WSP09240

• File Number: 7630.290
• Description: Wild and Scenic - Great Sand Dunes National Monument
• State: CO
• Basin: Statewide
• Date: 9/1/1972
• Author: National Park Servic
• Title: Wilderness Recommendation - Great Sand Dunes National Monument - Colorado
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Report/Study

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ANAL YSIS OF THE RECORD OF PUBLIC HEARING AND
WRITTEN RESPONSES

Wilderness Workshop, Colorado Open Space Council
Recommendation
This alternative proposal was advanced by the Wilderness Workshop of
the Colorado Open Space Council and supported by the majority of
organizations and individuals who recommended an enlarged National
Park Service wilderness proposal. This group recommended a wilderness
area of approximately 34,000 acres. They favored reduction of the
proposed management zone from 660 feet to 100 feet width. They
proposed inclusion of all the monument's private inholdings in
wi Iderness. The group recommended the east boundary of the
wilderness be extended farther east than the National Park Service
proposal, to include the entire dunes area, Medano Creek, and the
Ghost Forest.

The map submitted with the proposal is included in the official record.
The additions proposed are shown generally by the letter X in Exhibit
D.

Other Recommendations
There were several recommendations that no wilderness be established
at Great Sand Dunes. Agencies and organizations that made such
expressions were the Board of Commissioners of Costilla and Alamosa
Counties, the Colorado Open Roads Association, and the San Luis
Valley Trail Riders.

Supporting Organizations
Major organizations that specifically supported or had similar positions
to that of the National Park Service include: the Colorado Company of
17 Striders; the Colorado Guides and Outfitters Association; the
Conservation Committee of the Colorado Mountain Club; the Denver
Audubon Society; the Evergreen Naturalists; the Mountain Area
Planning Council; the National Parks and Conservation Association;
People United to Reclaim the Environment; the Rocky Mountain
Chapter of the Sierra Club; the Sierra Club; and The Wilderness Society.

Other agencies and organizations that support the National Park Service
proposal include: Hon. Governor John A. Love, State of Colorado; the
State of Colorado Game, Fish and Parks Commission; the U.S. Forest
Service; the Colorado Geological Survey; the Colorado Four-wheel
Drive Clubs, Inc.; and the Pueblo Jeep Clubs.