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<br />TilE DEI'VER POST
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<br />440,000 acres added to wilderness debat{
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<br />WILDERNESS from Page lA
<br />orange and yellow slickrOC'k. big-
<br />horn sheep - and some of the
<br />loneliest country in America.
<br />"There are places where you
<br />could spend a week and never see
<br />or hear another person," said Eric
<br />Finstick, who coordinated the 12-
<br />year wilderness study for the state
<br />BLM.
<br />However, wilderness advocates
<br />say it will be easier to find solitude
<br />than a political compromise to
<br />protect the tracts.
<br />Colorado's congressional delega-
<br />tion has failed lor 10 years to re-
<br />solve an impasse between develop-
<br />ment interests and environmental-
<br />ists over the designation of 700,000
<br />acres of Forest Service land as
<br />wilderness.
<br />The BLM's proposal will give
<br />the slate 440,000 more acres of
<br />roadless tracts to consider. Colora-
<br />do already has 2.6 million acres of
<br />protected wilderness, none of it
<br />BLM land.
<br />The same political problems
<br />that have blocked the creation of
<br />extra Forest Service wilderness
<br />wiD be compounded for BLM wil-
<br />derness. "Many of the BLM wil-
<br />derness areas are downstream and
<br />face very significant downstream
<br />water-rights issues; the Forest Ser-
<br />vice areas do not," said U.S. Sen.
<br />Tim Wirth, the state's principal
<br />congressional advocate for more
<br />wilderness.
<br />Environmentalists, who have
<br />been backed by Wirth, want wil-
<br />derness areas to be awarded water
<br />rights that \\ill guarantee bounti-
<br />ful streamClows and prevent wa-
<br />terfalls from drying up.
<br />But water developers, who have
<br />been backed by U.S. Sen. Bill Ann-
<br />strong, say those water rights
<br />could prevent upstream dam-own-
<br />ers Crom taking the streamClows
<br />required to meet the needs of
<br />thirsty cities and crops.
<br />For the Forest Service areas.
<br />the water. rights argument has
<br />been largely theoretical because
<br />most proposed tracts are headwa-
<br />ters with no potential for up-
<br />stream dams. But several of the
<br />BLM areas are far downstream
<br />from existing dams and other wa-
<br />ter developments.
<br />A plane tour last week with
<br />Project Lighthawk, an environ-
<br />mental aviation group, showed
<br />that the downstream BLM areas
<br />contain some of the state's most
<br />spectacular scenery.
<br />In the 29.415-acre Dolores River
<br />
<br />BLM PROPOSALS
<br />
<br />The 22 new wilderness areas
<br />proposed by the U.S. Bureau of
<br />land Management are:
<br />. A_ko.. 'kit.. 1,494 acres,
<br />southeast or Ouray.
<br />.I_ve" Creek.. 20,750, west
<br />of COlorado 115 near Fort Car-
<br />"'"
<br />. Ilock Aldge Cany...s.
<br />19,595, northwest of Colorado
<br />NatlOflal Monument near Fruits.
<br />. Ilack Aidvo Ca.y_s W....
<br />54,265, Colorado-Utah border,
<br />south side of Colorado River.
<br />. ....w... Co.y_. 6,614, east
<br />of Arkansas River. downstream
<br />IromNamrop_
<br />. lull Cony_. 13,100, Colora-
<br />do-Utah border, north 01 Dino-
<br />saur National MOflument.
<br />. lull Gulch. 10,414, east 01
<br />ColOrado River near Sweetwater.
<br />. c-.. M_"'clin. 14,081, on
<br />Vamps River canyon east 01 Di-
<br />nosaur.
<br />. Di....o.cI 1....11.. 35,380,
<br />ColOrado-Utah border west of
<br />Browns Park Wildlife Reluge.
<br />.0.1..... Alv... Cany...
<br />29,415, on southwest Colorado
<br />River, downstream from Bed.
<br />rock.
<br />. o-lnqllll'oll Ca..y_. 13,888,
<br />west Gunmson River near Delta.
<br />. Eogl. M_n'aln. 330, west
<br />of Snowmass along Maroon
<br />Bells-Snowmass area.
<br />. Gunnison Gorgo. 22,018,
<br />southwest river canyon down-
<br />stream of Brack Canyon.
<br />. Hack lair.. 10, southeast
<br />edge 01 Flat Tops wilderness ar-
<br />ea near Sweetwater.
<br />. Handle. p_~ 7,136, Lake
<br />Fork of Gunnison headwaters,
<br />around 14.048-loot peak.
