WSP09490 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

I)G2710 25 passed by the Senate in 1991, and was described in Senate Report 102-129. Roubideau This area, like the Tabeguache Roadless Area, was targeted by the Forest Service for timber cutting before public outcry forced the Forest Service to re-evaluate its position. A prime feature of the area, which is located 15 miles west of Montrose, Colorado, is Roubideau Creek, which has carved one of Colorado's most unique canyons. Named after a French fur trapper, the creek originates in sub-alpine spruce and aspen forests high on the Uncompahgre Pla- teau before It flows 20 miles into the Gunnison River. The area is rich in native cutthroat trout, beaver, black bear, deer, bobcat, and cougar, as well as golden eagles and other birds. Tabeguache The Forest Service's Tabeguache Roadless Area and an adjacent BLM wilderness study area, both in Montrose County, encompass one of the last pristine canyons of the Uncompahgre Plateau, the higher country that divides the drainage of the Uncompahgre and Gunnison Rivers from that of the Dolores. The areas have exposed geologic strata that represent a time-span of nearly 100 million years and they afford opportunities for relatively low-elevation, year-round recreational uses such as horseback riding, hiking, camping, and fishing. The roadless area was recommended for wil- derness designation by the Forest Service during RARE II, and the BLM has also found its wilderness study area to be suitable for wilderness designation, and such designafion was recommended by the President in 1992. The BLM portion has extremely high cul- tural values, including evidence of both the Anasazi and Fremont cultures. SPANISH PEAKS AREA Section 10 would require the Secretary of Agriculture to continue to manage the Spanish Peaks Area (as defined by an appropriate map reference) as provided by the Colorado Wilderness Act of 1980 (i.e., as a wilderness study area) for 3 years after the bill's enact- ment, notwithstanding the provisions of section 4(a) of the bill. It would also require the Secretary, before the end of this three-year period, to report as to the location, acreage, and nature of all pri- vate property interests located within the Spanish Peaks area, and the Secretary's views as to whether the owners of these interests would be willing to transfer these to the United States (by sale or exchange) on a fair-market-value basis if that could be done in the near future. The Committee encourages the Secretary to submit this report without unnecessary delay. Subsection 9(c) clarifies that nothing in the bill is to be construed as a grant of new authority for Federal acquisition of property by eminent domain. It does not affect any existing authority for such acquisitions. (Of course, if this area were to be designated as wilderness, the Wilderness Act would preclude this method of Federal acquisition of inholdings). A description of this area follows: In 1977, the Spanish Peaks, or Wayatoya ("Breasts of the World"), were designated as a National Natural Area because of