Sportsmen Urge Better Approach to Colorado Roadless Area Management
News
for Immediate Release
July 23, 2008
Contact: Katie McKalip, 406-240-9262, kmckalip@trcp.org
Sportsmen
Urge Better Approach to Colorado
Roadless Area Management
Expedited plan
for management of state’s national forest backcountry
could jeopardize fish and game populations, hunting and fishing opportunities
WASHINGTON – As Colorado prepares to announce a draft plan for future management of national forest roadless areas, the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, Trout Unlimited and Colorado Backcountry Hunters and Anglers today urged Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter to delay the plan’s release until conservation measures for important fish and wildlife habitat are established and the public has ample opportunity for comment.
The Colorado roadless rule draft environmental impact statement could enable oil and gas development in areas of national forest backcountry that currently are protected from road building under the 2001 roadless rule. Energy development can have wide-ranging impacts on habitat use and survival of numerous game species and consequently can affect hunting and angling opportunities on public lands.
“Sportsmen are concerned that a summer release date for Colorado’s roadless plan could harm the state’s abundant fish and wildlife, as well as fishing, hunting and recreation in some of the West’s last, best remaining national forest backcountry,” said Joel Webster, manager of the TRCP roadless initiative and member of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers’ national board.
“Backcountry areas provide valuable habitat for big game like elk, bighorn sheep and mule deer, as well as clean water for wild trout,” Webster continued. “Colorado sportsmen understand the vital role these areas play in sustaining healthy fish and game populations. The expedited schedule being considered by the state could strip Colorado’s roadless rule of its intended management approaches and contradict the wishes of residents, including hunters and anglers.”
“Right now, the future of the outdoor activities and sporting heritage that Coloradoans treasure is in jeopardy,” said David Petersen, Colorado field director for Trout Unlimited’s public lands initiative and co-chair of Colorado Backcountry Hunters and Anglers.
“As shown by their willingness to open important hunting and angling destinations like the Roan Plateau and Piceance Basin to energy development, federal decision makers have demonstrated little commitment to Colorado’s involvement in land planning and resource development,” Petersen concluded. “Governor Ritter can help ensure that the desires of everyday sportsmen are reflected in the administration of our national forest roadless areas by taking the time to establish conscientious management objectives – thereby sustaining our fish and wildlife and outdoor traditions for generations to come.”
The sportsmen’s groups have launched a radio campaign to involve Colorado sportsmen in determining the future management of the state’s national forest roadless backcountry. Listen to it now.
Inspired by the legacy of
Theodore Roosevelt, the TRCP is a coalition of organizations and grassroots
partners working together to preserve the traditions
of hunting and fishing.
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