http://www.markudall.senate.gov/?p=form&id=51

Press Release – Chaffee County Citizens, Business Owners Support Senator Udall’s Proposal to Protect Browns Canyon

1976

After the Bureau of Land Management was left out of the 1964 Wilderness Act, Congress moves to protect wilderness-quality lands managed by the bureau with the passing of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act.

The bill requires the agency to inventory its lands and identify areas with certain characteristics as wilderness study areas – sections of land which Congress is supposed to either designate as wilderness or open for use as nonwilderness areas.

Congress has left many wilderness study areas in bureaucratic limbo.

1979

The BLM identifies 117 areas in Colorado with wilderness potential. Browns Canyon is one of seven named by the Royal Gorge Field Office, according to records obtained by BLM public affairs officer Denise Adamic.

The BLM’s preliminary inventory eventually leads to Browns Canyon becoming a wilderness study area, though the exact date of the designation is unclear.

1991

A wide-ranging House bill introduced by Colorado Republican Reps. Wayne Allard and Dan Schaefer seeks to name hundreds of thousands of acres in Colorado as wilderness, including Browns Canyon.

The Colorado Wilderness Act of 1991 never makes it out of committee.

1999

Colorado Democratic Rep. Diana DeGette begins a decade-long attempt to pass the Colorado Wilderness Act. The first iteration of her legislation has 25 co-sponsors but fails to make it to the floor for a vote.

Future versions of the bill have far fewer co-sponsors and also fail to make it out of committee.

DeGette is still working to pass the legislation. The most recent version of the act included a 19,825-acre wilderness area for Browns Canyon.

2003

Friends of Browns Canyon forms to obtain bipartisan support for getting formal wilderness protection for the area, according to Keith Baker, the group’s current executive director.

2005

Republican Rep. Joel Hefley and six other Colorado lawmakers in Congress introduce the Browns Canyon Wilderness Act. Sen. Wayne Allard unveils companion legislation in the Senate.

The bills fail after the National Rifle Association comes out against the wilderness designation, claiming it will limit hunting in Browns Canyon by closing Turret Road, according to media reports at the time.

2006

The Browns Canyon effort is dealt a setback when Hefley decides not to run for re-election. The candidate Hefley backs as his successor, Jeff Crank, faces off against fellow Republican Doug Lamborn in a bitter primary fight that results in bad blood among the three lawmakers.

Lamborn wins the election. He does not support Hefley’s pet project to procure wilderness designation for Browns Canyon.

2008

Then-U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar makes an attempt at the Browns Canyon Wilderness Act, but it never makes it past committee.

The Colorado Democrat goes on to become secretary of the interior during President Barack Obama’s first term in office. Salazar recently announced he will step down from the post by the end of March.

2012

Sen. Mark Udall outlines a plan to name portions of the Arkansas River canyon a national monument and designate the surrounding 20,000-acre Browns Canyon area as wilderness. Lamborn’s support is seen as critical for the Browns Canyon movement because his district includes Chaffee County and he heads the influential House Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources.

2013

In late January, Udall announces plans for a 60-day comment period after the draft to make Browns Canyon a national monument is made public. His office has not said when the plan will be released.

Three map options are available for public inspection at markudall.senate.gov/?p=form&id=51.

How would OHV use be effected by proposal?

Casey Kelly, Mail Staff Writer | Posted: Friday, February 15, 2013 8:51 am

The proposed Browns Canyon National Monument would overlay land managed by the Bureau of Land Management on the west and U.S. Forest Service land to the east.

Save for about 5 miles of Turret Road, which enters the area from the south, no existing motorized routes in the area would be affected by the designation.

Bureau of Land Management river manager John Nahomenuk confirmed there are currently no designated motorized or off-highway-vehicle trails on BLM land that would be affected by the national monument designation.

Ben Lara, U.S. Forest Service recreation and lands program manager for the Salida Ranger District, said the only existing motorized trail in the Forest Service land considered in the proposal is approximately 5 miles of Turret Road.

When Sen. Mark Udall laid out three options for the national monument proposal, Turret Road was one of the points of contention during public meetings on the proposal.

Turret Road, described as a high-clearance four-wheel- drive road, enters Forest Service land from the town of Turret and extends from the town, allowing for motorized use up to the boundary of the current wilderness study area.

