The Colorado Wilderness Act passed the House last year. Next step: the Senate.
The proposed Colorado Wilderness Act encompasses 660,000 acres of public land managed primarily by the Bureau of Land Management. This proposal for extending wilderness protection to significant landforms under BLM jurisdiction was first introduced to Congress in 1999 by Rep. Diana DeGette, and has been reintroduced in every congressional session since. It is an outgrowth of citizen inventories of prospective wilderness areas since the 1980s. Individual components of the larger vision have received designation, including Dominguez Canyon and Black Ridge Canyons wilderness areas, but the vast majority still awaits congressional action.
Permanent protection as wilderness for these last undeveloped wildland areas will ensure continuing benefits for recreation, biological diversity, clean water, and rural economies.