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<br />TilE DF.NVER Posr
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<br />000853
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<br />Sunday, December 16, 1990
<br />
<br />es added to wilderness debate
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<br />PROPOSED BLM WILDERNESS AREAS
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<br />BLM PROPOSALS
<br />
<br />The 22 new wilderness areas
<br />proposed by lhe U,S. Bureau of
<br />Land Management are:
<br />, . Am.rlcan 'Icab, 1,494 acrel,
<br />, southeast 01 Ourey.
<br />. IH'#or Cr..k, 20,750, west
<br />of Colorado 115 near Fort Car-
<br />son.
<br />. Black Rid.. Canyo...,
<br />19,595. northwest of Colorado
<br />National Monument near Frulta.
<br />. Black Ridge Canyonl Wed,
<br />54,265, Colorado-Utah border,
<br />south side of Colorado River.
<br />. .rown. Canyon, 5,614, east
<br />of Arkansas River, downstream
<br />from Nathrop.
<br />. Bull C....yon. 13,100, Colora.
<br />do-Utah bOrder, north ot Dino-
<br />saur National Monument.
<br />. Bull Gulch, 10,414, east of
<br />Colorado River near Sweetwater,
<br />. CrO.1 Moun.aln, 14,081, on
<br />Yampa River canyon east of Di-
<br />nosaur.
<br />. Dla....nd Br.a.., 35,380,
<br />Colorado-Ulah border west of
<br />Browns Park Wildlife Refuge.
<br />. Dolor.' Rh,.r Canyon.
<br />29,415, on southwest Colorado
<br />River. downstream from Bed.
<br />rock.
<br />. Do...lnqu... Can,-on. 73,888,
<br />west Gunnison River near Delta.
<br />..a,l. Mountain, 330, west
<br />of Snowmass along Maroon
<br />BeJls.Snowmass area.
<br />. Gunnl.on Gor.., 22,078,
<br />southwest river canyon down-
<br />stream of Black Canyon.
<br />. Hac. La.., 10, southeast
<br />edge of Flat Tops wilderness Br-
<br />ea near Sweetwater.
<br />. Mandi.. P..I&, 7,136, Lake
<br />Fork ot Gunnison headwaters.
<br />around 14.048.foot peak.
<br />. Platt. Rlv.r C."flg",ou., 30,
<br />COlorado-Wyoming border near
<br />existing PlaUe wilderness.
<br />. Po~-:I.,h~n. 48,11~, nort.h.
<br />
<br />cities trying to find water supplies
<br />for growing populations.
<br />lie noted that Elephant Rock
<br />Reservoir, a water project under
<br />consil]('ration 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 />ratc water rights for each tract,
<br />the impact to upstream water de-
<br />velop(!rs will be lessened or even
<br />eliminated, they said.
<br />Not all BLM tracts feature roar.
<br />ing rivers, Two proposed areas be-
<br />tween Lake City and SHverton con.
<br />tain Redcloud, Sunshine and
<br />lIandies peaks, all over 14,000
<br />feet. The nearby Powderhorn and
<br />American Flats areas, earher 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 />OLM.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 fo'remont ruins, in far
<br />northwestern Colorado. The main
<br />way to enter, after a 90.minute
<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 Oia-
<br />
<br />"
<br />
<br />mond Breaks could get cro.....ded
<br />compared with the sharp ridges of
<br />Sewemup Mesa along the Dolores
<br />River downstream from Uravan.
<br />The 29.square-mile area, visited
<br />by fewer than 200 people a year,
<br />got its name in the Old West, when
<br />rustlers herded stolen livestock up
<br />the rugged mesa to carve off cat- ;
<br />tie brands, "sew 'em up." and then '.
<br />burn new brands into the cattle be-
<br />fore selling them elsewhere. i,;
<br />The 74,000.8cre Black Ridge "
<br />Canyons along the Colorado River 'j
<br />near Fruita combine solitude with
<br />splendor. Some side canyons are
<br />visited by only a few dozen hikers
<br />a year; another square-mile area
<br />is home to a dozen natural sand-
<br />stone arches ranging from a few 1
<br />yards high to more than 100 feet.
<br />"Black Ridge is the crown jewel.
<br />the Maroon Bells of BLM in Colo.
<br />rado," said Mark Pearson of the
<br />Sierra Club.
<br />Pearson and Darrell Knuffke of
<br />the Wilderness Society I among oth.
<br />ers, are upset that BLM proposed
<br />only 440,000 acres as wilderness.
<br />They said it should try to protect
<br />1.2 million acres as wilderness.
<br />But other public land users ques-
<br />tioned whether Colorado needs any
<br />mort' wilderness. About 4 percent
<br />of the state now has federal wil-
<br />derness protection. The Forest
<br />Service bill, combined with pro-
<br />posed BLM additions, would boost
<br />that to 5.5 percent.
<br />"Before we write off another ar-
<br />ea as a wilderness playground for
<br />people from California and New
<br />York, we have to consider the im.
<br />pact on local Colorado communi.
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<br />~., , L e PROPOSED WILDERNESS AREAS I
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<br />1,BulCenyon,WIIlowQeel(.Sk"Crook
<br />2. o.lImOOd8rea~s
<br />3. Cron Mo.ln\aIn
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<br />5. OominguezCanyon
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<br />7. OoIorlI$R_Cenyon
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<br />ties of locking up the natural re-
<br />sources inside these areas," said
<br />Reeves Brown, executive vice
<br />president of the Colorado Cattle-
<br />men's Association.
<br />BLM's process calls for its Colo-
<br />rado officials to ask national di-
<br />rectOTS in early January to agree
<br />with their plan. Interior Secretary
<br />Manual Lujan then has until Octo.
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<br />12. BulG.Jij);HlICIIlal<ll
<br />13. EagleMoumaon
<br />14.BrO'NnllCanyon
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<br />ber to deliver his recommenda.
<br />tions to President Bush.
<br />Congress ultimately must ap.-
<br />prove any wilderness bill. Con-
<br />gress either could wait for Bush's
<br />recommendation, which could take
<br />two years, or act before the ad.
<br />ministration completes its process,
<br />as Arizona's congressional delega-
<br />tion did.
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