Omnibus Public Lands Management Act
In March 2009, Congress voted to designate more than 2 million acres of United States land, including 300,000 acres in Colorado, as wilderness! With this vote, Congress established the Dominguez-Escalante National Conservation Area and also afforded wilderness protection to pristine backcountry in Rocky Mountain National Park including Longs Peak, the remote Mummy Range, and Wild Basin.

James Peak Wilderness and Protection Area
Designated in the summer of 2002, this 14,000-acre wilderness area straddles Boulder, Clear Creek, Gilpin and Grand counties and protects this accessible and stunning backcountry region of the northern Front Range. The bill also established a 16,000-acre special protection area that may be upgraded to wilderness in the future.

The Spanish Peaks Wilderness
A 20-year battle to secure protection for 18,000 acres encompassing the Forest Service’s Spanish Peaks near Trinidad finally ended with passage of a bill designating the twin peaks as wilderness (the easternmost peaks of the entire Rocky Mountains).

Canyons of the Ancients National Monument
Former President Clinton’s 164,000-acre national monument proclamation for extreme southwest Colorado takes in the densest concentration of Ancestral Puebloan Indian ruins in America.

Black Ridge Canyons Wilderness and Colorado Canyons National Monument
Designated in 2000, this 75,000-acre BLM wilderness is located along the south bank of the Colorado River at the Utah stateline, and includes 5,200 acres of newly designated BLM wilderness located within Utah. The Colorado Canyons National Conservation Area encompasses both the wilderness area plus another 47,000 acres on the river’s north side, home to the popular Kokopelli mountain bike trail.

Great Sand Dunes National Park
The existing national monument was recently expanded to a total of 146,000 acres, largely through the purchase of a 100,000-acre private ranch adjacent to the Monument’s north boundary, and redesignated as a national park.

Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park
The previous national monument was expanded by about 10,000 acres and redesignated as a park.  The legislation also designated the 17,700-acre BLM Gunnison Gorge Wilderness immediately downstream, plus added 4,400 acres to the existing Black Canyon of the Gunnison Wilderness Area within the park, and created the 58,000-acre Gunnison Gorge National Conservation Area on BLM lands.