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April 27, 2011 07:48 PM UTC

Tipton vs. Wildlands

  • 26 Comments
  • by: ClubTwitty

( – promoted by Colorado Pols)



EDITED-Corrected: This photo was misidentified as Gateway’s iconic feature, The Palisade, which is among the areas in Tipton’s Third Congressional District where BLM would be prohibited from protecting the land’s wilderness character.  It is correctly identified in the comment thread. Apologies for the mistake

Scott Tipton is at it again, following another’s lead in a manner that harms his district.  

His latest salvo against the Third Congressional District comes by way of his cosponsorship of HR 1581, a bill:

To release wilderness study areas administered by the Bureau of Land Management that are not suitable for wilderness designation from continued management as de facto wilderness areas and to release inventoried roadless areas within the National Forest System that are not recommended for wilderness designation from the land use restrictions of the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Final Rule and the 2005 State Petitions for Inventoried Roadless Area Management Final Rule, and for other purposes.

 

The BLM lands in question do in fact meet all the criteria for Wilderness designation, which is precisely why they have been managed to protect their ‘suitability‘ for congressional designation since 1976, when Congress directed that the BLM do so.  

In Colorado the lands-which would be opened up to drilling, mining, off-road vehicles, and other industrial and harmful activities-include places like Eagle County’s Castle Peak (part of Rep. Polis’ recently reintroduced Eagle and Summit County Wilderness Preservation Act), and the Little Bookcliffs, renown for its wild horses.  

In fact, under HR 1581 the BLM is specifically directed not to manage to protect these wildlands, which

…are no longer subject to the requirement of [the Federal Lands Policy and Management Act section 1782] subsection (c) of such section pertaining to the management of wilderness study areas in a manner that does not impair the suitability of such areas for preservation as wilderness.

Wilderness Study Areas are part of the National Landscape Conservation System-a Clinton-era initiative within the BLM that manages its Wilderness Areas, National Conservation Areas, and WSAs.  

A noble effort to promote a conservation ethic within this land agency that has earned such non-flattering nicknames as the ‘Bureau of Livestock and Mining,’ the NLCS safeguards what’s left of BLM’s wildest public lands.

The Bureau of Land Management’s National Landscape Conservation System (NLCS) contains some of the West’s most spectacular landscapes. It includes over 886 federally recognized areas and approximately 27 million acres of National Monuments, National Conservation Areas, Wilderness Areas, Wilderness Study Areas, Wild and Scenic Rivers, National Scenic and Historic Trails, and Conservation Lands of the California Desert.

This represents about 10% of the more than 260 million acres of public lands this agency manages. The majority of agency lands-of course-remain open to the range of multiple uses. Besides, Wilderness and managing lands for their wilderness and roadless characteristics are both tools that fall specifically within the multiple use mandate, as noted in the Multiple Use and Sustained Yield Act:

… The Secretary of Agriculture is authorized and directed to develop and administer the renewable surface resources of the national forests for multiple use and sustained yield of the several products and services obtained therefrom. In the administration of the national forests due consideration shall be given to the relative values of the various resources in particular areas. The establishment and maintenance of areas of wilderness are consistent with the purposes and provisions of this Act.

The policy itself is spelled out as:

It is the policy of the Congress that the national forests are established and shall be administered for outdoor recreation, range, timber, watershed, and wildlife and fish purposes.

Of these uses, only logging (“timber”) is (generally) disallowed in Wilderness, WSAs, or within National Forest Inventoried Roadless Areas.  

Indeed, considering roadless forests and IRAs specifically, wildlife habitat values are best maintained by keeping these areas as undeveloped backcountry.  That’s why the Colorado Division of Wildlife’s field biologists recommended that all the state’s IRAs be kept roadless in comments submitted during a 2005 state task force on the matter.

Roadless lands are popular areas for recreation-helping drive a multi-billion dollar industry in the state, including across much of the 3rd Congressional District.  The value of National Forest roadless lands-both in terms of ecological quality and in terms of tangible ecosystem services-in sustaining Colorado’s (and much of the nation’s) clean water sources is unsurpassed.  

But Scott Tipton wants to take all that away.

“This is the biggest attack on wilderness we have seen in the history of The Wilderness Society,” Wilderness Society policy analyst Paul Spitler said of the Wilderness and Roadless Area Release Act. “This proposal flies in the face of values Americans hold dear with respect to stewardship of our public lands. It also flies in the face of nearly fifty years of legislation designating new wilderness areas. Your favorite places where you love to hunt, fish or hike? Gone. Protection for our drinking water and habitat for wildlife? Gone”.

HR 1581-cosponsored by Scott Tipton (and Mike Coffman)-would strip protections that have existed for over a decade-or several decades (on BLM lands)-and hamper agencies’ authorities to keep these lands as they have been for hundreds of years: wild natural places, for wildlife, for clean water, for recreation, and for generations to come.    