The Fourmile Travel Management Area, just north of the proposed monument, more than 180 miles of designated motorized trails, according to the Friends of Fourmile website.

In Udall’s three mapped options for the designation, option Nos. 2 and 3 would keep Turret Road the same length and continue to allow access for motorized and off-highway vehicles up to the wilderness study area.

At BLM land, motorized access would be prohibited.

Option No. 1 proposes motorized access be severed at the southern boundary into the national monument.

Until Udall introduces the legislation, it is unknown which option will be the one proposed and what the future use of Turret Road may be.

Option No. 1 would take away about 5 miles of existing motorized trails in the area. The other two options would have no effect on the amount of motorized trails available in the area.

Maisie Ramsay, Times Staff Writer | Posted: Friday, February 15, 2013

Depending on who you talk to, Sen. Mark Udall’s pending legislation to secure permanent protections for Browns Canyon could either be a boon or a bust for local businesses.

Those in the off-highway-vehicle business are wary of any proposal to restrict access to all-terrain vehicles, snowmobiles and the like.

But businesses like outfitters and whitewater rafting tour operators say the status of a wilderness area or national monument will attract larger crowds of outdoor enthusiasts.

Still others say the economic impact could go either way.

Carl Bauer, co-owner of Liar’s Lodge Bed and Breakfast in Buena Vista and a member of Heart of the Rockies Snowmobile Club, is doubtful a national monument designation will do much for the area’s economy without motorized access.

“When people go to the backcountry, they want to drive through it,” he said. “If the national monument status is done wrong, and we say the only way you’re going to go in there is to hike 15 miles in and 15 miles back, it’s not going to be an economic generator except for the river corridor.”

Though final details of Udall’s proposal are unknown, the designation will likely continue to restrict access of off-highway vehicles. And that’s what Bauer and others in the OHV community say is wrong with Browns Canyon National Monument.

“We’ve got aging baby boomers who aren’t as mobile as they used to be and wounded warriors who aren’t as mobile,” Bauer said. Maintaining the current ban on motorized vehicles in Browns Canyon will continue to preclude those and other similarly handicapped groups from gaining access to the area, he argued.

Bauer would like to see accommodations made for vehicles.

“We’d like to see a route through the area north to south and one route to the river so people who aren’t highly mobile can still enjoy the area,” he said.

Lisa Barr, who owns Mountain Tech Yamaha in Buena Vista with her husband, Sean, echoes Bauer’s comments. “Tourism is good and we support everybody who comes here, motorized and nonmotorized. But I kind of don’t want to see it as wilderness because then there’s no motorized riding,” she said.

Barr expressed skepticism that a wilderness designation would attract tourists. “I don’t see the benefits of it,” she said.

On the other side are businesses that directly benefit from Browns Canyon’s rugged beauty.

Joe Greiner of Wilderness Aware Rafting believes national monument status for Browns Canyon could have a significant effect on the local economy by helping the area regain its name recognition.

“Browns Canyon used to be the go-to place for rafting. Anybody that heard about rafting in Colorado heard about Browns Canyon,” he said. “Royal Gorge has gotten the attention now, and Clear Creek by Idaho Springs has gotten popular for rafting because it’s close to Denver. … We have lost amazing quantities of market share over the past 10 years because of those things.”

Greiner said his “gut feeling” tells him rafting here would see a 20 to 30 percent increase if Browns Canyon National Monument became a reality.

“Marketing-wise, it would have a bigger impact than wilderness,” he said.

Greiner is adamant that Browns Canyon remain free of motorized vehicle traffic.

“That would just spoil the rafting experience down close to the river,” he said.

Greiner argued there is already “plenty of mileage” in the Fourmile Travel Management Area to mitigate the financial impact on businesses dealing in motor sports.

“Making Browns Canyon a destination for the nonmotorized crowd will far exceed the impact on the motorized community,” he said.

Bill Dvorak with Bill Dvorak Kayak and Rafting Expeditions is closely involved with the effort to get legislation passed on Browns Canyon and volunteers with Friends of Browns Canyon. Like Greiner, he said he believes a national monument would bring in the greatest amount of tourism dollars.

