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" The Oh-I ,-Joyful area was the final issue to be resolved prior to passage of the Colorado Wilde<ness Act of 1980 by the Congress, A final c(npromise in the House-Senate Conference Committee placed Oh- Be-Joyftl into a special section of the PL 96-560 with wilderness study dEsignation. The conferees stated that since the area has both high wiJ1erness and mineral values, more information was needed by Congres~ relative to subsurface mineral potential before a final land allocation decision can be reached. Congress, in designating the area for wilderness study in the Colorado Wilderness Act, excluded some small acreages of adjacent roadless area in the Coal Creek and Poverty Gulch drainages from further consideration. consequently; the purposes of the study are: 1. To provide additional minerals information beyond that available during the RARE II process, 2. To more specifically evaluate the wilderness suitability, based on capability, availability and need criteria. 3. To review the administration's earlier recommendations and other alternatives regarding wilderness designation for Oh-Be-Joyful. C, VICINITY The Oh-Be-Joyful Wilderness Study Area is located in Gunnison County, Colorado, about four mi1ep northwest of the town of Crested Butte and 125 airline miles southwest of Denver. Access to the Study Area is by the Slate River Road north from Crested Butte to the mouth of Oh-Be- Joyful Creek, then up the primitive road (trail) to the Study Area. (General location map - Figure 1-1). It is comprised of the upper three-quarters of the Oh-Be-JoyEul Creek watershed (Figure 1-2) - that portion above its confluence with (and including) the )eeler Basin drainage. The lower one-third of the watershed was eXl'luded from the RARE II inventory due to the impacts of past mining activity in Redwell Basin, in Wolverine Basin and in the lower part of Oh-E~-Joyful Creek. The Study Area is approximately 5,500 acres in size. The Oh-Be-JoyEul Wilderness Study Area is a topographic.tlly isolated pocket of alpine country, enclosed on three sides by pre- cipitous ridges and rugged mountain peaks. Entrance to this enclave is most easily made by hiking up Oh-Be-Joyful Creek from the east. Looking upstream from the study area boundary, the visitor is con- fronted with a narrow U shaped corridor leading to a mountain wall in the distance. The lower valley is characterized by timbered, steep valley walls and stream-side meadows where cattle graze. Beaver pOlds arE:: a common feature in this part of the valley. As hikers progreSi into the upper valley, they cross the transition zone into the alpi.le tundra where short grass and wildflowers replace timber and meadowl lnds. Democrat and Blue Lake B~sins are true alpine basins, sculptured an,l scoured by glaciers exposing the light grey and maroon rocks of the 2