La Plata County commissioners say protecting public lands remains a top priority.
Last week, they formally ratified a letter to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins opposing the proposed repeal of the Roadless Area Conservation rule – despite Colorado’s protections under a separate state rule.
“I think it’s just a matter of speaking out. It’s speaking out in as many ways as we can to stand up for public lands,” Commissioner Marsha Porter-Norton said.
Porter-Norton said public lands protection is an issue that resonates across political lines in La Plata County.
“They care about wildlife habitat. They want to make sure that grazing allotments are available on our public lands. They want to make sure that our untouched areas remain pristine and beautiful,” she said. “… We (the commissioners) felt like it was very important to speak up.”
In the early 2000s, Colorado negotiated a separate “roadless rule” agreement with the U.S Forest Service, protecting 4.2 million acres of National Forest land. Yet, the proposed federal rescission could open millions of acres in other Western states to development.
“On behalf of the people of La Plata County, we urge the USDA and Forest Service to maintain the Roadless Rule in full effect,” the letter read. “Rescinding this safeguard would risk irreversible harm to our water, wildlife, economy and cultural heritage.”
The Roadless Rule, passed in 2001, limits road construction and timber harvesting across millions of acres of U.S. National Forest – including 428,000 acres of the San Juan National Forest in La Plata County.
The letter outlines several benefits roadless forests provide to the county, as well as the harms from constructing roads through undeveloped land.
Road construction would increase the risk of erosion and sedimentation, leading to long-term degradation of the area’s watersheds that supply clean drinking water to residents, farms and businesses. It would also raise the risk of human-caused wildfires, according to the letter.
Additionally, commissioners said it would “threaten the economic resilience” of communities that depend on outdoor recreation and tourism tied to the region’s accessible but undisturbed public lands.
The Forest Service’s brief three-week public comment period ended Sept. 19, with the agency receiving more than 600,000 comments.
An analysis conducted by the Center for Western Priorities found that 99.2% of comments supported maintaining Roadless protections.
The Forest Service will now review the comments and formulate a draft plan, expected to be released in the spring.
jbowman@durangoherald.com