“It would be a greater impact on the valley economically,” he said. As for the impact on the OHV community, Dvorak is dismissive. “They have tremendous access in this valley already.”

Straddling the two sides is April Ralph with the Chaffee County Visitors Bureau. She supports the idea of naming Browns Canyon a national monument, but is reticent about any proposal that would restrict access to OHVs.

“It would give us another marketing tool to have it as a monument,” she said. However, “when things get restrictions, that’s when I back off.”

Ralph points out that local businesses won’t fully be able to forecast the impact of Udall’s bill until it actually becomes official, especially when it comes to the issue of vehicle access.

“It’s a moot point, since we don’t know what’s going in the legislation,” she said.

That uncertainty is of some concern to Frank McMurry and Tom Murphy, who both have existing land use rights in Browns Canyon.

“It’s kind of like the dog that catches the truck. You don’t know if it’s a good thing or a bad thing,” said Murphy, who owns and operates Elk Mountain Ranch with his wife, Sue.

Murphy is a licensed guide and outfitter with the U.S. Forest Service, a permit that allows him and his guests to go on horseback rides through Browns Canyon. He is concerned that proposals to greatly expand wilderness acreage within Browns Canyon could affect his permits, even though Udall’s office has pledged to retain existing usage rights.

“I have my business to look out for,” he said. “If this brings another layer of new rules and permitting and ratcheting down of use, that could be onerous and problematic to our business.”

Murphy said Udall’s office has been very receptive to his concerns, but “you don’t know until anything is finalized and the rubber hits the road. We may turn around to say this has been a great, wonderful arrangement … the other side of the coin is you say this is nothing near what was promised.”

Frank McMurry, who has ranched in Browns Canyon for decades, is worried that Udall’s legislation could affect his permit to graze 35 cattle across 7,500 acres stretching from the Arkansas River to Aspen Ridge.

“The 35 head we run over there, they don’t hurt the land,” he said. McMurry said he is dedicated to preserving the land, pointing out that he voluntarily cut his permit from 150 head to 35 head to “protect the environment over there” after the size of his herd proved too much for the fragile landscape.

McMurry is also concerned that Udall’s proposal will restrict his motorized access permit to use a vehicle to get to a stock pond in the middle of the grazing area. He currently uses a truck to get to the pond and sometimes drives a backhoe to the area when it needs maintenance.

“It’s been unclear from the meetings if I’ll be able to clean those water holes by mechanical means with a backhoe,” he said. “If I can’t maintain my water holes, the land is useless for grazing.”

Udall’s proposal to strengthen protections for Browns Canyon has highlighted divisions in the local recreation community.

On one side are rafting companies who will benefit from the tourism draw of a national monument. On the other is the OHV community, which argues that further restricting access is bad for business and discriminatory to those dependent on motorized vehicles.

In the middle are those with long-standing usage rights in the area, for whom new restrictions could significantly affect their business.

Media contact

Avery Stonich

Outdoor Industry Association

303.327.3511

astonich@outdoorindustry.org

American Spending on Outdoor Recreation Is a Major Driver to State Economies

Outdoor Industry Association Releases Economic Data for All 50 States

Boulder, Colo., Feb. 14, 2013 — Outdoor Industry Association® (OIA) released figures today quantifying the economic impact of outdoor recreation in all 50 states, with a separate report for each state that tallies direct spending, jobs, salaries and tax revenue. This data demonstrates that outdoor recreation is an important driver of state economies, supporting jobs, businesses and communities.

The state-by-state figures expand upon a national report OIA published in June 2012, which found that nationally Americans spend $646 billion each year on outdoor recreation, directly supporting 6.1 million jobs and generating nearly $80 billion in tax revenue.

“Outdoor recreation is a growing American industry that produces significant economic benefits,” said Will Manzer, chair of the OIA Board of Directors and former CEO of Eastern Mountain Sports. “For example, Americans spend almost twice as much on outdoor recreation as they spend on pharmaceuticals each year. And outdoor recreation supports more than twice as many jobs as the oil and gas industry.”

Outdoor recreation creates diverse jobs in product development, manufacturing, marketing, logistics, sales, retail, public land management, guiding services and more — and also supports service sector and other jobs when people spend money on trips and travel-related expenses associated with outdoor pursuits.

