US House approves wilderness protection bill

While the Colorado Outdoor Recreation and Economy (CORE) Act still has not had a chance at a Senate vote, a new wilderness protection bill was approved in the U.S. House of Representatives. Wednesday evening, the House passed the "Protecting America's Wilderness Act" by a vote of 231-183.

Although the bill is the newest wilderness legislation through the House, the vote was a long time coming. Colorado Representative Diana DeGette has been introducing a version of this act into Congress since 1999. For over two decades, DeGette traveled "by foot, by horse, and by raft" across the state to visit these lands and speak with local stakeholders and residents.

"It's Telluride's backyard," said Mark Pearson, Executive Director of the San Juan Citizens Alliance. "There's really a lot of local cherished terrain."

If a version of the bill is approved by the Senate, DeGette's legislation would offer permanent safeguards for more than 600,000 acres of land in Colorado. The bill offers land protections in three states, Colorado, California, and Washington. Almost 1.4 million acres in total would be declared federally protected wilderness and about 1,000 miles of rivers would be added to the National Wild and Scenic River Systems if the bill makes it through the Senate.

"The areas that will be protected under this bill are some of the most beautiful and pristine landscapes that our country has to offer," DeGette said in a statement.

"By officially designating them as wilderness, as this bill does, we will finally be providing them the permanent protection they deserve," she added.

When land becomes federally designated wilderness, logging, mining and drilling are banned, and it is illegal to construct new roads or developments on the protected area. With permanent protections, the public land is available for outdoor recreation, including hiking, climbing, rafting and kayaking.

DeGette's new bill combines six current land-protection bills that have cleared the House Natural Resources Committee in the past several months, including the Colorado Wilderness Act. The Colorado Wilderness Act aims to give wilderness protections to 600,000 acres in the state, spread across 32 different regions.

With Colorado conservation groups, Pearson began working on the Colorado Wilderness Act nearly 25 years ago. Members submitted a proposal encouraging lawmakers to design legislation to protect the state's wild lands, particularly in the Western region. Representative DeGette stepped in.

"DeGette took up the mantle and became the champion of desert lands," Pearson explained.

After over two decades of work, Pearson was able to see a House vote.

"It's certainly gratifying to see this first significant step taken. Of course, there's still a long way to go, but it's so necessary and urgent to take permanent legal action," Pearson said.

Pearson, who was in Washington D.C. when the bill went through the House, emphasized the necessity of permanent protections, especially given President Donald Trump's current withdrawal of wilderness designations.

"It's an assault on the bedrock of the conservation principles of our country," he said.

There is only one land parcel that overlaps with the land that would be protected under the CORE Act. The McKenna Peak wilderness area, which DeGette's bill encompasses entirely, is only partially included in the CORE Act. Most of the CORE Act is National Forest land while the Wilderness Act is primarily BLM land.

The Protecting America's Wilderness Act contains essential wilderness corridors and connects lower level areas to high elevation wilderness. Endangered species, such as the Uinta basin hookless cactus and the Uncompahgre fritillary butterfly are endemic to certain wilderness areas that would be protected under DeGette's bill. The wilderness lands in Colorado also include unique natural features, such as the Deep Creek cave complex, which is the largest cave system in the Western United States.

"Each one of these is a little gem for one reason or another," said Robyn Cascade, of the Great Old Broads wilderness protection and preservation advocacy group. Cascade traveled to Washington D.C. this past fall to lobby for DeGette's bill and other wilderness legislation.

Unlike the CORE Act, DeGette's legislation focuses on low to mid-elevation lands such as Handies Peak, Dolores River Canyon and Little Bookcliffs.

"These are areas that tend to be overlooked because they're not those high alpine we call rock and ice areas," explained Cascade.

Over two-thirds of the lands in Colorado that DeGette's bill would protect are already unofficially considered wilderness, according to a press release from DeGette's office. The Protecting America's Wilderness Act would make these designations official and permanent.

In her remarks to the House, DeGette emphasized the necessity of wilderness protection for the current and future health of the state.

"In preserving these lands, the bill will do what we need to do to further fulfill the House's commitment to take steps to combat the climate crisis," she said.

"These areas are, without a doubt, deserving of the highest protections we can give them. And passing them on to the next generation — in the same state that they are in today — is, and has always been, one of our top priorities."