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G'iJ894 Peak & Prairie VOLUME XVI Will Colorado wilderness be Forever Wild? THE 1991 CONSERVATIONISTS WILDERNESS Proposal for National Forests in ~olorado has been completed by the Colorado conservation community. The new proposal is a revision of the 1983 version, which was prepared at the beginning of what by MARK PEARSON Chaplcr Wilderness Chair, und TODD ROBERTSON Colorado Environmental Coalition has become a long dfort (0 secure wilderness protection for many deserving roadlc55 areas on Colorado's :\';uional Forests. Groups from across the state participated in the revised proposal, including the Sierra Club, the Colo- rado Environmental Coalition, the Wilderness Society, local Audubon groups, and many other local environ~ mental organizations. MColorado is forlunate 10 be blessed with an abun- dance of natural beauty and as yet unblemished land- sc.1pe,ft said ~brk Pearson, Rocky ~toumain Chapter Wilderness Chair. ~Fully one-third of Colorado is o......ned by the American public. Of these public lands, many of the most spectacular have been set aside as :-\ational Parks or Wilderness Areas, thereby preserving . NUMBER 1 . FEB.-MAR. 1991 :.-;:?~:':(:'-u~-';',j;.::' .. . ",' 4.~~'~'''''''':-T-''i'\-!': . , '::c-:.:<~'r,~.":"<< I - - IT 4. -III Photo by Joe McCloin them for the use and enjoyment of countless future generations. But there still remain unprotected a number of areas critical to the integrity of existing wilderness, critical to the preservation of rapidly diminishing ecosystems, and critical to the relief of burgeoning back--country recreational demands.~ The 1991 proposal. in which conservationists have identified 1.6 million acres in 36 areas as deserving wilderness protection, reDects the signific.1nt changes that have occurred in both the geographic and political landscape since 1983, and since the last wilderness legislation for Colorado was passed in 1980. In 1980, Congress passed the Colorado National Forest Wilderness Act, designating 1.4 million acres of Kational Forest lands as wilderness. This act was the culmination of the second Roadless Area Re\'icw and Evaluation (RARE 11), completed by the' Forest Service In 1979. RARE II was intended as a comprehensive review of the ....ilderness resources on the nation's public forcst lands. The 1980 act designaled as ....ilderness a number of areas endorsed by the Forest Service in RARE 11: other areas endorser.l for wilderness by the Forest Service were lef! by Congress for further study as Wilderness Study Areas (WSAs) and Further Planning Areas (FPAs). The Forest Sen'ice completed its studies of lhe~ potential ....ilderness areas and made public Its recommendations in the carl)' 19805. A ke>' component of lhe 1980 .let W;lS lhe issue of (cor.lintwl on l"lg~ 24)