DeGette Introduces Colorado Wilderness Act of 2007
DENVER- As Colorado's remaining wild lands continue to be threatened by oiland gas drilling and encroaching development, Chief Deputy Whip DianaDeGette (D- CO) today reintroduced the Colorado Wilderness Act of2007. Joining Rep. DeGette at her press conference was Tresi Houpt,Garfield County Commissioner and member of the State Oil and GasCommission, David Getches, Dean of the University of Colorado School ofLaw, Paul D'Elia from Patagonia Denver, and representatives andcitizens from the Colorado conservation community.
Below are U.S. Rep. DeGette's remarks as prepared for delivery:
"Iam proud to be before you today to announce the reintroduction of theColorado Wilderness Act of 2007. Since 1999 I have had the privilegeof introducing legislation to protect wilderness quality public landacross Colorado. However, since that time, our state has seen many ofour states special places and wilderness areas put under pressure andin threat of being lost forever.
"That is why I am proud toannounce my intention today to reintroduce an updated, revamped, andsweeping proposal to protect 62 separate areas across Colorado makingup nearly 1.65 million acres of Coloradans' public land as wilderness.
"Iam pleased to be here with many advocates of wilderness in Colorado,including Garfield County Commissioner Tresi Houpt, David Getches,Dean of the University of Colorado School of Law and Raphael J. MosesProfessor of Natural Resources Law, Paul D'Elia of the PatagoniaCorporation, as well as a number of conservation groups from acrossColorado under the umbrella of the Colorado Wilderness Network, who foryears have been the backbone and on the frontlines of defendingwilderness in Colorado. Thank you for joining me today.
"We aregathered here to put protecting our public land literally back on themap. Colorado's tremendous beauty and landscapes are always in theforefront of every Coloradan. It comes as no surprise then that in arecent poll 70 % of Coloradans supported more wilderness and wildlandsin Colorado. Indeed Democrats, Republicans, Western Slope and FrontRange residents alike support protecting our public lands.
"Thepoll showed that Coloradans support balance in our public landsmanagement but we also want to protect the special areas of thisState. Most of all, we want to leave what is special about Coloradofor future generations.
"Colorado and our wilderness are atcrossroads. In the last 7 years our State's public lands have facedan onslaught like it has never seen from the Bush Administration,particularly on lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management. Over85,000 acres of wilderness quality public lands have already beenleased for oil and gas drilling in Colorado and more are offered upevery day.
"Drilling rigs, new roads, pipelines, more well pads,more noise, and more dust has tarnished our landscapes, impacted ourcommunities, and disrupted sensitive wildlife.
"While thereis room for energy development and leasing on our public lands, withover 80% of land available for oil and gas leasing, I think some of ourmost beautiful and sensitive areas should be off limits. Thisdevelopment is being allowed to encroach into our wildlands - removingfrom consideration many areas deserving of wilderness protection.
"Icannot stand by as a fourth generation Coloradan and let every lastacre of our state be sold to the highest bidder in the latest leasesale.
"It is time to stand up for what makes Colorado special,for what brings thousands of tourists here year round providingconsistent and long term benefits to our economy and communities. Itis time to protect the sanctuaries our wildlife and endangered speciesdepend on and to preserve for our children the Colorado we see and lovetoday for future generations. It is time to protect the wild places ofour state once and for all.
"I recognize the Colorado WildernessAct is an ambitious proposal. However, it is my view thatpiece-mealing wilderness in this State, acre by acre, is a limitedproposition and one which could delay the preservation of thousands ofacres of public lands for an interminable amount of time.
"Whileindividual areas may be easier to pass in the short term, the ColoradoWilderness Act in its totality is not as formidable as may seem - at1.65 million acres the Colorado Wilderness Act makes up 1/8 of totalBureau of Land Management public land and only seven percent of totalpublic land in our State. It consists of over 800,000 acres alreadymanaged by the BLM as wilderness study areas. Furthermore, theColorado Wilderness Act of 2007 is a carefully researched proposal withits wilderness qualities and boundaries established using sophisticatedgeographic information systems and double checked on the ground bydedicated citizen volunteers.
"I also understand thatwilderness and our public lands do not remain in an unchanging vacuum.I have made several changes to this legislation including adjustingboundaries for ongoing energy development and activities, but alsoadding several thousand acres of new areas which have been discoveredand advocated by citizen volunteers since my original introduction in1999.