<br />. Pia". Alv... C....lgu.u.. 30,
<br />Colorado-Wyoming border near
<br />existing Platte wilderness.
<br />. P.wd......'n. 48,115, north-
<br />east 01 Lake City in southwest
<br />ColOrado.
<br />. AedclDud '_Ie.- 21,884,
<br />southwest of lake City. sr01Jnd
<br />14,034.Ioot peak.
<br />. Sow_up Mo_. 18,835,
<br />west Dolores River near Uravan.
<br />. Skull C,_1e.- 14.050, north of
<br />U.S. 40. east 01 WillOw Creek.
<br />. Tabe1luach. C,_1e.- 7,748,
<br />on creek east 01 Uravan, near
<br />Uncompaghre Plateau,
<br />. WIII.w C,_1c.- 13,503, north
<br />01 U.S. 40. east of Dinosaur.
<br />
<br />some of the most fearsome white-
<br />water in the West.
<br />Dominquez Canyon along the
<br />Gunnison River has dinosaur bones
<br />and many otber archaeological
<br />sites. Upstream on tbe river, the
<br />steep-sided Gunnison Gorge is a
<br />G<lld Medal trout stream.
<br />Browns Canyon along the Ar-
<br />kansas River downstream from
<br />
<br />cities trying to find water supplies
<br />for growing populations.
<br />He noted that Elephant Rock
<br />Reservoir, a water projl-oct under
<br />consideration by Colorado Springs
<br />upstream of Browns Canyon, "is
<br />an example of a facility that could
<br />be eliminated if a downstream wil-
<br />derness area is given a water
<br />right."
<br />However, ~ environmentalists
<br />note that Congress in October ap-
<br />proved a 2,3-million acre Arizona
<br />wilderness bill that gave water
<br />rights to many downstream BLM
<br />areas. If Colorado negotiates sepa.
<br />rate water rights for each tract,
<br />the impact to upstream water de-
<br />velopers will be lessened or even
<br />eliminated, they said.
<br />Not all BLM tracts feinure roar.
<br />ing rivers. Two proposed areas b€'-
<br />tween Lake City and Silverton con.
<br />tain Redcloud, Sunshine and
<br />Handies peaks, all over 1-1,000
<br />feet. The nearby Powderhorn and
<br />American Flats areas, earlier pro-
<br />posed for wilderness designation in
<br />Wirth's Forest Service bill, contain
<br />one of the largest unbroken ex-
<br />panses of alpine tundra in the con-
<br />tinental U.S.
<br />Those areas are among the
<br />BLM's most popular. But to really
<br />escape civilization, backpackers
<br />can hike through the 35.380-acre
<br />Diamond Breaks, which contains
<br />prehistoric Fremont ruins, in far
<br />northwestern Colorado. The main
<br />way to enter, after a 90-minule
<br />drive from the nearest full-time
<br />gas station, is via a long swinging
<br />bridge over the Green River.
<br />But BLM officials say even Dia-
<br />
<br />mond Breaks could get ,
<br />compared with the sharp I
<br />Sewemup Mesa along the
<br />River downstream from
<br />The 29-square-mile area
<br />by fewer than 200 people
<br />got its name in the Old W(
<br />rustlers herded stolen live
<br />the rugged mesa to carve
<br />tie brands, "sew 'em up'"
<br />burn new brands into the c
<br />fore selling them elsewhe'
<br />The 74.000-acre Blac'
<br />Canyons along the Colora,
<br />near Fruita combine solit
<br />splendor. Some side can~
<br />visited by only a few dou
<br />a year; another square-IT
<br />is home to a dozen natul
<br />stone arches ranging frO!
<br />yards high to more than 1
<br />"Black Ridge is the crm
<br />the Maroon Bells of BLM
<br />rado," said Mark Pearse
<br />Sierra Club.
<br />Pearson and Darrell KI
<br />the Wilderness Society, an
<br />ers. are upset that BLM I
<br />only 440,000 acres as wi
<br />They said it should try 11
<br />1.2 million acres as wilde
<br />But other public land us
<br />tioned whether Colorado n
<br />more wilderness. About 4
<br />of the state now has fed
<br />derness protection. Th(
<br />Service bill, combined y
<br />posed BLM additions, WOI
<br />that to 5.5 percent.
<br />"Before we write off an
<br />ea as a wilderness plaYgI
<br />people from California l
<br />York, we have to conside
<br />pact on local Colorado c
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