With nearly 140 million Americans participating in outdoor activities each year, outdoor recreation is a larger and more critical sector of the American economy than most people realize.

In Colorado, Americans spend $13.2 billion on outdoor recreation, supporting 124,600 Colorado jobs, generating $4.2 billion in wages, and producing $994 million in state and local tax revenue. Colorado offers spectacular outdoor recreation opportunities at treasured destinations, including Rocky Mountain National Park, Garden of the Gods and many others, providing the types of outdoor experiences that produce these economic benefits.

The outdoor industry can continue to generate jobs and be an economic driver in the United States if parks, waters and trails are managed as a system designed to sustain these economic dividends for America.

“Outdoor recreation is good for the American economy and our future,” said Frank Hugelmeyer, president and CEO of OIA. “When we invest in the nation’s network of public lands and waters, we are protecting and enhancing outdoor experiences for the benefit of the thousands of businesses, communities and families whose livelihoods depends on the outdoor recreation economy.”

The new data is an expansion to OIA’s 2006 study and tracks direct jobs as well as direct consumer spending on gear, vehicles, trips and travel in 10 activity categories. OIA commissioned Southwick Associates, a research firm that specializes in shooting sports, hunting, angling, natural resource and environmental economics, to perform the research. Motorcycle Industry Council® and National Marine Manufacturers Association® contributed funding and data to support this study.

The national report as well as a one page fact sheet for each U.S. state is available on the OIA website at outdoorindustry.org/recreationeconomy.

About Outdoor Industry Association

Based in Boulder, Colo., with offices in Washington, D.C., Outdoor Industry Association (OIA) is the leading trade association for the outdoor industry and the title sponsor of Outdoor Retailer. OIA supports the growth and success of more than 4,000 manufacturers, distributors, suppliers, sales representatives, and retailers of outdoor recreation apparel, footwear, equipment and services. For more information, go to outdoorindustry.org or call 303.444.3353.

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Nathan Ward photographs Colorado Senator Mark Udall while Friends of Browns Canyon member Michael Kunkel looks on. Photo by Susan Mayfield.

To minimize the impact on the landscape, Ward hiked and photographed throughout the area with minimal gear, a process he describes as “zero-impact filmmaking.” Rock pinnacles, wildflowers, moving water and wildlife mix starkly and colorfully, capturing the ruggedness and natural beauty of the area.

Ward and Bricker shot the film on Canon 7D Cameras in 1080 High Def during the fall, though they chose to use stock footage of the Arkansas River during spring runoff in past years. “We wanted to show the normal heart and roar of the river,” explained Bricker, “not a river in drought.”

The entire project was shot and edited in two months as a promotional piece for the Friends of Browns Canyon. Throughout the film, Ward and Bricker used the words of supporters as a subtle call to action. Interviews in the film include Sen. Udall, a proponent of national monument designation, and renowned nature photographer John Fielder, known for his vivid landscape photographs of Colorado’s mountains and parks. The film also includes the local perspectives of artist Susan Mayfield and third generation riverman Campy Campton.

Beyond images and words, music leads one through a film. The filmmakers approached renowned cellist Nick Takénobu Ogawa about using his music for the soundtrack, and the Atlanta-based performer agreed to donate use of his music to support the mission of the Friends of Browns Canyon.

The music weaves tightly through shots of raging whitewater and silent rock towers, providing a gentle soundtrack that conveys the solitude and remoteness of the Browns Canyon area.

The Spirit of Browns Canyon premiered to a capacity crowd at a fundraiser for Friends of Browns Canyon at Benson’s Tavern in Salida on Nov. 8. The event also featured a variety of environmental films from the Wild & Scenic Film Festival. The event raised nearly $3,000 for FOBC.

The Spirit of Browns Canyon Full from Grit & Thistle Film Company on Vimeo.

Nathan Ward photographs Colorado Senator Mark Udall while Friends of Browns Canyon member Michael Kunkel looks on. Photo by Susan Mayfield.

Ultimately, FOBC and the filmmakers will use the film as a visual tool to show the Browns Canyon area to people throughout the United States. They are currently embarking on a media campaign to get the word out to groups and businesses all the way from the Upper Arkansas River Valley, to the Front Range, to the halls of Congress of Washington.

