WCCP Origins

Mapping charette from the early 1990's showing possible protected areas and connections across Colorado. Courtesy Dave Foreman and Mark Pearson

In the early 1990’s interest in wildlands protection focused on passing the 1993 Colorado Wilderness Act and mapping additional roadless areas. The Southern Rockies Ecosystem Project and The Wildlands Project encouraged local conservation groups to embrace the vision of a network of protected wildlands across North America, and to act on that vision by mapping roadless areas in their watersheds. 

Roadless Area Mapping
The Pike-San Isabel National Forest (PSI) and the Royal Gorge BLM Resource Area (BLM) are stewards of 56% pf the land in the Arkansas and South Platte watersheds. In January 1995 a kick-off slide show at the Colorado Mountain Club challenged volunteers to map roadless areas in those mountain headwaters. By that summer the first teams of volunteers were trained and deployed. 

Volunteers like this Indian Creek team, mapped more than 100 roadless areas. Photo Wild Connections

From 1995 to 2001, guided by a Steering Committee, the boundaries of more than 100 roadless areas were mapped, covering thousands of acres of wildlands. Written reports with photos and annotated topo maps filled the inventory repository. During those years 150 volunteers and paid inventory staff, plus Geographic Information Systems software created solid data for the future WCCP.
The Wild Connections Conservation PlanIn parallel with the mapping, Wild Connections began creating the Wild Connections Conservation Plan. It was to be a science-based management scenario for the Pike-San Isabel National Forest and adjacent BLM lands. Input from seven stakeholder workshops held in 1999 influenced the 2001 draft management map shared with slide shows for conservation groups.

Board team worked on maps and the techncial document. Photo Jean Smith

From 2002 to 2006 Wild Connections focused on refining the conservation design and writing the technical document that describes the land and proposed management. We intended to influence the Pike San Isabel future forest plan revision. The Board writing task force incorporated mapping and other biological data, the use of conservation biology principles and reserve design methods and solicited expert opinion from other conservation groups and conservation biologists. The WCCP was published in June 2006..

The Conservation Plan

The complete document is available here (4 mb pdf)

The WCCP proposes an ecological approach to managing public lands in and around the Pike and San Isabel National Forests. It provides a scientifically based framework for conservation at many levels, including  specific recommendations for the PSI forest plan revision as well as for local conservation initiatives by civic and conservation groups.

A key element in the WCCP is a series of roadless core reserves connected by wildlife linkages. The concept is applied both as forest-wide management recommendations and as place-based specific management. 

Only by addressing and solving the underlying causes can we have the greatest potential for preventing a recurrence of the same problems in the future. Merely treating the symptoms only results in temporary relief and is ecologically and economically inefficient. Therefore, the primary goal of this conservation plan is to protect and restore the native biological diversity of the Pike-San Isabel National Forest. A secondary goal is to promote sustainable interactions between human society and the natural environment of this National Forest.  Read more about fundamental objectives that move towards the fulfillment of these goals

Contents
Introduction discusses the purpose, scope, goals, objectives and environmental threats
The Wild Connections Methodology details our approach, reasoning, science based analysis, and data sources used in creating our detailed proposal.
Forest-Wide Recommendations contains over-arching management guidance, compatible with conservation principles, for general issues that are prevalent across the entire Pike- San Isabel National Forest, irrespective of theme or location. 
Thematic Approach to Land Management utilizes management Themes, or zones, to geographically distribute Desired Conditions across the forest. Objectives, Guidelines, and Suitability of Areas analyses serve to help guide specific project level planning that will work towards achieving the Desired Conditions for specific areas and themes.
Complexes: Area-Specific Management Recommendations contains our detailed, area-specific proposals for land management. There are eleven Complexes, based on geo-physical characteristics of the land such as mountain ranges, parklands or canyon systems. Each complex narrative provides details and justifications for our management recommendations for specific areas.
Landscape Connectivity discusses the other lands i the region critical to both habitat and connectivity, such as adjacent National Forests, state parks, and BLM lands. 
Appendices

Management Complexes

Download this map

Wild Connections region is a mosaic of land forms and ecosystems. Management recommendations as varied as the land are organized by Complexes. 

The Complexes are based on geo-physical characteristics such as mountain ranges, parklands or canyon systems. Each complex narrative provides details and justifications for our management recommendations for specific areas. 

Complexes
(Download the narratives with the links below )
Rampart Range Complex  lies at the eastern edge of National Forest adjacent to the urbanized corridor and from Colorado Highway 67 south to the Ute Pass corridor
South Platte Canyons Complex lands are found along the South Platte River from Elevenmile Reservoir to the foothills near Denve
South Park Complex includes the intermountain South Park and the Platte River, Kenosha, and Tarryall Mountains
Mount Evans High Peaks Complex lies along the Continental Divide at the northern edge of South Park between the foothills east of Mount Evans to Hoosier Pass
Mosquito Range Complex is located between the Arkansas Valley and South Park, from the Continental Divide south to Trout Creek Pass
Sawatch Range Complex is located west of the Arkansas River from the Cochetopa Hills in the south to the Holy Cross Wilderness in the north and is noted for its Fourteeners
Pikes Peak Massif Complex includes Pikes Peak and the lower elevation areas across BLM lands to the south, as well as a large area of mixed ownership to the west
Arkansas Canyons Complex includes the southern Mosquito Range and BLM lands along the Arkansas River canyon from Trout Creek Pass to the northern Wet Mountain valley and Royal Gorge
Wet Mountain Complex is located between the Arkansas River, the Huerfano drainage, the central Wet Mountain Valley and the I-25 corridor
Sangre de Cristo Complex extends some 70 miles along the eastern side of the Sangre de Cristo range from Poncha Pass to la Veta Pass and includes part of the Wet Mountain valley
Spanish Peaks Complex is located between the Culebra Range and the twin cones of Spanish Peaks from the Cucharas River basin to Bosque del Oso State Wildlife Area

Exploring new conservation approaches
While basic principles in the 2006 WCCP are still valid, changes in land management agencies’ priorities and planning processes, increasing cooperation with private land owners, and conditions on the ground require different perspectives and strategies for conservation.

Some notable changes:
Wild Connections expanded roadless area inventories to BLM lands in the Arkansas Canyons and shared data with BLM
BLM has completed the Eastern Colorado Resource Management Plan that incorporated many recommendations from the coalition led by Wild Connections
The PSI forest plan revision is still delayed and USFS planning process and constructs are changed
Habitat conditions are changed from ongoing drought and climate change
Wild Connections is engaged in major climate resilience work
Wetlands, streams and rivers increasingly a focus for protection
Coalitions of conservation groups, recreation interests, state and local governments are working together

We anticipate an expanded WCCP although what form that will take is yet to be decided.