Huge Public Lands Bill Clears Senate

Release Date: January 15, 2009
Denver

Contact: Kurt Kunkle Colorado Environmental Coalition 303-405-6702

Contact: Clare Bastable Colorado Mountain Club Colorado Mountain Club

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DENVER — Today, the U.S. Senate passed the bipartisan Omnibus Public Lands Management Act of 2009 by a vote of 73-21, which would permanently protect more than 2 million acres of America's wilderness including 316,000 acres in Colorado. The omnibus lands act would provide the greatest expansion of the National Wilderness Preservation System in 15 years and the first wilderness designation in Colorado since James Peak Wilderness was passed in 2002.

A coalition of Colorado conservation groups hailed the measure as a monumental step forward for wilderness designation both nationally and within Colorado. The bill is the culmination of over a decade of work by citizens, mayors, local communities, and conservation groups across the state.

The package includes two long-awaited Colorado wilderness measures:

• Dominguez-Escalante National Conservation Area and Dominguez Canyon Wilderness Area Act.  This legislation would create a 210,000-acre National Conservation Area, containing the 66,000-acre Dominguez Canyon Wilderness in the beautiful red rock cliffs of western Colorado south of Grand Junction.  The bill would preserve ancient petroglyphs and dwellings, flower-strewn meadows, outstanding habitat for desert bighorn sheep, and scenic streams replete with waterfalls and plunge pools.
  
  
• Rocky Mountain National Park Wilderness and Indian Peaks Wilderness Expansion Act. Rocky Mountain National Park provides world-class hiking and climbing, and breathtaking views of the Rocky Mountains, while also supporting the economies of several gateway communities.  This legislation would protect nearly 250,000 acres of the park's backcountry as designated Wilderness, finally implementing a recommendation by the National Park Service made in the early 1970s.  The bill will also increase the size of the Indian Peaks Wilderness by more than 4,000 acres south of the Park.

The omnibus package also contains the National Landscape Conservation System Act, which would make permanent the 26-million acre conservation system comprised of the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) best lands and waters—including such Colorado lands as Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, Gunnison Gorge National Conservation Area, and McInnis Canyons National Conservation Area. In addition, the omnibus bill contains the following Colorado provisions: Arkansas Valley Conduit Authorization Act, Sangre de Cristo National Heritage Area Act, South Park National Heritage Area Act, Baca National Wildlife Refuge Management Act, Jackson Gulch Rehabilitation Act, Northern Front Range Backdrop Study Act, Sangre de Cristo National Heritage Act, and Upper Colorado River endangered fish project authorization.

The legislation now moves to the House for approval where leadership is expected to take it up as early as next week.

"This is a great day for wilderness in Colorado," said Suzanne Jones, Central Rockies regional director for The Wilderness Society. "Today's action clears the way for protecting some of the state's most cherished landscapes. When signed into law, this legislation would provide for the greatest expansion of the National Wilderness Preservation System in 15 years." 

"We thank Colorado's congressional delegation for coming together to pass this monumental legislation," said Elise Jones, Executive Director of the Colorado Environmental Coalition. "Today's vote is a gift to all Coloradans in protecting the spectacular natural legacy of our great state." 

"Passage of this bill through the Senate is a testament to the history of Colorado citizens caring for and protecting their wildlands for all to enjoy as they come to hike, hunt, fish and find solitude for decades to come," added Clare Bastable, Conservation Director for Colorado Mountain Club.

"The Senate's passage of this public lands bill is a real victory for Colorado's communities," said Gretchen Nicholoff, president of Western Colorado Congress.  "Our public lands heritage on the Western Slope supports local economies and our enviable quality of life.  Protection of wilderness gems like Dominguez Canyon only strengthens this heritage."

» More on Rocky Mountain National Park's proposed wilderness

» More on proposed Dominguez-Escalante National Conservation Area