Ward, who has worked on photography and writing projects in nearly 40 countries on six continents, reflected, “It was a special honor to be asked to make a film on Browns Canyon. I grew up here and had no idea that such a wild space existed literally out my back door.” While shooting in Browns Canyon, He saw only one other set of human footprints (and one mountain lion).

“I’m a fifth-generation Coloradan, and I know that here in the American West we so often take wild lands for granted. But open lands don’t exist like this throughout the world. It’s a real gift for us, the people of the Upper Arkansas Valley, to dictate the fate of an area that has remained virtually the same since before the time of humans. All we have to do is simply say, ‘Yes. We want to protect the wild lands around Browns Canyon’ and we can do it. It’s an easy way for all of us to show that we appreciate the spirit of this land.”

Colorado Central Magazine

Railroad Gulch

Browns Canyon

By Mike Rosso

What began in the 1970s as a review and evaluation for wilderness designation has become a jumble of information and falsehoods – involving politicians, off-highway vehicle enthusiasts, wilderness proponents and the National Rifle Association.

If designated, the proposed Browns Canyon Wilderness Area in central Chaffee County would be one of the lowest elevation wilderness areas in Colorado and one of the few actual wilderness areas combining both U.S. Forest Service (USFS) as well Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land.

The area boasts a rugged, extremely varied ecosystem, rich species diversity, big game habitat and year-round access. It borders the Arkansas River next to one of the most popular whitewater runs in the nation. Browns Canyon also represents the last roadless land remaining in a large chunk of previously inventoried roadless land in Chaffee County.

Some 102,000 acres in the area were first identified as suitable for wilderness under the Roadless Area Review and Evaluation (RARE 1) in the 1970s by the Salida District of the Pike/San Isabel National Forest but never went beyond the study phase.

Section of Browns looking west. Photo by M. Rosso

In 1980 the BLM did identify 7,003 acres of Browns Canyon as a Wilderness Study Area – to be managed as wilderness until a Congressional decision is made – later adding an additional 913 acres of BLM land around Railroad Gulch at the southern border of the currently proposed wilderness area.

The proposed wilderness area, east of the Arkansas River between Salida and Nathrop, consists of steep gulches of red granite hoodoos and metamorphic rock. Pinyon and juniper trees thrive in the section adjacent to the river, gradually transitioning through ravines and drainages to Ponderosa pine, Douglas fir and aspen trees in the higher elevation. Natural inhabitants of the area include bobcat, mountain lion, fox, pine marten elk, mule deer and black bear. Multiple raptor species have been sighted, including great-horned owls and golden eagles. Between 1980 and 1985 the Colorado Division of Wildlife (DOW) introduced 60 bighorn sheep into Browns Canyon whose range now includes the canyon and parts of Aspen Ridge.

As for exploitable natural resources, Browns Canyon offers little or no commercial value for timber due to its rugged terrain and only spotty stands of harvestable trees. A mineral evaluation by the BLM determined minimal commercial mining potential and there are currently no active patented or unpatented claims within the boundaries. Due to the igneous nature of the geologic strata there is little or no potential for oil and gas exploration and development. Limited grazing does still occur within the boundaries of the wilderness study area and would continue under provisions of the Wilderness Act.

Browns Canyon does offer high quality primitive hunting by foot or horseback travel, and wilderness designation does not prohibit either of these. It does prohibit motorized and mechanized use within the boundaries of the designated area.

Some opponents of the designation describe the area as not “pristine” due to some minimal historic activity and short term habitation from a century ago. The Wilderness Act of 1964, which created the legal definition of wilderness and never uses the word pristine, states, “Where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain.” It continues, “Federal land retaining its primeval character and influence, without permanent improvements or human habitation.” And, “ … generally appear to have been affected primarily by the forces of nature, with the imprint of man’s work substantially unnoticeable.” A requirement of being “pristine” is not mentioned, and some evidence of historic human disturbance is allowable.

The original proposal of 34,762 acres was whittled down to 20,025 due to compromises made for motorized recreation, dispersed camping and river outfitters State and private land issues and requests by the USFS, the BLM, the Upper Arkansas Water Conservancy District and the Chaffee County Commissioners. In fact, part of the original proposal was surrendered to the off-highway vehicle (OHV) enthusiasts and became part of the 100,000 acre Fourmile Motorized Area, allowing for motorcycle and OHV use in an area north of the land currently proposed.

