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SEN. UDALL ANNOUNCES LEGISLATION FOR BROWNS CANYON NATIONAL MOUNMENT AND WILDERNESS
FACT SHEET: - March 28, 2013
(From Senator Udall’s web site.)
Sen. Mark Udall is proposing the Browns Canyon National Monument so that future generations of Coloradans can enjoy the area’s unique mix of exciting whitewater, wildlife and wilderness recreation close to the Front Range. Based on community input, this proposal will preserve Browns Canyon, support jobs, grow our economy and protect Colorado’s quality of life.
Sen. Udall has spent more than a year building this proposal from the ground-up, so as to develop a draft bill that preserves this remarkable landscape while continuing current access and use of the area. This designation will draw visitors who will boost the regional economy by literally putting the new Browns Canyon National Monument on the national tourist map.
What is in the draft “Browns Canyon National Monument and Wilderness Act of 2013”?
New National Monument: Designates an approximate 22,000-acre national monument that would be jointly managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and U.S. Forest Service, in cooperation with the Colorado Division of Parks and Wildlife through the Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area (AHRA).
New Wilderness: Designates approximately 10,500 acres of new wilderness within the national monument (8,000 acres of land managed by the BLM plus 2,500 acres of land managed by the U.S. Forest Service).
Public Access: Visitor access will continue exactly as it does now, so most visitors will experience the new Browns Canyon National Monument from floating through it on the Arkansas River or by traveling into one of the two existing recreation sites. The existing recreation sites are easily accessible off of Highway 285, and they have parking, campgrounds, trails, restrooms and boat ramps.
No changes to other uses such as grazing, water, hunting, angling or outfitting: All of these uses will continue as they do now.
Ongoing public involvement: After designation, a detailed management plan for the area will be developed by the BLM and U.S. Forest Service with additional public input to guide the area’s management and determine what, if any, additional recreation and visitor facilities might be appropriate.
Mapping the spaces in between BLM mapping project slated for 2013
Wild Connections begins a new phase of roadless area mapping this spring on BLM lands. Many are in the foothills, often adjacent to National Forest land or in the intermountain parks, apparent dry washes, cactus, sparse grasses, with grazing cattle, prairie dogs and pronghorn. Others are found in the rocky canyons of the Arkansas River.
There are more than 100 Wildernesses and other roadless areas mapped by Wild Connections Volunteers, many slated as the “core” areas of a landscape scale Wildlands Network. But what about the spaces in between?
