WSP01093 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

i00556 Rocky Mountain News i ---..... .............- - _ _ DENVER Sun., Feb. II. 1990 . -... -- - ::Iitor.892.5381 :k)o MourUin News rry, Heather r. The group ~ invited. ray .. Ion Lorbeer said heir gymnas- cheerleading as the other :re had been a nastics train- tion is impor- arbeer stress- ace more em- 'D. Our prima- If the teams," letition,asltIl- secondary for ;t 'priority is to i." ,,~11 r.. Rep. Campbell unveils own wilderness bill By h1net D..y NftQ5 E,wiro1l"mdal Writ". While Colorado's senators con- tinued their decade-long dispute over protecting wilderness areas, Rep. Ben Nighthorse Campbell watched thousands of backcountry acres in his Western Slope district faU prey to development. Yesterday, the Ignacio Demo- crat unveiled legislation that seeks to protect hundreds of thousands of acres of high<OUntry land. "We've lost thousands of acres of potential wilderness land since the last bill (in 1980), including 20.000 acres in the Sangre de Cristosalone." be said. The ) 980 wilderness bill brought Colorado's total protected wild lands to 2 million acres. None h.a ve been added since because of a bitler dispute over water rights. CampbeU thinks his pmposal comes close to doing what Repub- lican Sen. William Armstrong, Democratic Sens. Tim Wirth and Gary Hart, environmentalists and water users couldn't: protecting the state's scenic natural beauty and, at the same time, protecting the rights of water users, develop- ers and agricultural interests. His proposal calls for 630,270 acres of new wilderness. Wirth's proposal would protect 751,260 acres and Annstrong's 471,875. Campbell includes two Bureau of Land Management areas not in- cluded in the senators' bills but omits the Fossil Ridge area, which is used heavily by off-road vehicle enthusiasts. Armstrong, backed by develop- ers and agriculture, says wild ar- eas are not entitled to any ....<lter rights other than those obtained through the Colorado Water Con- servation &ald. WILDERNESli PLANS Comparisons of wtldemess pr0- posals by WIrth, Armstrong ancl Campbell: T obi proposed w1ldemess acre- ace: Wirth: 751.260 l...strone:; 471,875 C._pHil: 630,270 Acres left ht shdy sbtn: Wirtk:76,128 lnnstrone:; 0 . Campbell: 43,740 lens deslpated naUOllal rK- reatiM areas: Wirtll: 0 lrwtstrHe:; 122,300 cuo.....o TobIarus: Wirth: 17 new wilderness areas and two wikiemess study areas lrwtsu..e:; 14 new wiIdemess areas and fOur national recrea- tion areas CnlpMIl: 18newwildemessar. em and two wildemess study areas. This proposal indOOes two wilderness areas not in WIfth.SOf Atmstroog'sbin and deletion 01 the Fossil RIdge wll- derness area proposed by WIrth and Armstrong. Water-ripts lanpace: Wirtk: Creates a fedefaI watet' right. lrwIstnae:;OeniesanY1edefal watet' right. express OfimpUed. c._pbell: Creates a federal wa- tet' right, but not to be applied to exiSting wilderness area OfMure designated wildemess areas. Under Campbell's proposal, fed- eral land managersk would have to file for water rights in new wilder- ness areas in state water court within two years of the legislation, .... ... "