"I am also happy to announce a significant compromise inthis legislation. In Colorado we have a saying, "Whisky is fordrinking and water is for fighting." For too long the issue of waterrights has been an unnecessary impediment to wilderness preservation inColorado. In recognition of the importance of water and water rightsin our state and in light of our recent drought and increased demandson water supplies, I have rewritten the water language in this bill toensure the federal government plays by the State of Colorado's waterlaws and regulations.
"Professor Getches will expound on thislater. But this major change to my bill shows that I am committed tolistening to all sides interested in public lands and wilderness issuesin Colorado and open to reasonable changes and adjustments. As thewilderness debate moves forward, my promise to listen to all sides willstand and I look forward to an ongoing dialogue about wilderness inColorado.
"Preserving wilderness in Colorado has always beenhard - it brings a clash of interests and different philosophical viewsto a head. However, as President Kennedy, in our quest to land on themoon stated we choose to do such things "not because they are easy, butbecause they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize andmeasure the best of our skills and talents."
"In our State'shistory whenever we have chosen to preserve our limited special places,the process was always hard, but we rarely looked back in regret andoften wondered why we did not do it sooner. More often then not it,establishing wilderness brought out the best in our leaders and thecitizens of our great State.
"In closing I would like to leaveyou with a quote from one of the true wilderness leaders, formerSenator Frank Church of Idaho who in talking about the Wilderness Actstated:
‘The great purpose is to set aside a reasonable part ofthe vanishing wilderness, to make certain that generations of Americansyet unborn will know what it is to experience life on undeveloped,unoccupied land in the same form and character as the Creator fashionedit... It is a great spiritual experience. I never knew a man who took abedroll into an Idaho mountainside and slept there under a star-studdedsummer sky who felt self-important that next morning. Unless wepreserve some opportunity for future generations to have the sameexperience, we shall have dishonored our trust.'
"It is my goaland for those standing with me today, to preserve a small part ofColorado to honor the trust of future generations and to let ourchildren's children experience the Colorado we love and cherish today."
For maps and detailed descriptions of the Colorado Wilderness Act please link to: https://canyoncountrywilderness.org
Below are the areas that would be protected under U.S. Rep. DeGette's Wilderness Act:
Proposed Wilderness Area Acreage
Adobe Badlands 10,742
Badger Creek 25,229
Bangs Canyon 21,110
Beaver Creek 38,378
Big Ridge 24,887
Bitter Creek 3,021
Black Mountain - Windy Gulch 22,439
Browns Canyon 20,025
Bull Canyon 16,781
Bull Gulch 15,155
Castle Peak 16,263
Cold Spring Mountain 50,536
Cow Ridge 15,721
Cross Canyon 25,947
Cross Mountain 18,057
Deep Creek 20,843
Demaree Canyon 25,881
Diamond Breaks 34,009
Dinosaur Additions 63,469
Dolores River Canyon 41,133
Dominguez Canyons 84,410
Dominguez North 12,449
Dragon Canyon 6,748
Flat Tops Addition 16,427
Grand Hogback 11,701
Granite Creek 14,089
Grape Creek 44,372
Handies Peak 72,397
Hunter Canyon 32,126
Kings Canyon 9,398
Little Bookcliffs 30,557
Mares Tail 4,809
Maroon Bells 316
Maverick 20,585
McIntyre Hills 17,318
McKenna Peak 33,467
Norwood Canyon 13,288
Oil Spring Mountain 25,005
Pinyon Ridge 20,903
Pisgah Mountain 15,679
Platte River Addn 33
Powderhorn Addition 3,306
Prairie Canyon 18,687
Redcloud Peak 38,594
Rio Grande 10,863
Roan Plateau 40,494
Roubideau 22,604
S Shale Ridge 27,569
Sagebrush Pillows 5,143
San Luis Hills 23,536
Sewemup Mesa 65,448
Skull Creek 30,735
Snaggletooth 32,050
Table Mountain 27,888
The Palisade 26,914
Thompson Creek 25,285
Troublesome 119,676
Unaweep 39,392
Vermillion Basin 86,569
Weber-Menefee Mountain 14,598
West Elk Addition 6,878
Yampa River 12,436
Totals 1,674,368