Memorandum Agenda Item 22i 05/13/2002

• Board Meeting Date: 5/13/2002
• Description: Board Meeting Deep Creek Yampatika Ute Widerness Bill
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

(a) In General. --As soon as practicable after the date of the enactment of this
Act, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a copy of the Map and a legal description
of the Wilderness Area.
(b) Force and Effect. --The Map and legal description shall have the same force and•
effect as if included in this Act, except that the Secretary may correct clerical and
typographical errors in the Map and the legal description.
(c) Public Availability. --Copies of the Map and the legal description shall be on
file and available for public inspection in the following:
(1) The Office of the Director of the Bureau of Land Management.
(2) The Office of the Chief of the Forest Service.
(3) The Office of the State Director of the Bureau of Land Management in Colorado
and the Glenwood Springs Resource area Office in Glenwood Springs, Colorado.
(4) The Office of the Regional Forester of the Forest Service in Colorado, and of
the White River National Forest, Forest Ranger Office in Glenwood Springs, Colorado.
(d) Map Controlling. --In the case of a discrepancy between the Map and the
descriptions, the Map shall control.
SEC. 8. WILDERNESS POTENTIAL.
Nothing in the Act shall preclude or restrict the authority of the Secretary to
evaluate the suitability of roadless and unroaded areas adjacent to the Wilderness Area
for inclusion in the National Wilderness Preservation System or to make recommendations
to Congress for such inclusions.
PURPOSE OF THE BILL
The purpose of H.R. 2963 is to establish the Deep Creek Wilderness Area.
BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION
Carved in multiple layers of limestone, shale and other sedimentary formations
dating back to the Cambrian age, the Deep Creek area of Colorado is a rugged and remote
wooded canyon that plunges 2,500 feet along a 13-mile path. The Deep Creek landscape
plays host to subterranean streams, caverns, sinks and over 40 prehistoric caves,
including Groaning Cave, which is the longest in the State of Colorado.
Wending its way through the majestic canyon is the area's namesake, Deep Creek, a
perennial stream with flows originating from snow run-off in the upper elevations of
its watershed. The waterway is largely unmodified by water diversions, and empties
directly into the Colorado River.
Since 1990, resource managers, local officials and concerned citizens
in the surrounding communities have had an extensive dialogue about how
best to manage this magnificent resource. Tri 9*$14 FFores _ Servtc
=anc txis£Bureau L n ManBge1nen.t tL ,N) ointLy d, t aned 1hht Dkep
©n he 5
'Cre ek:, was e1j.gi a3.e. f6r 'W3 d an.c e c R �€er de's�.-g ia. . T a acre
urea _proposed for desiglaataon ?s managed �n part b '.bpt these agencies';.
Congressman Scott McInnis (R CO) introduced H.R. 2963 in September
after wide-ranging conversations with local officials, local
environmentalists and other interested citizens and citizen groups.
Congressman McInnis, who grew up near Deep Creek and spent considerable
time hiking there as a boy, drew the wilderness boundaries in H.R. 2963
along the canyon rim of Deep Creek, the same boundaries recommended by a
consortium of Colorado-based environmental advocates in 1998. While some
local environmental groups have since modified their 1998 Deep Creek
position by advocating an expansion of the boundaries beyond the canyon
rims, the Garfield and Eagle County Commissions, the two counties
immediately impacted by the designation, have endorsed the bill and its
rim-to-rim boundary.
COMMITTEE ACTION •
Colorado Water Conservation Board
Flood Protection•Water Supply Planning and Financing•Stream and Lake Protection
Water Supply Protection•Conservation and Drought Planning