Quest for Wild and Scenic article

Home Browse Search

The Durango Telegraph-The independent weekly line on Durango and Beyond Page 1 of 3 11=0 MEN Volume 6, No. 22, May 31, 2007 The Independent Weekly Line on Durango and Beyo TSthe durango ra 4` te e RAW Tr F a P recast lestf(PM 1i1 fkil0 If www PraractR eildinng corn Fanrlhark-Arlc by nn News Second Section Opinion Classifieds Contact Us Search r LocalNews The quest for Wild and Scenic onl Effort to protect local rivers moves on several fronts deess erve to be SideStory:Animas River Days flows back into town abuse( by Will Sands i Dozens of pristine rivers and creeks flow through the San Juan Mountains,but the prestigious National Wild and Scenic River Innovative designation has somehow eluded Southwest Colorado.That may Financing • Work is now under way on multiple levels to determine if g any local waterway is suitably"Wild and Scenic"to merit designation ` For all your hic and preservation. end real estate needs.Aspen otop In 1968,the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act was signed into law and "" ,fly .1 it www IP crltownmc proclaimed that select rivers and streams should be preserved"in �F' 4 P-4 s,..p '1 s their free-flowing condition to protect the water quality of such rivers jA, . �F'- and to fulfill other vital national conservation purposes." °r • ' . The Wild and Scenic Rivers Act has accomplished this goal in some ' 4Q Colorado Mar places;forty-seven rivers and streams have been designated and /> Find The Top preserved in Oregon alone.Colorado,on the other hand, has but • Colorado Map. one Wild and Scenic River.After years of negotiations,controversy . and in-fighting,the Cache la Poudre River,which flows from its T & Easy i www.ma colorado Rocky Mountain National Park headwaters down through Fort .ti+ � mapcolorado • was designated in the mid-1980s.Colorado's poor record is '4'� '"xi ', I destined to change,however,and a river in the San Juan Mountains : ' 4t 1 could become the state's second Wild and Scenic River. ' r , � ' - 'Colorado AT ■ The San Juan Public Lands Center is currently revising its k ` `,. 'i Trails Guide management plans and considering which local rivers could be r Online guide tc designated as Wild and Scenic.To do this,the Forest Service has looked at the"outstandingly remarkable values"of all of the region's Colorado ATV rivers and streams.These values can be biological,recreational, ` .' , riding trails& geologic or archeological. Last year,the agency short-listed dozens -;',. '-, printable trail n of creeks and rivers in the region that have one or more iATV-Riding.com "outstandingly remarkable"value.On the list was everything from the entire Animas and Piedra rivers to the water-deprived Lower Dolores , I to obscure creeks like Cinnamon, Deer Park and Molas. :r,' ;> Beautifully Currently,the agency is considering"suitability,"a more subjective The Upper Animas River,seen here near Rockwood,is one Renovated Bt value related to social needs and constraints. Kay Zillich,a of many waterways in Southwest Colorado currently being Between Dura hydrologist with San Juan Public Lands,commented,"From the list the state for Wild and Scenic a and qualities.The only the Cache river in the state with official Wild and Scenic status is the Cache Ia and Mesa Ver( of eligible streams,we're trying to pick out rivers and creeks that are Poudre,near Fort Collins./Photo by David Halterman Warm beds, gr 'suitable.'Suitability deals more with the combined social values of a ',view,comfort f river. For example,maybe the development potential of a stream and its contribution to society outweighs its value as a Wild and Scenic river." www.riverbendban http://www.durangotelegraph.com/telegraph.php?inc=/07-05-31/localnews.htm 6/1/2007