Among supporters of the designation are the Colorado Backcounty Hunters/Angers, Colorado Trout Unlimited, the Arkansas River Outfitters Association, The Buffalo Peaks Backcountry Horsemen, the BLM, USFS, Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area and Colorado State Parks as well as five recent County Commissioners.

When former Congressman Joel Hefley first introduced the Browns Canyon Wilderness legislation it was supported by every single member of the Colorado delegation, including Marilyn Musgrave and Tom Tancredo. Salida’s Mountain Mail continues to endorse and support the designation.

Railroad Gulch on the south end of the Study Area. Photo by M. Rosso

After a long list of compromises to the proposal, the bill, sponsored by Republican Senator Wayne Allard and Rep. Joel Hefley, was finally put forward in 2006. Its passage was urged by the editors of the Denver Post who considered it “a worthy legislative ‘monument’ to cap Hefley’s career” further stating, “by protecting wildlife habitat, would be a boon to hunters and anglers,” but, in the 11th hour, an objection from the National Rifle Association (NRA), based on the complaint of one member, a Chaffee County resident who objected to his inability to drive all-terrain vehicles in the area. Ultimately this contributed to sinking the legislation and despite clear and overwhelming local support for the designation, the bill did not go to a vote in the House.

Also in 2006 another effort to compromise the bill by offering to “cherry-stem” the historic Turret Trail Route, which would have allowed motorized access along a narrow corridor within the wilderness boundaries, was rejected by the NRA who instead wanted a 400-foot-wide corridor for their ATV activities. Proponents of the legislation are concerned that motorized use will have the unintended consequence of scaring wildlife and forcing them deeper into the backcountry.

The majority of the USFS land within the study area is designated from a 1984 Forest Plan to be managed as “big game winter range” which would not be compatible with motorized access. The DOW considers the area an important wintering ground for deer and elk.

Passing the legislation was hoped to be outgoing Republican Representative Joel Hefley’s legacy, but a bitter primary race in 2006 between Helfey’s choice for the house seat, Jeff Crank, and the ultimate winner,Doug Lamborn, created enough animosity to eliminate any enthusiasm for the legislation on the part of the newly-elected congressman.

“The Browns Canyon area is quintessential Colorado,” said former Senator Ken Salazar, now U.S. Secretary of the Interior. “The area boasts some of Colorado’s most pristine forests, great hunting and fishing habitat, and draws outdoor enthusiasts from across Colorado and the country during nearly every season. It is very much deserving of this wilderness designation and protection.” He also said, “It would be a travesty if Browns Canyon is not designated as wilderness” in a 2006 Denver Post editorial.
In June of 2008, then Senator Salazar renewed his efforts to get the designation and the Denver Post ran another editorial calling the study area “A priceless part of Colorado” but the 109th Congress adjourned without taking action on the bill.

A guest editorial was published in the Rocky Mountain News in June of 2008 by the co-chair of the Colorado Backcountry Hunters and Anglers who urged passage of the designation, and the Rocky Mountain News also ran a story detailing the struggle.

An August 2008 editorial in the Pueblo Chieftain written by Roy Masington, manager of the BLM’s Royal Gorge Field Office in Cañon City, attempts to clarify the information circulating about the proposal and the BLM’s management of the area, suggesting, “the proposed wilderness area’s low altitude provides rich species diversity and year-round recreational access and opportunities such as hunting, hiking, wildlife viewing, backpacking and camping.”

David Lien, Co-chair of the Colorado Backcountry Hunters and Anglers which count many NRA members among its membership, says his organization is 100 percent behind the wilderness designation. They feel that plenty of accommodations have been made to the off-road community, and the growing use of OHVs in the area surrounding the study area is only causing more and more wildlife to find refuge within Browns. He says the low to mid-elevation nature of the area is ideal big game winter range. He considers the study area “an island of potential wilderness” surrounded by intrusive recreation use.

