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Proposed Hermosa Creek Wilderness Area: The Hermosa Workgroup will be <br />considering issues separate and different from those in the San Juan Public <br />Lands Center's ( "SJPLC ") Draft Management Plan ( "Draft Plan "), which includes <br />a proposal to designate part of the Hermosa Creek area as wilderness. Although <br />the wilderness proposal may come up during Hermosa Workgroup discussions, <br />this a separate process from the formal comment period on the Draft Plan. <br />Overview by Steering Committee <br />Chuck Wanner of the San Juan Citizens Alliance ( "SJCA ") and Steve Fearn, the <br />San Juan County representative on the Southwestern Water Conservation <br />District ( "SWCD ") Board of Directors ( "Board "), both members of the Steering <br />Committee, spoke about the workgroup process. <br />As part of the SJPLC's effort to create a revised Resource Management Plan for <br />area Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management lands, the SJPLC was <br />required to conduct a Section 5(d) study regarding potential Wild and Scenic <br />Rivers ( "WSR ") on local public lands. The SJPLC developed a fairly extensive list <br />of stream segments considered Eligible for WSR designation, which caused <br />concern in the traditional water -user community. The SJCA approached the <br />SWCD to open a discussion of protections for water resources in the upper San <br />Juan Basin. The SWCD Board voted to proceed with such a discussion. <br />Interested parties formed the Steering Committee, which met to develop a public <br />process for deciding ways to best protect the values in six potential WSR stream <br />segments. The Steering Committee developed background information for all six <br />river drainages, including such information as potential dam sites, reaches with <br />quality rafting, presence of endangered or threatened species, and existing water <br />rights. <br />The entities and agencies involved in the Steering Committee include: the <br />Colorado Department of Natural Resources (Divisions of Wildlife and Water <br />Resources), Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB), SJCA, SJPLC, <br />Southern Ute Indian Tribe, SWCD, The Nature Conservancy, Wilderness <br />Support Center, and the local offices of U.S. Senator Ken Salazar, U.S. Senator <br />Wayne Allard and U.S. Representative John Salazar. <br />Funding for the work of the Steering Committee and the six workgroups has <br />come from the Southern Ute Indian Tribe, SWCD, CWCB, Colorado Trout <br />Unlimited, SJCA and National Forest Foundation. If pending requests are <br />approved, there is almost enough money now to proceed with workgroups for all <br />six stream segments. <br />For a stream to receive WSR designation from Congress, there would first have <br />to be a broad base of local support. For some stream segments, consensus may <br />be reached to support such a designation, whereas for other segments there <br />may be significant issues concerning a WSR designation because of the <br />