areas support a hunting and fishing industry that brings in nearly as much each year as the state’s often-vaunted ski industry.
He said that in 2002, not a particularly good year for tourism, hunting and fishing generated more than $1.5 billion for the state’s economy.
“By infringing on roadless areas, we run the risk of infringing on a really important part of our economy,” he said.
CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0197 or
mckeown@gazette.com
DETAILS
The public is invited to attend a meeting Friday in Pueblo to comment on whether Colorado’s 4.4 million acres of roadless lands, including some in the Pike National Forest, should be opened to other uses.
The meeting of the Roadless Area Review Task Force, a bipartisan 13-member group created by the Colorado Legislature, will be from 5 to 8:30 p.m. at the Pueblo Convention Center, 320 Central Main St.
Colorado Springs residents also can submit their thoughts to the task force by visiting www.dnr.state.co.us, click on “Roadless Area Task Force.” Written comments also can be mailed to The Keystone Center, attn: Roadless Areas Review, 1628 St. John Road, Keystone CO 80435.
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http://www.gazette.com/display.php?id=1313458&secid=1
By BILL McKEOWN THE GAZETTE
Protecting Colorado’s roadless areas is crucial for successful hunting and fishing, and those pastimes are critical to the state’s economy.
That was the message sent Wednesday by Trout Unlimited officials, a fly-rod manufacturer and two retired Colorado Division of Wildlife biologists.
The advocates of roadless areas held a teleconference to publicize the release of a report by Trout Unlimited on the importance of preserving pristine areas of the state for fish and wildlife. They also criticized a recent Bush administration policy that could allow road building on millions of acres of roadless land in Colorado and across the West controlled by the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management.
“The best thing we can do for Colorado’s roadless lands is to leave them just as they are,” said Chris Hunt of Trout Unlimited. “The balance we have between roads and roadless lands is very workable.”
There are 14.5 million acres of Forest Service land in Colorado. Wilderness areas account for 3.3 million of those acres, roadless areas 4.4 million, and the rest is open for mixed use, including off-road recreation and energy exploration.
That balance went up for grabs in May when President Bush repealed a rule enacted by the Clinton administration that extended protection to nearly 59 million acres of roadless lands, mostly in 12 Western states. That action, critics say, makes those lands vulnerable to possible timber and oil and gas leasing and other development.
The Colorado Oil and Gas Association, which represents the majority of oil and gas producers in the state, is opposed to the prohibition on road building on the 4 million acres of Colorado roadless land. The association has argued that keeping the areas off limits is tantamount to declaring the areas wilderness, depriving the nation of needed energy sources.
Governors in three Western states — California, Oregon and New Mexico — sued the Bush administration, charging that the rule change violates environmental laws and puts an undue burden on states. Those suits have not been resolved.
In Colorado, the Legislature decided to take advantage of an offer by the U.S. Agriculture Department that allows governors to petition to keep roadless areas in their states intact; those petitions are due Nov. 13.
A bipartisan task force created by lawmakers has been holding a series of public meetings across the state — the next will be Friday in Pueblo — to gather public comment.
In a process that could take several years, the task force will make recommendations to the Colorado governor, who will submit a proposal to a national review committee. That committee will forward its suggestions to the U.S. secretary of agriculture, who will make a final decision on which roadless lands in Colorado will be protected.
Sharon Lance, president of Colorado Trout Unlimited, said the 10,000-plus members of the conservation group in this state want the roadless areas left alone. In fact, she said, so do a majority of Coloradans: She cited a survey five years ago in which more than 90 percent of 100,000 people supported the preservation of roadless areas.
She and retired Colorado Division of Wildlife biologists Tom Beck and John Ellenberger said backcountry areas protect watersheds that supply drinking water to a majority of Colorado residents; provide habitat for Colorado’s threatened native cutthroat trout and give shelter to big-game animals harried by growth on private land.
Hunt added that it seems foolish to build more roads in forests when the Forest Service doesn’t have enough money to maintain the roads it has.
He cited a report by the Taxpayers for Common Sense, which reports a $232 million backlog in maintenance and capital improvements on roads in Colorado’s national forests.
Jim Bartschi, president of Montrose-based Scott Fly Rods, said Colorado’s roadless areas support a hunting and fishing industry that brings in nearly as much each year as the state’s often-vaunted ski industry.
He said that in 2002, not a particularly good year for tourism, hunting and fishing generated more than $1.5 billion for the state’s economy.
“By infringing on roadless areas, we run the risk of infringing on a really important part of our economy,” he said.
CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0197 or
mckeown@gazette.com
DETAILS
The public is invited to attend a meeting Friday in Pueblo to comment on whether Colorado’s 4.4 million acres of roadless lands, including some in the Pike National Forest, should be opened to other uses.
The meeting of the Roadless Area Review Task Force, a bipartisan 13-member group created by the Colorado Legislature, will be from 5 to 8:30 p.m. at the Pueblo Convention Center, 320 Central Main St.
Colorado Springs residents also can submit their thoughts to the task force by visiting www.dnr.state.co.us, click on “Roadless Area Task Force.” Written comments also can be mailed to The Keystone Center, attn: Roadless Areas Review, 1628 St. John Road, Keystone CO 80435.
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http://www.gazette.com/display.php?id=1313458&secid=1