It had taken years and much negotiating, but Colorado’s congressional delegation had come to agreement on the wisdom of giving Rocky Mountain National Park the protection of an official wilderness designation.
Or so it seemed.
In fact, an omnibus measure that would have conferred that designation on the park — and addressed some 170 other areas across the nation — failed to become law last week in the U.S. House by two votes. Colorado Reps. Doug Lamborn and Mike Coffman, both Republicans, voted against the measure. The state’s Democratic representatives, Diana DeGette, Betsy Markey, Ed Perlmutter, Jared Polis and John Salazar, supported it.
It is a disappointment, after decades of bipartisan work by elected officials and environmentalists, that the park failed to get that additional protection. Then-President Richard Nixon proposed the designation for the park in 1974.
To be sure, there were legitimate arguments to be made — on both sides — about the process by which the bill was brought to a vote.
Democrats, who wanted to foreclose the possibility of amendments to the 1,248-page measure, suspended the normal rules. That meant a two-thirds margin was needed for passage.
Republicans reportedly wanted to attach an amendment to the bill that would have put into law a last- minute Bush administration rule change allowing those with concealed weapons permits to bring loaded guns into national parks.
This is a controversial issue that ought to be dealt with separately from the larger bill, which would have set aside more than 2 million acres in nine states as wilderness areas. Along with Rocky Mountain National Park, the bill would designate 66,000 acres of Dominguez Canyon, in western Colorado, as wilderness.
However, Republicans had a point about their inability, because of the process, to look separately at the individual designations and projects, which they estimated carried a $10 billion pricetag.
At a time when the nation is facing monumental deficits, lawmakers need to think hard about every dime they commit to spending.
For the record, the park designation, according to the Congressional Budget Office, would have no cost, while a wilderness plan for Dominguez Canyon would cost less than $300,000.
It is unfortunate the designation was caught up on this political maelstrom. The park has been a candidate for wilderness designation since the Wilderness Act was passed in 1964 and has been managed as a wilderness area since the 1960s. If it were to get the official designation, nothing would change. And that’s fine by us.
The value of the designation is that it would ensure the park would continue as it is, invulnerable to political whim. That’s important not just to conservationists, but to nearby communities that cater to visitors.
Democratic leaders promise to bring the measure back for reconsideration, but haven’t said when or in what form.
We hope lawmakers confer wilderness protection on the deserving areas in Colorado — and that this state’s entire delegation finds a way to support that important measure.