Bill Sustrich, a Maysville resident and 60-year NRA member, feels betrayed by the organization. The 83-year-old considers all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) and OHVs a “nuisance,” and has had numerous elk hunts ruined by the intrusion of ATV operators. He says the majority of ATV operators he comes in contact with are young and healthy – not old or physically challenged – thus negating the common argument for motorized access. Sustrich is concerned that hunters on ATVs are using their vehicles not only to track game but to pursue it as well. He also considers the cherry-stem option as a “dagger through the heart of this pristine area.” Sustrich is convinced that a large number of regional NRA members actually support the wilderness designation and that a only handful of members on the national level “who’ve never set foot in Browns Canyon,” are sabotaging these efforts in order to appease their motorized constituency.

In 2006, current Chaffee County Commissioner Tim Glenn, along with former commissioners Jerry Mallett and Jim Osborn agreed to send a letter of conditional support for the designation to then Senators Wayne Allard and Salazar as well as Hefley. Glenn supports the Wilderness Area as long as: the Turret Trail Route remains open to the BLM study area boundary, grazing allotments stay intact, and ranchers can continue to establish water sources within the boundaries. He hopes a decision can be made in which, “Nobody loses and everyone wins … keep the road cherry-stemmed and let folks have vehicular access to the end of the trail.” But ultimately Glenn considers it a federal land management issue, not a county issue. Current Chaffee County Commissioners Dennis Giese and Frank Holman chose to withhold comment for this story.

When asked his view, Colorado Senator Mark Udall responded, “I’ve supported the Browns Canyon wilderness designation for some time. To further that effort, I’ve circulated a draft bill, which I have titled the ‘Joel Hefley Browns Canyon Wilderness Act’ in honor of his work on this proposal while he was representing this area in the Congress, and I’m now waiting to get input from all of the interested stakeholders and the public. The area that would be designated by my bill has been looked at for its wilderness character for many years, and it has all of the qualities that make it eligible for wilderness, such as critical wildlife habitat, and opportunities for solitude and recreation. I intend to continue to work with the County, the BLM and the Forest Service, and those interested in seeing this area protected.”

As for Congressman Lamborn’s current attitude on the study area, in a letter to Senator Udall dated July 21, 2009, he states, “Turret Trail has been the focal point due to the nature of its location within Browns Canyon. Quite simply, it is the easiest way into and out of the area. It makes Browns Canyon accessible to people with disability, physical impediment, or just limited time to enjoy an outdoor experience. I favor “cherry-stemming” the entire length of Turret Trail for motorized and non-motorized access. Hunters often find it necessary to utilize appropriate Off Highway Vehicles to safely transport their trophies out of the area. The National Rifle Association, like me, opposes Wilderness designation as long as there is no community consensus on this issue.”

Despite repeated compromises on the part of wilderness proponents, the off-road community has been unwilling to alter its position and continues to stall the legislation with the help of the NRA, but a current draft bill being proposed in the U.S. Congress by Colorado U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette – The Colorado Wilderness Act of 2009 – could include the Browns Canyon study area. The legislation proposes designation of nearly 890,000 total acres of Colorado public land as federally protected wilderness. At the time of this writing the legislation is only in draft form and it is not known when or if it will go up for vote.

Help support the Friends of Browns Canyon by sharing this link with your family and friends. Cheers!

December 1, 2012

http://www.gazette.com/opinion/canyon-147975-brown-saying.html

Consensus close to universal

Unfortunately, Rep. Doug Lamborn has been blocking wilderness designation for Browns Canyon, and recently his office released a statement saying he “wants to see greater consensus on this issue before backing any bill or proposal designating Browns Canyon a national wilderness area or monument.”

That’s interesting, because the consensus on protecting Browns Canyon is as close to universal as anything can be these days. Everyone from NRA members to Sierra Clubbers, mountains bikers to equestrians, county commissioners to forest service employees, and Democrats to Republicans, along with hunters and anglers, have been clamoring (for years) for Colorado’s congressional delegation to pass legislation protecting Browns Canyon as wilderness.

The proposed Browns Canyon Wilderness area is a 20,000-acre parcel of U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands in Chaffee County, between Buena Vista and Salida, in a state-defined source water assessment area (municipal water supply). Outfitter and guide activities for hunting, hiking, and horseback riding are permitted. Livestock grazing occurs. However, it is limited due to a scarcity of water. There are no range improvements.

