Protecting Colorado’s Wilderness

From Carbondale to Colorado Springs, from Denver to Durango, our state has a remarkable outdoor heritage with treasured landscapes and an abundance of natural resources. Without a doubt, our quality of life and the strength of our state are enhanced tremendously by our state’s magnificent public lands.
 
As a fourth-generation Coloradan, I know how central the outdoors is to our lifestyle and how essential it is to our state’s economy. That is why it is so important we protect our wild places. 

For nearly 20 years, I have been working to protect Colorado’s wilderness and have introduced legislation to do just that in every Congress since 1999. The most important part of that work has been talking with people in communities all across our great state about the impact and the importance of wilderness protection. 

The Colorado Wilderness Act introduced in this Congress reflects that work and my outreach to communities across our state to protect some of our most cherished lands. This bill proposes a balanced approach to protect 33 wilderness areas totaling approximately 740,000 acres across the state. This includes about 1% of the state’s total area and would leave unaffected more than 90% of BLM-managed lands, which would remain open to oil and gas drilling, mining, off-road vehicle use and other development.

You can see the bill text here and additional background materials, including a map, list of areas, and overview of the bill, here.

Read what some Colorado stakeholders are saying about the Colorado Wilderness Act:

“The Colorado Wilderness Act of 2018 importantly offers protection to some of the wildest regions in Colorado that are also most at risk from the Trump Administration’s relentless assault on America’s public lands. I’ve been intensively engaged in advocacy on behalf of these wildlands for over 30 years, and have had the great privilege of visiting a number of these areas with Rep. DeGette.”​

-    Mark Pearson, San Juan Citizens Alliance Executive Director 

“The Colorado Mountain Club is excited to support new Wilderness areas across the state that protect important backcountry recreation opportunities for hikers, climbers an skiers.  These diverse landscapes support an array of human uses while also protecting some of the most iconic landscapes and sensitive natural resources in Colorado.”​

-    Julie Mach, Colorado Mountain Club Conservation Director

If you'd like to send me an email with your comments about protecting Colorado wilderness please click here.