“Efforts to save roadless areas in the national forests have been going on for 30 years, with little progress. We’re losing lands all the time. It’s time for the federal government to make a decision,” says John Swartout, executive director of Great Outdoors Colorado and one of the 13 members of the Colorado Roadless Task Force.
“Last year,” Swartout said, “Colorado came up with a proposed rule of protection, with our task force holding 13 public meetings all across the state, receiving thousands of public comments. It was a brutal process, not a lot of fun. We came up with an ugly compromise. None of the sides really liked it, but it was what we could get everyone to agree to, because of diversity on the task force. And it can work.”
Former Gov. Bill Owens submitted that Colorado rule to the national roadless committee last Nov. 13. But with the change of governors, Colorado has been given additional time for the new administration to evaluate the rule.
“Gov. [Bill] Ritter will make the decision within the next two weeks,” assured Mike King, deputy director of the Division of Natural Resources. “He and Harris Sherman (director of the Department of Natural Resources) have been going through the whole package – hearings, comments, recommendations. They may make a tweak here and there, but they are impressed with the thoughtful work that went into the Colorado rule. On Feb. 9, Gov. Ritter made a request for interim protection for the roadless forest lands, to assure that no activity inconsistent with the Colorado rule would be authorized until the rule goes in effect. Once accepted, it may be 18 months to promulgate the rule,” King said.
The stakes are huge. Our state has 4.1 million roadless acres in its 14 million acres of 11 national forests and two grasslands. America as a whole has 58.5 million roadless acres in national forests. The U.S. national forests have more than 380,0000 miles of mapped roads, 60,000 miles of unmapped roads, and an $84 billion road maintenance backlog. With Colorado’s unrelenting population growth and increased potential for petroleum and mining exploration, roadless areas are under attack.
Comments in public meetings overwhelmingly backed roadless forests. Written comments were 91 percent in favor of no new roads. Fifty-one local governments commented, and 46 of 63 organizations (including recreation users and timber groups) favored protection. Citizens spoke not only of their own enjoyment of such untouched lands, but the need to protect them for future generations, for wildlife and to ensure drinking-water quality.
While the Colorado rule would prohibit road construction in identified roadless areas, it would allow some exemptions, such as some existing coal mines. It specifies directional drillings for petroleum in sensitive areas and accommodates grazing where sustainable to keep ranchers on the land.
The hang-up is in the federal courts. One of President Bill Clinton’s last acts in 2001 was to craft roadless-area protection, which the Bush administration promptly overturned – saying individual states could decide whether and which areas should be protected. Six states immediately chose the Clinton rule, but others took various routes. California sued, as did Wyoming. The resulting court decisions seemed to contradict each other and must be sorted out.
Swartout is philosophical and hopeful. “Colorado was more thorough than many states, holding hearings, reading public comments, having a diversified task force, compromising when necessary. If all we do is show a way to get a good resolution, that’s an accomplishment in itself.”
True. But a Colorado rule that protects and preserves untouched national forest lands from further degradation will be the real accomplishment.
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Some people question John Denver’s “Rocky Mountain High” becoming an official Colorado song. But for instant identification, it’s the song to have.
In 1986 I was in Shanghai, walking in the riverside area that was the financial center when European imperialists ruled and is now a tourist attraction with handsome old buildings overlooking a broad riverwalk. It was sweltering, and I was crossly wondering why was I in China when I could be the Colorado mountains.
A couple dozen Chinese gathered, eager to practice their English, and asked where I was from. “America” I said. “California?” one ventured. “Colorado, Denver,” I added, at which point almost all exuberantly shouted, “Rocky Mountain High!” and shared high-fives.
Joanne Ditmer’s column on environmental and urban issues for The Post began in 1962 and now appears once a month.
