There is a Colorado-related item on the agenda of the “lame duck” Congress that deserves swift and positive action: designation of Browns Canyon in Chaffee County as a wilderness area.
The 20,000-acre site lies east of the Arkansas River and would complement whitewater recreation on that waterway while helping protect the quality of water in the Arkansas by ensuring the pristine nature of one of the river’s major watersheds.
The bill designating Browns Canyon as wilderness is sponsored by Sen. Wayne Allard and Rep. Joel Hefley, both Colorado Republicans. It’s important to act on the measure before this Congress adjourns for good because Hefley, whose 5th District includes Browns Canyon, is especially knowledgeable about the proposal and he is retiring after 20 years of service. Protecting Browns Canyon would be a worthy legislative “monument” to cap Hefley’s career. (He will be replaced by Doug Lamborn, a freshman representative of what will soon be the minority party. No matter how well Lamborn does his job, it will be years before he can muster the kind of respect by his colleagues that Hefley now enjoys.)
The Browns Canyon bill has strong support from the Democrats in the state delegation, especially from Rep. Mark Udall and Sen. Ken Salazar. Salazar recently wrote to Allard supporting language Hefley had added to his bill to protect Colorado water rights.
“It would be a travesty if Browns Canyon is not designated as wilderness,” Salazar concluded.
Like Salazar, we’d like to see the House language protecting Colorado water rights added to the Senate version of the bill. In contrast, we find no merit in an 11th-hour objection by the National Rifle Association that wilderness designation would close a motorized trail sometimes used by ATVs.
As The Denver Post’s Charlie Meyers noted recently: “This claim flies in the face of a considerable body of research showing that roads not only diminish habitat and reduce the numbers of animals, but also decrease hunter harvest. A report released by Trout Unlimited in 2006 establishes a strong connection between roadless areas and successful hunting and fishing. Other studies strongly connect wild areas with an abundance of deer and elk.”
In short, the wilderness designation, by protecting wildlife habitat, would be a boon to hunters and anglers. We urge Congress to pass the Hefley-Allard bill before it adjourns.
