They are supremely beautiful places of blissful solitude, the epitome of how we picture Colorado’s mountains and valleys, and an unmatched legacy for those who follow us. They form an inheritance only we can ensure.
Colorado has 4 million roadless acres in its 14 million acres of 11 national forests and two grasslands, a fraction of the 58.5 million acres of roadless areas in national forests across the country. But there are always people who want to “use” such natural lands, depending on wheels instead of feet. There is a vocal bunch wanting more roads.
Roadless-area protection crafted under President Clinton was frozen in 2001 by the Bush administration, which decreed that the affected states could decide whether and which areas should be protected. Six states petitioned that the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule be reinstated in their national forests, but Colorado chose to have a task force, hold public comment, and make recommendations to Gov. Bill Owens.
For 10 months, the 13-member task force under the aegis of the Department of Natural Resources has been wrestling with how much protection will continue on these lands and whether to permit any new roads. U.S. national forests currently have more than 380,000 miles of mapped roads, 60,000 miles of unmapped roads, and an $8.4 billion road maintenance backlog.
The Colorado task force includes representatives from the timber industry, skiing, hunters and fishermen, ranchers, conservationists and a few political types. Some are more interested in exemptions in roadless areas than in protecting them. The process has taken far more time and effort than anyone expected, and members of the task force are ready for it to be over so they can make recommendations to the governor by Sept. 13. They’ve sat through eight public meetings around the state (where hundreds of citizens requested roadless protection), and had 4,904 written comments to peruse (of which 91 percent expressed the desire for no new roads) and three lengthy task force sessions.
Fifty-one local governments commented. Of 63 organizations – including hikers, motorcycle riders, bird-watchers, timber groups, and outfitters – 46 were in favor of protection.
I got glassy-eyed just reading the summary of the written comments and the 25-page rough draft of what they’re considering.
Overwhelmingly, the citizens at meetings and in written comment want roadless area protection, and no more new roads. They want landscape and wildlife protected, not just for their own enjoyment, but for future generations. They fear new roads will affect drinking water quality and increase invasive species.
They’re frustrated by “comment fatigue” – and asked why we’re not upholding protection granted under the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule.
They note that more roads equal more trash, appreciatively describe the birds, animals and fauna found in roadless areas, lament the disruption and destruction caused by motorcycles and ATVs in the back country, and say much of this destruction is irreversible.
The task force promises to complete its report during an Aug. 3 conference call After their recommendations are submitted, there will be a public hearing period of several weeks before it goes to the governor.
If public opinion rules, roadless area protection will be reinstated. It would be perilous to ignore such strong sentiments.
The Colorado Division of Wildlife strongly supported the roadless areas, saying they “allow DOW to conserve the values and characteristics critical to the Division’s mission, and which provide multiple public benefits, without prohibiting such uses as grazing, mineral exploration and extraction, forest health and fire management … . Repealing the protections currently afforded these lands could result in irreversible changes.”
This is a decision that will shape Colorado for the future, and deserves our attention. When the next public comment period is announced, join in.
Joanne Ditmer’s column on environmental and urban issues for The Post began in 1962 and now appears once a month. For more information, go to dnr.state.co.us and click on the link to the roadless areas review task force, or to roadless.net.