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26 thoughts on “Tipton vs. Wildlands”

  1. without being scarred, it ought to be protected as wilderness.

    Wilderness is the one thing man can’t make, but he can pass is along to his grandchildren.

    One of my favorite Teddy Roosevelt quotes:

    “Leave it as it is. The ages have been at work on it and man can only mar it.”

  2. Close to (Tipton’s) home, another of the areas that this bill would boot from the National Landscape Conservation System:

    http://www.canyoncountrywilder…

    Weber Mountain and Menefee Mountain offer wonderful opportunities for solitude, fine scenery, and backcountry recreation in close proximity to Mesa Verde National Park.

    The ruggedness of the area creates prime opportunities for hiking, backpacking, and climbing, and the cliff tops offer dramatic vantage points for sight-seeing and photography.

    The existing Mesa Verde Wilderness is closed to recreational use, as is all of the backcountry in Mesa Verde, in order to protect the archaeological sites in the National Park. Designation of the Weber-Menefee Mountains Wilderness immediately next door to Mesa Verde will lessen the demands upon Mesa Verde park managers for backcountry use and will provide those managers with an obvious recommendation for visitors desiring primitive-type recreation.

    …BLM recommended the two mountains for administrative designation as primitive areas in 1972. Though never officially designated as such, the mountains have since been managed to protect their primitive values.

    But not for an Executive Act (by Bill Clinton), Cross Canyon would also get cut:

    http://www.canyoncountrywilder…

    The proposed wilderness includes both Cross Canyon and Cahone Canyon Wilderness Study Areas. The canyons comprise the northwest corner of the Canyons of the Ancients, proclaimed a National Monument by President Bill Clinton in June 2000.

    The steep canyon rims drop abruptly from surrounding mesas into 300 to 900-foot deep canyons. Inviting pools and waterfalls fill canyon bottoms lined by graceful cottonwood trees. Cross Canyon contains a lush desert riparian zone.

    The long riparian canyons formed by the two WSAs provide a haven for wildlife and were a source of sustenance for Anasazi Indian inhabitants who lived there between 450 and 1300 A.D. The ruins and artifacts left in this area are everywhere, in concentrations of 40 to 60, and occasionally 100, sites per square mile, making it the most dense collection of cultural resources anywhere in America.

    Undisturbed Cow Mesa attracts particular attention from archaeologists as it was never chained to tear out pinyon-juniper forests. Undisturbed landscape and extensive Anasazi sites make the natural setting of this particular area scientifically priceless. A complete inventory of these sites does not exist, but many are eligible for placement on the National Register of Historic Places.

    An alarming number of sites suffer from vandalism. Wilderness designation would provide protection by limiting access to horseback or foot.

    Kivas and small storage structures are hidden among the rocks and cliffs. Ruin Canyon holds an intact square tower similar to those found at Hovenweep National Monument. The off-chance of discovering rock art on canyon walls or pieces of pottery in the dirt makes exploring these isolated canyons exciting and mysterious.

    [Emphasis Twitty]

  3. Gateway’s iconic feature, also on the Tipton chopping block:

    +23,000 acres of lands contiguous with Dinosaur National Monument–

    And Roubideau (Camel Back), which–together with the already protected forest service lands that lie above–provide an unbroken corridor of wildlands following Roubideau Creek from the montane of the Uncompahgre Plateau down to desert lands on its flanks, on the eastern edge of the broader Colorado Plateau.  

    Tipton Contact Info-

    Washington, DC

    Phone: 202.225.4761

    Fax: 202.226.9669

    Alamosa

    Phone: 719.587.5105

    Fax: 719.587.5137

    Cortez  

    Phone: 970.565.7383

    Fax: 970.565.7631

    Grand Junction

    Phone: 970.241.2499

    Fax: 970.241.3053

    Pueblo

    Phone: 719.542.1073

    Fax: 719.542.1127  

    1. Solitude probably scares him…an original thought might fly into his brain.

      As for Mesa Verde & environs, he don’t need no stinking wilderness. He needs tourists in their cars stopping at his pottery shop.

  5. I REALLY don’t want to drive to CD3 to canvass for his opponent. I’ll do it, though. If anyone wants to lend me a Bookcliffs adoptee, I’ll even do it on horseback. Don’t have one of my own, but they’re lovely.  

    1. Can anyone say Tevis Cup?

      (Yes, they should run free, for the most part… but the BLM does have to adopt some out to keep numbers down, since they haven’t yet gotten a clue and started implementing horsie fertility control widely enough to make a dent. And they’re damn fine companion horses with a bit of training. This ‘un used to train a block from my house.)

        1. I used to ride a Spanish mustang colt. He was incredibly smart and alert. He’s now a gelding and owned by a very sweet older woman who takes excellent care of him and boards him at the same barn where my horse lives, so I still get to spend time with him–very intelligent animal, and makes clear that he still remembers me even though it’s been years since we had any interaction more detailed than a pat on the neck as I walk by.