Many local residents, including county commissioners, the Salida Business Alliance, Chaffee County Visitors Bureau, Trout Unlimited, and others too numerous to mention in this short letter, have pushed for permanent protections for the area.

Given the nearly universal consensus that exists for protecting Browns Canyon (the bill was also originally introduced by Republican Rep. Joel Hefley and co-sponsored by Republican Rep. Bob Beauprez, and in 2005 the entire Colorado congressional delegation supported Hefly’s bill), it’s not clear why Lamborn is delaying Browns Canyon legislation.

David A. Lien, Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, Colorado Springs

Colorado’s Public Lands Create Jobs, Drive Economic Growth

Mark Udall said it would be imprudent and detrimental to the Western economy if the federal government were to sell off public lands as part of a deal to avert the fiscal cliff.  Reps. Rob Bishop (R-Utah) and Stevan Pearce (R-N.M.) floated this idea in aletter this week to Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio).

“Colorado is home to some of the best open spaces in the West.  In fact, many Colorado businesses and families have moved here because of our high quality of life and spectacular public lands,” Udall said.  “Selling off our parks, forests, wilderness and other public lands – in Colorado and throughout the West – would not only be shortsighted, but it also would undermine a critical component of our thriving outdoor economy.  Our public lands are, in many ways, our most renewable and reliable economic driver.”

According to a new report from Headwaters Economics, a Montana-based think tank, Colorado’s public lands give private companies located in the state a competitive advantage in attracting top talent, growing and creating jobs.  And according to a June report from the think tank, Colorado’s economy created 228,893 new jobs between 2000 and 2010.  Much of this growth is due to Colorado’s high quality of life and public lands.

“We need to leave every option on the table when it comes to confronting the fiscal cliff, but we also cannot abandon the strategic investments and job-creating resources we already have in place,” Udall added.

Udall, who serves on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and chairs the Subcommittee on National Parks, has been a vocal advocate for Colorado’s public lands and the jobs they create.  He also has been a strong opponent to the sale of public lands as part of any budget deal.

Please contact Mike Saccone at 202-224-4334.

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November 30th, 2012

I was incredibly taken aback when I saw the recent letter sent to House Majority Leader John Boehner by the Congressional Western Caucus leadership calling for drill baby drill and selling off our public lands as a so-called solution to the fiscal cliff.   I guess these guys live in the sheltered community of Washington where the realities of what is happening in the world around them can be ignored.

Herein the real world, we have had extreme droughts, bark beetle infestations, forest fires beyond what has ever been seen before, and ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ natural disasters that are happening more and more frequently. Yet these folks proclaim the only way to address the financial crisis is by more oil and gas extraction – including fracking and selling our public lands.

Here in Colorado, local communities are working to protect our public lands. Land owners, hunters, fisherman, recreationists and elected officials around Colorado have called for plans that will ensure the water and air quality and drinking water for the Front Range in South Park is not polluted nor world class hunting, fishing and recreation be altered forever. In Chaffee County, hundreds of people have provided feedback to Senator Udall on how to best protect Browns Canyon.

Yet despite these shows of support, this Congress has turned a deaf ear toward protecting public land. In fact this is poised to be the first Congress since World War II to fail to protect even a single acre of land.

These Washington politicians also fail to realize that our western heritage – and our economy – is based on public access to our Federal lands.  The thousands of people who come to Colorado each year to enjoy world class hunting, fishing, skiing and rafting don’t want to see our public lands sold off to the highest bidder.

Protecting our natural areas is vital to the economic health of our communities – for example Browns Canyon supports a rafting industry that contributes more than $23 million a year to the Upper Arkansas Valley economy. Can you imagine if all the BLM and National Forest lands in Chaffee County were sold to the highest bidder? What a change to our lifestyle that would create!

I would be particularly concerned about the Arkansas River that flows through Browns Canyon. It’s why I work to give it permanent protection before some scheme puts it into a wealthy developers hand and closes it off to residents and visitors alike. Such a change would be devastating to our community and businesses like mine.

Apparently we need to remind some members of Congress that we don’t want to see Colorado’s public lands sold off to the highest bidder.

Link to letter: http://www.eenews.net/assets/2012/11/28/document_daily_01.pdf