In late September, Colorado Senator Michael Bennet officially introduced the Gunnison Outdoor Resources Protection (GORP) Act to Congress. Per Bennet’s office, the proposed legislation is the largest public lands bill introduced in Colorado since the early 1990s. It proposes increased protections of over 730,000 acres of public land via designation changes and wilderness classification additions. Countless organizations have been working on conservation advocacy that appears in the bill almost since Bennet took office in 2009, 15 years ago.
Among the coalition of organizations is Carbondale-based Wilderness Workshop. Though the bill is named for Gunnison County, it extends across six counties, including Pitkin County and lands adjacent to the Crystal River Valley in neighboring Gunnison and Delta counties. Wilderness Workshop spoke with The Sopris Sun this week to share details about the bill and sections of it within the Roaring Fork Valley.
Wilderness Workshop campaign manager Michael Gorman and advocacy director Erin Riccio shared their thoughts on the local and regional potential of the bill. “This has been building up from decades of Western Slope work and legislation,” Riccio said. She and Gorman suggested that may be part of why there has been so much celebration about the bill’s introduction to Congress, though it still is pending approval.
“There are four areas that Wilderness Workshop thinks are of particular interest to Roaring Fork Valley residents,” said Gorman. Those are Ashcroft, Star Peak, Treasure Peak and North Fork. The first three sit mostly within Pitkin County borders, and are proposed wilderness area additions.
The Ashcroft area has been a notable priority for local conservation for at least a decade. Wilderness Workshop has been collaborating with Pitkin County, the Aspen Center for Environmental Studies, Ashcroft Ski Tours and the Aspen Historical Society to add the 1,000-acre swath of land to the existing Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness Area. It is an easy proposition, since the land has already been managed as if it were wilderness given terrain and location, and no existing trails and roads on it conflict with Wilderness Act definitions.
Further south, the proposed Star Peak Wilderness Area has necessitated further negotiation for inclusion in the bill. Per Gorman, “Star Peak would be a new standalone wilderness area. Bennet worked with the Braun huts system to establish that while ensuring boundaries recognizing snowmobile and similar recreation remain permitted.” Star Peak is a 13,527-foot mountain adjacent to the famous Grand Traverse routes and proximate to multiple Braun backcountry huts as well as summertime 4-wheel-drive roads.
To the west, the Treasure Mountain proposed area is north of Marble, and “an incredibly rugged chunk of wilderness” according to Gorman. The land would be added to the Raggeds Wilderness area and provide a connected, protected wildlife corridor between the former and the Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness. Due to its dramatic terrain, it is “certainly a place to find solitude,” said Gorman. It may also be habitat for Canada Lynx and other wildlife.
The fourth land package, North Fork, would entail a different designation shift. Per Senator Bennet’s office, the legislation proposes to withdraw North Fork Valley public lands from future oil and gas occupancy, preventing fossil fuel surface occupancy. The goal of that change is to protect people and ecosystems downstream of land that would otherwise be open for oil and gas leasing and development. The bill would still allow some energy industry use, such as capture of coal mine methane.
As the GORP Act sits in Congressional consideration, community engagement can help to provide evidence of public support for the legislation. Riccio and Gorman detailed how much local advocates helped in proving the value for each section of land included in the GORP Act.
Conservationists from Wilderness Workshop and partner organizations led field trips into proposed areas for protection with representatives and maintained dialogues with local and regional government. Elected officials sometimes know only as much as specialists, experts, and advocates share with them. Community-led conservation efforts better enable our senators to represent their constituents.
Riccio explained that as Congress considers this legislation, it’s important to “keep this on decision-makers’ radars.” She said, “We want to make sure that senators and representatives know it remains a priority. Write letters to elected officials, bring it up at town events.” The consistent contact and support will help to move forward the significant effort that went into writing the bill.
The Sopris Sun will provide periodic updates as the GORP Act moves through the federal legislative process. You can read more about the introduced bill at www.gorpact.org