Lois Dunn’s letter (“
The CORE Act resulted from years of dialogue among stakeholders, including landowners, ranchers, motorized recreationists, hunters, conservationists, local business leaders and others from the affected areas.
All existing uses and rights are protected.
The CORE Act has strong support from seven counties and 13 municipalities where the affected lands are. Specifically: There are 73,000 acres of wilderness in the CORE Act, not 400,000, as Dunn states.
The rest consists of special management areas, mineral withdrawals and the Camp Hale National Historic Landscape. Thompson Divide has no wilderness – it prohibits future energy development, but does not rescind existing leases; it includes a voluntary program to trade leases for credits elsewhere.
The claim of no input from the 3rd Congressional District is ridiculous – the San Juan, Thompson Divide, and Curecanti sections of CORE were ALL crafted by 3rd District citizens.
Wilderness would actually make it harder for water diversions to the front range, not easier.
Firefighting is not restricted in wilderness – the land agencies may legally take any actions they deem necessary to fight fires.
Finally, all existing private property, grazing permits, mineral rights and ability to fight fires are protected.
Read the bill: Everything mentioned above is spelled out in black-and-white in the text.
The CORE Act is truly a ground-up, community-based proposal.
Chase LaCroixDurango
