| There are many ways you can affect the future of conservation in the Arkansas and South Platte Watersheds. This page highlights the current most important avenues for your participation.
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| Colorado's Roadless Areas are at risk - Act now! |
We need your help to ensure that Colorado's last, natural undeveloped public lands maintain the protection that the popular 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule afforded. With the publication of the proposed Colorado-specific Roadless Rule there is a 90 day Public Comment period, ending on October 23, 2008. It is critical to act now and voice your concern over the protections that will be lost if this the new rule goes into effect.
What you can do to help |
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Write Letters
1) Comment to the US Forest Service
Your comments are critical to ensuring these critical lands are protected. The deadline for submission is October 23, 2008.
Email comments to: COComments@fsroadless.org, or submit online at: http://www.regulations.gov
If you prefer, you can mail them to:
Roadless Area Conservation—Colorado
P.O. Box 162909
Sacramento, CA 95816–2909
When submitting comments feel free to use the sample letter below, but remember that your personal experiences and values are the most important information you can provide the Forest Service. We urge you to take the time to add your personal comments or reflections about specific roadless areas, and the activities you typically enjoy in them — it will make your comments far more effective.
Dear US Forest Service,
As a Coloradan, I ask the Forest Service to fully protect all of Colorado's roadless areas according to the 2001 roadless rule. The weaker protections specific to the roadless areas in Colorado must be rejected. Protecting these last unspoiled natural areas is a responsible, common sense request to preserve our quality of life now, and for future generations.
The draft Rule would allow unlimited logging to "improve" wildlife habitat, even though roadless areas are valuable precisely because they provide a refuge from human activities like logging.
Some roadless areas could have road construction and logging in large areas supposedly for fuel and fire hazard reduction, even in areas that are far away from homes where the projects would not truly protect lives and property.
New electrical transmission lines and water pipelines could be constructed in roadless areas, along with roads to access construction sites.
Roads, well pads and pipelines would be built for oil and gas leases issues after the date of the 2001 Rule but before a Colorado Roadless Rule becomes effective.
Sincerely,
(NAME)
(ADDRESS)
2) Please urge Governor Ritter to protect Colorado’s roadless heritage!
Please also contact and urge Governor Ritter to slow down this effort which will drastically undermine Colorado’s current Roadless Area protections. The Governor has the power to tell the Forest Service that they need to listen to Colorado’s public, and that the public has already spoken for strong protections. Roadless lands are too critical to have a rushed process that bulldozes public opinion, and even worse bulldozes new roads into our backcountry.
Please Take Action Now – click here for a suggested letter to Governor Ritter.
3) Write a letter to the editor
Write a letter to your local newspaper and demand that Colorado's Roadless backcountry heritage is remains protected. Coloradans love the land – now is our time to speak up.
We Can Help!
Wild Connections will provide you with materials and information to help you craft an impactful statement.
>> New << Roadless Area of South-Central Colorado
Wild Connections has prepared this detailed report on the roadless lands found in the Pike-San isabel National Forest or adjacent BLM land. More than 80 areas are described with location and boundaries, ecological values, conservation and community values, a photo and a map. The maps show the roadless area as invenoried by Wild Connections, as well as the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule and the proposed 2008 Colorado Roadless Rule boundaries.
Click on the thumbnail to save the whole report in PDF format (11 MB) or click here to get it by Ranger Districts (1 MB to 3 MB)
Workshops
We can provide workshops as needed to help you and your group learn to write comment statements that will make a difference.
Delegation of Colorado’s Conservation Leadership Travels to Washington
Wild Connections, along with key leadership from conservation, recreation, hunting and angling groups, and outdoor industry representatives went to Washington DC to personally submit comments to the Roadless Area Conservation National Advisory Committee (RACNAC).
The RACNAC is a citizen advisory committee charged with advising the Forest Service on Roadless Area conservation management and policy. Wild connections attended the two-day citizen advisory panel meeting to offer substantive comments so that our critical Roadless lands are preserved for future use of all our local citizens, tourists, and wildlife.
To read Wild Connections’ verbal comments presented on July 29th, 2008, please click here.
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