          1. It is fun to play hide and seek with them in the remote canyons of the Bookcliffs. I prefer to hike early and get up high in the canyon. If you are quiet enough, they will wander below you.

            Horses don’t see up too good.

            For my part, it is one of the best things about living in Palisade.  

            1. And in order to be on topic. Scott Tipton is working overtime for the O&G boys. I guess he figures he’s going to need a LOT of money in 2012.

            2. I grew up in an area with some wide open spaces, but not mustangs. Closest thing I had was a herd of deer that got to know me so well one summer when I was really obsessed with hiking that they wouldn’t even get up when I walked by if they were napping. I want to hike where you live!

              1. but, hiking has really been a life-saver for me. The non-rigors of citizen advocacy( bad food, endless meetings, travel, and literally thousands of hours at a computer) allowed me to “pork up” about 40 pounds.

                Summer before last, I went on a hike with some folks from the Colorado Environmental Coalition into the northern Dolores river canyon area. That experience reminded me of why I live here and really…just why I live.

                Some dietary changes, regular workouts, and Coal Canyon have allowed be to kiss 32 of those lbs. goodbye. Coal canyon and Little Bookcliff canyon are due north of Palisade. Very easy to scope out on Googleearth. I know you would love the place…espescially since you are so fond of horses.  

                I am off to Sedona for a week of hiking on the Mogollon Rim and thereabouts. Yay.

                I will send a greeting to all from a “vortex” or some such.    🙂

                1. Hiking is good for body and soul… so glad that you were able to find health and well-being through it! I need to find a hiking buddy for the summer and really get out there.

  7. Twitty – nice post, and thanks for covering this important topic.

    Quick question – are you sure that the image at the top of the post (and on the front page) is actually a picture of the Palisade?  It looks a lot like the Nuns and Parriot Mesa in Castle Valley Utah to me.

    1. It was identified as such (The Palisade) and it looked to me like The Palisade, from north looking down the Dolores valley, with Gateway in the space between the shadow and river…

      But now I am not sure.  The mesa does look a little fat (although it is on that end).  I will double check.

      1. It’s neither.

        It’s easy to rule out The Palisade.  In your other picture of The Palisade, the cliff former nearest to the camera is the Wingate Formation.  But at the far end, you can see the Kayenta Formation and the Slick Rock (light pinkish tan) and Board Beds (dark reddish brown) units of the Entrada Formation overlying the Wingate. I don’t have a geologic map available, but at the north end of the Palisade you might even get as high in the section as the Salt Wash member of the Morrison.  The air photo at the top of the diary has no Entrada Formation at the top–nothing younger than Kayenta.

        OK, so what is it?

        It’s not the Priest and Nuns either, but it’s close.  I say it’s not the Priest and Nuns because it doesn’t look anything like it.  The Priest and Nuns has only a single spire at the south end.

        It is the feature just to the north of the Priest and Nuns on this geologic map.  To get you oriented, the Priest and Nuns are below and to the right of center; the feature in your photograph is above and to the right of center.  I don’t know what its common name is, but I have driven past it hundreds of times going down the Dewey Bridge road to Moab.

        In the picture at the top of the diary, the flat top at the far end is formed by the Kayenta formation.  So is the top of the feature just north of the Priest and Nuns on the map (light green on the map).  The Cliff former is the Wingate (darker green on the map), and the slope formers are the Chinle (light blue on the map) and Moenkopi (darker grayish blue on the map) Formations, as they are at The Palisade and the Priest and Nuns.  The feature to the left of the shadow in your photo, same geology, can also be seen on the map (elongate N-S feature also topped by light green).  In the shadow is Ida Gulch.  

        You’re looking northwest across the Colorado River, which means the picture was taken in the early morning according to the shadows.  You can see the Bookcliffs to the north in the very distant background.

        1. The high point of Unaweap Canyon (Ute area, west of Divide Rd as it junctions with 141) does not look like that feature in this photo.  I’ll have to let the folks know where I found the photo, because it was identified as The Palisade.  I do love that stretch of the Dolores, wonderful wildlands–from The Palisade to Sewemup to the Dolores Canyons.  

          1. Like many interesting things, it’s at the boundary of two maps, Big Bend and Fisher Towers.  (The MOST interesting things are at the corner of four maps.)

            At any rate, it doesn’t have a name, at least not on the topo.  The feature to the left, however, is Parriott Mesa.  The jog in the river near the little canyon is Rocky Rapids.

            1. Hey Twitty,

              Thanks for looking at it.  I was mistaken in calling the group tower the Nuns – it’s actually the Sister Superior group (which I thought was the Nuns at the time).  I’ve climbed the tower on the left side of the photo.  Here’s an image from the other side of the group (without Parriot Mesa): http://www.mountainproject.com…

    1. It is from the Colorado Canyon Country Wilderness site, taken by a colleague.  I believe it is indeed a Cesna 206, which I agree is a great little plane, piloted by EcoFlight (ecoflight.info).  

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