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<br />OD15~4 <br /> <br />SUMMl,RY <br />FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT <br />OH-BE-JOYFUL WI WERNESS STUDY <br />GRAND MESA, UNCOMPAHGRE AND GUNNISON NATIONAL FORESTS <br />GUNNI:;ON COUNTY. COWRADO <br /> <br />The Oh-Be-Joy Eul Wilderness ~;tudy Area was established by Congress in the <br />1980 Colorado Wilderness Act (PL 96-560), A decision on tee Oh-Be-Joyful <br />area was the last issue to bl~ resolv2d prior to passage of this Act. House <br />of Representatives action had design:ited the area as wildelness. Senate <br />action designated the area for non-wilderness purposes, pr:marily because <br />of mineral potential. The House-Sen3.te Conference cammitt, e finally placed <br />Oh-Be-Joyful into a special section of the Act with wilder] ess study desig- <br />nation. The conferees stated that sLnce the area has high wilderness <br />values and high mineral potential, ml)re information was needed by Congress <br />relative to the mineral values befor'~ a final land allocation decision <br />could be made. <br /> <br />The Act requires the Secretary of Agriculture to review the Oh-Be-Joyful <br />Wilderness Study Area and make recommendations on the suitability or un- <br />suitability for its inclusion in the National Wilderness Preservation <br />System by December 1983. The purposes of this review are: <br /> <br />1. To provide additional minerals information. <br /> <br />2. To more specifically evaluate wilderness suitability. This is based <br />011 wilderness capability, availability and need criteria. <br /> <br />3. To review the administration's earlier recommendatlons and other <br />alternatives regarding wildernE!ss designation. <br /> <br />The Oh-Be-Joyful Wilderness Study Area covers 5,500 acres in the upper <br />three quarters of the Oh-Be-Joyful Creek watershed. It is in Gunnison <br />County, about four miles northwest of the town of Crested Butte. The Study <br />Area is a small drainage area, predominately alpine, enclosed on three <br />sides by precil?itous ridges and rugged mountain peaks. Figures I-I and 1-2 <br />are maps ot the vicinity and Study Area. Figure 1-3 shows views of the <br />Study Area. <br /> <br />The Oh-Be-Joyful Wilderness Study Area is on the west edge of the Colorado <br />Mineral Belt and is in a geologic setting favorable for econc lie mineral <br />deposits. There is no actual discovery of pi-oducable mineral deposits. <br />Th:=re is surface evidence that a large part of the Study Area is mineralized <br />wjth lead, ZillC, silver and gold bearing sulfides. The poten :ial for <br />bl ried intrusives containing molybdenum is high. There is th ~ possibility <br />fc r economic coal deposits but the potential has not been ass'~ssed. Oil <br />aid gas potential is low and the geology is not favorable for uranium. <br /> <br />TI e Oh-Be-Joyful area has been identified as a potential wild,~rness for <br />s< veral years - being part of both of the Forest Service Road.l_ess Area <br />R( view and Evaluation studies (RARE I and RARe II). T~e Oh-Bt'-Joyful area <br />Wi. s recommended for wilderness study in RARE I and for nonwilderness in the <br />Ri RE II Final Environmental Statement. Current management direction was <br />d, veloped in the East River Land Management Plan and is to maIlage the area <br />f, r semi-primitive (non-motorized and motorized) recreation. r'he RARE I and <br />R- RE II and the East River Land t-1anagement Planning act ions illvolved extensive <br />p blic review and comments. <br /> <br />i <br />