The Gunnison Basin contains portions of six wilderness areas, a ski resort, a National Park, a National Recreation Area and more than five million acres of public lands; over 80% of the Upper Gunnison watershed is public lands. The HCCA Public Lands Program works in cooperation with public agencies, ranchers, loggers, ski areas, business owners, non-profits, recreationists, and other people who use public lands. Together we can better achieve the shared goals of a prosperous economy, conservation of our natural resources and protection of our quality of life.
Our Public Lands Program tackles many different issues. In 2009 the Public Lands program will be working on a number of important issues:
Gunnison Basin Travel Management Plan – The draft environmental impact statement (EIS) for the travel plan will be released in the first half of 2009. The public will have 90 days to provide comments to the US Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management on all of the roads and trails in the Gunnison Basin. See our Travel Policy.
Natural Gas Development – The US Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management continue to receive applications for new gas wells and pipelines in northwestern Gunnison County. The public lands staff will continue to monitor and comment on these projects in addition to our participation in a collaborative group working on gas filed planning issues.
Forest Planning – The GMUG National Forest has stated that it intends to re-initiate the forest planning process when a Colorado Roadless Rule is completed. If a Colorado Roadless Rule is finished in Spring 2009, the Forest Plan would likely begin later in the year. The public lands staff will continue to advocate for the conservation measures outlined in the Mountains to Mesas Conservation Management Alternative. See the M2m Plan here.
Snodgrass – HCCA will continue to monitor developments related to a proposed Snodgrass Mountain ski area expansion. We continue to focus on environmental aspects of the issue including geology, wildlife, water quality and ecosystem integrity.
Other Public Lands Issues – As always HCCA will stay abreast of the many proposals and projects on public lands in the Gunnison Basin and surrounding areas. Gunnison sage-grouse recovery, timber sales, species conservation and rangeland management are among the issues we will continue to follow.
