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48 Ii)' Jr- n '"'" ., :::-, (p "-' :.:> THE DENVm I'(X,T Woodard assails Wirth's wilderness bill By Mark Obmasclk Oenv.r POll El'lvlronmenl Wri1er Colorado Attorney General Duane Woodard. the slale's chief lawyer, yesterday assailed a plan by Sen. Tim Wirth to protect 750,000 acres of Colorado's high country as wilderness. Woodard said a bill sponsored by Wirth, a fellow Democrat, would strip too much power from state government and potentially give too much water to wilderness areas. "Under this bill, Congress would override a Colorado water rights system by creating a Cederal wa. ter right lor the purpose of pro- tecting alIthe flows through a wll- derness area," Woodard said. Instead, Woodard said, the fed. eral government should be forced to get an "instream flow" water right from the Colorado Water Conservation Board. That board only tends to award pristine areas enough water'to maintain trout populations, but not enough to en. sure the occurrence of naturally present waterfalls. "I believe fish flows are very ample and adequate for wilderness areas," Woodard said. Granting pristine areas more water, Wood- ard said, would make it tougher t1 build dams upstream for farm irri gation or city water supply reser- voirs. Environmentalists denounced Woodard's position. "His idea is ridiculous," said Darrell Knuffke of the Wilderness Society. "There are other values in wilderness besides fish, such as scenery and wetlands. Fish flows don't protect waterfalls." Woodard has sided with the state's water developers in several environmental conflicts. His office so far has spent $68,000 fighting a federal court ruling that found wil. derness areas have a right to wa. ter flowing through their borders. His office also has spent more than $1.2 million of state taxpayers' money fighting the federal govern. ment in a case to ensure slit. flush- ing river flows in U.S. Forest Ser. vice property. Jim Martin, who directs Wirth's Colorado congressional offices, said the senator wouldn't comment on Woodard's position. But the puhlic OPposition of another state- wide elected official to Wirth's wilderness bill won't help its chances of winning approval In Congress. Wirth's bill already is opposed by Republican Sen. Bill Arm. strong. Gov. Roy Romer refused yesterday to endorse or denounce Wirth's plan, which will be the sub- ject of public meetings this month in Glenwood Springs and Denver.