WASHINGTON – The San Juan Wilderness Act crossed an important threshold Tuesday, passing the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. The bill will make its way to the Senate floor next, after special interests and community leaders in Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District spent years ruminating over its land-use stipulations.
Sponsored by Sen. Mark Udall, D-Colo., and co-sponsored by Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., the bill would designate 61,000 acres as wilderness in the San Juan Mountains in San Juan, Ouray and San Miguel counties. In addition, it would expand the existing Lizard Head and Mount Sneffels wilderness areas. Another area, McKenna Peak in San Miguel County, also would be added as a wilderness area.
A wilderness designation is the most protective designation, according to the Wilderness Act of 1964. It prohibits permanent roads, commercial structures as well as other activities such as mining or timber cutting.
When Congress designates a wilderness area, it must follow the rules of the National Wilderness Preservation System, said Jeff Widen, an associate director of the Wilderness Society in Colorado, who collaborated on the bill. Unlike the Wilderness Act, the San Juan Wilderness Act was able to make compromises, Widen said.
While areas such as Lizard Head and Mount Sneffels are designated as wilderness areas in the bill, meaning untouched by roads and commercial activity, other areas are designated as a “special management area.”
In Sheep Mountain, groups such as the Wilderness Society originally wanted it under the highest protection. However, existing commercial activity from Helitrax, a heli-skiing company in Telluride, already operated in the area. When heli-skiing, a helicopter drops skiers onto a mountain rather than arriving by lift onto a trail. The Wilderness Act prohibits aircraft landing, except in emergency situations.
“Helitrax, as a company, wanted it to be preserved but not labeled as wilderness because they wouldn’t have been able to operate,” said Hilary White, executive director of the Sheep Mountain Alliance in Telluride.
Instead of designating the land as wilderness, the San Juan bill designated Sheep Mountain as “special management” to allow Helitrax to continue operations.
“Udall wrote into this bill that the area be managed to maintain the character, but the helicopter can land,” Widen said.
The bill’s crafters made a similar compromise with Naturita Canyon, another area included in the San Juan Wilderness Act as “special management.” Widen said the community near Naturita didn’t want it designated as wilderness but did want mining protections. The canyon will not be wilderness, but mining and leasable minerals, such as uranium, will be off limits in the future.
“Some people don’t want wilderness because it’s too restrictive,” Widen said. “There are misconceptions that you can’t hunt or can’t build a fire line to prevent fires. You can bring in a bulldozer if it means fighting a wildfire.”
Local government in Colorado also voiced concerns for the preservation of traditional recreation in the proposed wilderness areas.
Silverton Commissioner Pete McKay fought for the continuation of the Hard Rock 100, a 100-mile endurance run that crosses through Silverton and Telluride every July. McKay said he spoke with Udall, who often vacations in San Juan County, saying he understands the economic impact of wilderness for the region. McKay also has talked with U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton, R-Cortez, though he has not taken a position on the San Juan Wilderness Act.
“But that also means he’s not actively opposing it,” McKay said.
Leigh Giangreco, a recent graduate of American University in Washington, D.C., is working as an intern for The Durango Herald.
