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WHAT’S AT RISK IN COLORADO IF CONGRESS PASSES H.R. 1581 – THE GREAT OUTDOORS GIVEAWAY?

Great Outdoors Giveaway.  Sound good?  Actually, it’s bad. 

VERY bad for our public lands and for those who respect and appreciate them.

Congressman Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) has introduced legislation, H.R. 1581, officially (and ominously) titled the Wilderness and Roadless Area Release Act, that would eliminate existing protections from tens of millions of acres of American wildlands while opening these lands to unchecked development. H.R. 1581 would rob Americans of their natural heritage and would prevent people from working together at the local level to solve land-use problems. 

Over four million acres of wild Colorado forests, deserts, and streams--4,242,000 of national forest and 370,000 of BLM lands-- would be stripped of existing protections if H.R. 1581 were signed into law, including one of the prime wilderness candidates in central Colorado:

GRAPE CREEK

The Grape Creek proposed wilderness contains rugged, mid-elevation terrain that contains an array of scenic, cultural, recreational, and ecological values. Grape Creek itself contains an outstanding fishery as well as lush riparian habitat. The slopes rising above the creek support diverse habitats, including pinyon-juniper, ponderosa pine, and Engelmann spruce forests, which provide homes for an assemblage of wildlife species including eagles, Peregrine falcons, mountain lions, deer and elk.

Several million people live within 100 miles of Grape Creek

and many people visit the area for hiking, backpacking, horseback riding, fishing, hunting, and photography. H.R. 1581 would strip Wilderness Study Area status from Grape Creek, opening the door to increased development. 

1.  Contact your Congressperson and urge opposition to H.R. 1581, the Great Outdoors Giveaway.  Fifth CD Rep. Doug Lamborn favors H.R. 1581.  Please let him know your thoughts and feelings at www.Lamborn.house.gov or 719-520-0055.

2.  Write a letter to the editor of your local paper about the terrible impacts of this proposal on American wilderness.  SEE THE FOLLOWING SAMPLE LETTER FOR IDEAS.

3.  Alert your friends and family to the threats posed by the bill and urge them to join you in getting involved.

SAMPLE LETTER

Dear Member of Congress:

We are writing to express our opposition to H.R. 1581, the Wilderness and Roadless Area Release Act, recently introduced by Representative Kevin McCarthy. This legislation is a wholesale assault to provisions of law that protect tens of millions of acres of roadless and wilderness-quality National Forests and public lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management.

[If you wish, add your own experiences with Colorado wildlands to personalize your letter.]

By eliminating these protections and opening up these lands to development, H.R. 1581 would rob the American people of their national heritage and would deny future Americans the opportunities to visit these undeveloped lands.

The landscapes that would be affected by H.R. 1581 provide a myriad of benefits to local communities: clean air and water, habitat for wildlife, outstanding recreation, and the opportunities for healthy, vibrant rural economies. All of these benefits would be lost if H.R. 1581 were to become law.

H.R. 1581 is a national, one-size-fits-all approach that robs people at the local level from working together to solve land use problems. We urge you to reject this extreme effort to roll back America’s wilderness protections so that America’s natural heritage may continue to be enjoyed by the American people. Please oppose the Wilderness and Roadless Area Release Act.

Sincerely,

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Please write to John Stansfield at jorcstan@juno.com