Udall unveils forest-use plan
By Deborah Frazier, Rocky Mountain News
February 4, 2003
Rep. Mark Udall on Monday proposed creating 86,000 acres of wilderness in the White River National Forest and barring vehicles from more than a half-million acres of roadless land.
The proposal was announced to generate public input before Udall actually drafts a bill on the forest, which has been added to the Boulder Democrat's 2nd Congressional District.
The 2.2 million-acre forest 60 miles west of Denver is a recreation haven for more than 10 million people and its rules have been hotly debated for years.
Udall's proposal stands in stark contrast to a bill introduced last year by Rep. Scott McInnis, a Grand Junction Republican whose district used to contain the forest.
The McInnis bill called for a smaller wilderness area and would have allowed vehicles to use existing roads in it. That bill died, but may be reintroduced.
"As Congressman McInnis shapes his own bill this year, he is open to any sensible suggestion from Congressman Udall," said Blair Jones, McInnis' spokesman.
McInnis is chairman of the House subcommittee on forests and could block Udall's proposal. Jones said McInnis has been deeply involved in the White River issue since he drafted his own management plan in 2000.
"We have bipartisan support on this," said Udall, whose proposal reflects the final White River management plan endorsed by President Bush in 2002.
"I'm optimistic. Congressman McInnis and I worked together on the James Peak Wilderness Area and the Sand Dunes National Monument legislation," he said. "We have a lot of common ground."
Both versions preserve the Colorado Air National Guard's aviation training routes in the area and protect existing water rights, including the town of Gypsum's.
Udall, however, proposed Wild and Scenic River designation for 15 miles of Deep Creek, a headwater for the Colorado River, and asks that a federal reserve water right be obtained. McInnis opposes that.
McInnis' proposal last year would have left open hundreds of miles of roads and trails in the proposed Red Table Mountain wilderness area for use by four-wheel-drive vehicles, ATVs, dirt bikes and other motorized transportation.
"The roadless question is already in the courts," said Jones.
The Wilderness Act doesn't allow motorized travel within designated areas, Udall said, and those who push roads into protected areas are subject to federal prosecution.Suzanne Jones of the Wilderness Society, which would like 300,000 acres of new wilderness and automatic federal protection of the water, said the McInnis proposal for vehicles and no reserve water rights violates the spirit of the Wilderness Act.