Forest Service echoes concern over Ritter plan

The Forest Service joins sportsmen and conservationists in expressing concerns over loopholes in Colorado's proposed roadless rule

Environmentalists have gotten some support from Forest Service officials who agree that the state’s plans to overhaul protections for roadless lands across the state could hurt wildlife.

“I think the state has been on a learning curve with this,” said Sloan Shoemaker, executive director of Carbondale-based Wilderness Workshop, which says the state’s roadless protections are too weak. “Initially Gov. Ritter and the Department of Natural Resources had the perception that this was a no-brainer because there was a perception of 100 percent consensus and buyoff from all the stakeholders, but in fact that wasn’t really the case.”

Environmental groups have panned Ritter’s proposed roadless rules, meant to replace federal rules that have been at least temporarily struck down by federal court, as too full of loopholes to adequately protect 4.4 million acres of Colorado forest land free from roads.

In recent weeks, Trout Unlimited and the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership (TRCP), both environmentally oriented sportsmen’s groups, have released studies critical of the plan.

“We are concerned that the current draft rule has too little focus on protecting these valuable areas and too much focus on granting exceptions — some exceptions that are very broadly worded and could significantly undermine conservation of backcountry habitat,” David Nickum, executive director of Colorado Trout Unlimited, wrote to the Forest Service.

The TRCP issued a report calling for the state to close the loopholes.

“Unless the draft Colorado rule is changed, sportsmen’s favorite lands and waters could be subject to increased drill rig traffic, water projects, grazing roads and power line corridors,” the report says.

Environmentalists’ concerns have been echoed by federal officials. With the possibility of Congress or the incoming Obama administration putting federal roadless rules back in place, conservation groups hope the Ritter administration may alter the Colorado rules or drop them altogether.

“I think that the door is open,” Shoemaker said.

Forest Service officials found the Colorado plan “would diminish the habitat quality” for many species and “cause a greater degree of habitat disturbance and fragmentation.” They found it could also impact rivers and heighten the impacts on wildlife from the growth of nearby towns and the spread of the gas industry.

They pointed to the Mamm Creek roadless area south of Silt as an area of “irreplaceable habitat” given “even higher importance to the survival of that elk population” due to nearby drilling.

The state’s rules are meant to stand in for federal roadless rules, which were implemented by President Clinton before leaving office in 2001. The federal rules have been revoked, reinstated and revoked again. In their place, the Bush administration offered states the chance to put their own rules in place. Only Idaho and Colorado pressed onward after the federal rules were back in place. Ritter has called them an “insurance policy” in case federal rules are never put back in place.

Colorado’s rules initially were praised by a broad range of interests, but as they were put into print, environmentalists criticized loopholes that allowed for roads for gas drilling and coal mining. The proposal would open at least 300,000 acres for oil and gas access and other uses.

State officials have acknowledged loopholes in the rules that are broader than they intended and said they are looking for ways to close them.

Critics say the state would be better off doing away with its rules and allowing for the federal government to draft new, more protective ones for the entire country.

The agency’s draft environmental impact statement found the state’s rules would pose higher risks for wildlife in 118 of 345 roadless areas in the state, and could damage 44 fisheries.

Among them are the Clear Fork Divide, at the far western edge of Pitkin County, considered a key wildlife migration route connecting the Crystal and Colorado River valleys.

 “These backcountry areas represent some of the state’s best remaining habitat,” TRCP’s report says. “Providing them with the highest level of long-term protection is critical to ensuring the future quality of hunting and fishing in Colorado.”

State officials are scheduled to meet with a federal committee next week to review the plan in Washington. A final plan is expected to be drafted within several months.