Colorado Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet announced Thursday he has introduced legislation to permanently protect more than 730,000 acres of federal land on the state’s west side that is renowned for its wildlife habitat, as well hunting and fishing.
The “Gunnison Outdoor Resources Protection Act,” S. 5193, would use a variety of protection measures, including designations of recreation management areas, to protect existing uses such as mountain biking and off-highway vehicle use in Gunnison County and the surrounding region.
It also includes designating nearly 123,000 acres of new wilderness areas, and additions to existing wilderness areas, which would allow only the lightest-impact human activities, such as hiking and canoeing. It also would withdraw nearly 75,000 acres from oil and gas development in the pristine North Fork Valley in neighboring Delta County, and establish “no surface occupancy” requirements forbidding oil and gas well pads or rigs on nearly 50,000 acres of Forest Service lands in Delta County.
Bennet, who’s worked with local leaders and lawmakers for more than a decade to develop the bill, and who floated a draft version in 2022, told reporters during a Zoom call Thursday that the bill “carefully balances Gunnison’s diverse needs … with carefully crafted boundaries” that protect existing uses of federal lands in the region, such as livestock grazing, with the need to conserve sensitive landscapes that are drawing increased visitation.
