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wilderness protection
Expanding BLM Wilderness Study Areas
BLM is required to evaluate areas for Wilderness Study Area designation, one of their protective land management options.
The coalition working on BLM's Resource Management Plan proposes an expansion of BLM's 1976 High Mesa Grasslands WSA to include additional high value wildlife habitat, rare species locations and opportunities for solitude and unconfined recreation.
A summary of the proposal is found here in the coalition's letter. The full proposal can be downloaded here.
Camp Hale-Continental Divide National Monument
On October 12th President Biden designated the 53,804-acre Camp Hale-Continental Divide National Monument. The Monument includes the Camp Hale historical site, traditional lands of the Parianuche and Uncompahgre bands of Ute people, winter and summer recreation opporunities, and high mountain ecosystems.
These lands, located just west of the Continental Divide from Wild Connections' roadless areas, increase landscape-scale protections in the Rocky Mountains.
10th Mountain Division Traing at Camp Hale. Historic photo Colorado Snow Sports Museum
Camp Hale bunkers. Photo Brenda Yankoviak, Continental Divide Trail Coalition
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack noted, “Camp Hale and the 10th Mountain Division are unique in our military history. The men and women who served and trained in this beautiful but punishing landscape made sacrifices for our country and made their mark on the history of the free world... This area was also home to the Ute people long before recorded history, and their unique cultural perspective and historical knowledge is critical to ensuring that we maintain this area’s many priceless characteristics for generations to come.”
The Monument will be managed by the White River National Forest in consultation with Tribes, local and state agencies and the public.
Colorado Wilderness Act
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Table Mountain in the eastern Bighorn Sheep Canyon is included in the Colorado Wildernesss Act. Photo EcoFlight
Colorado Wilderness Act
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CWA 2022 map. Click on the map to download.
Congresswoman DeGette has introduced versions of the Colorado Wilderness Act in Congress for many years. The CWA will protects 660,000 acres of wilderness across Colorado. For Wild Connections region, the bill proposes to protect six areas for their wild values, including Beaver Creek, Grape Creek, McIntyre Hills, Table Mountain, Badger Creek, and the Browns Canyon National Monument.
Energy and Mining
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Oil pump. Courtesy of Wikipedia
Gold mining at Grape Creek
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Grape Creek as it flows into the Arksansas River. Photo EcoFlight
The Grape Creek watershed and contiguous lands are some of the most intact wild and scenic public lands in the state. They provide habitat for numerous wildlife species, as well as a number of backcountry recreational opportunities for residents and tourists.
Zephyr Minerals - a Canadian minerals company - has been seeking gold mining permits at Grape Creek and the nearby connecting areas since 2019, for a gold mining operation that would extend from the Dawson Ranch neighborhood west onto State and BLM public lands, transecting the Grape Creek proposed Wilderness, BLM's Wilderness Study Area and Grape Creek Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC).
There is some good news. After the application was reviewed by the Colorado Department of Reclamation, Mining and Safety (CDRMS), Zephyr withdrew their application in June 2022. This proposal appears to be dead for now.
In order to permanently protect Grape Creek from activities such as these, it is vital that Congress pass the Colorado Wilderness Act, which would give wilderness designation to Grape Creek and many other wild areas in Colorado.
SaveFremontCounty.org has organized public protests on this project.
Wildlife
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Pronghorm. Photo Michael Serphin, CPW
Pawnee Montane Skipper
Butterfly Census
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Pawnee montane skipper. Photo John Sovall
The US Fish and Wildlife Service and the US Forest Service conduct an annual census of the threatened Pawnee montane skipper (Hesperia leonardus montana) during late August-early September. Wild Connections recruits voluntteers for the census.
This rare butterly lives only in a few drainages along the South Platte River. Wild Connections' habitat restoration projects in Trout Creek and Green Mountain include some documented sightings in past years.
Greenback Cutthroat Trout Reintroductions
Greenback Cutthroat Trout caught in Bear Creek on Pikes Peak as part of CPW's reintroduction program. Photo CPW
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Rock Creek in Lost Creek Wilderness - the future home of reintroduced GBCT. Photo John Stansfield.
The Greenback Cutthroat Trout (GBCT) was native only to South Platte River cold water tributaries. It was thought to be extinct until a small population was discovered in Bear Creek on Pikes Peak. Bear Creek is in the Arkansas River drainage, but it is believed that an early settler brought some GBCTs there, possibly from Trout Creek.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife is collecting eggs, sperm and a few fish from Bear Creek for hatcheries that will provide fish for reintroduction back into the S Platte system. Kevin Simpson, of The Colorado Sun, describes the "boots-in-the-water" project. The Pike-San Isabel Forest, US Fish and Wildlife and Trout Unlimited are managing a mutiyear project to reintroduce GBCT in Rock Creek. Wild Connections volunteers have helped with this work.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife is collecting eggs, sperm and a few fish from Bear Creek for hatcheries that will provide fish for reintroduction back into the S Platte system. Kevin Simpson, of The Colorado Sun, describes the "boots-in-the-water" project. The Pike-San Isabel Forest, US Fish and Wildlife and Trout Unlimited are managing a mutiyear project to reintroduce GBCT in Rock Creek. Wild Connections volunteers have helped with this work.