Colorado Outdoor Recreation and Economy Act

Summary#

This bill would change how many public lands in Colorado are managed. It adds and expands several wilderness areas and creates new Wildlife Conservation Areas in the White River National Forest and other national forests. It designates one area (Williams Fork Mountains) as a potential wilderness that becomes full wilderness after certain steps. It creates two Special Management Areas in the San Juan Mountains and adds several more wilderness areas in that region. The bill withdraws the Thompson Divide area from new mineral leasing and creates a program that lets leaseholders exchange existing oil and gas leases for credits. It also establishes a pilot program to inventory, lease, cap, or destroy fugitive methane emissions from certain coal mines. Finally, it creates the Curecanti National Recreation Area, transfers some federal lands into the National Park System, and sets rules for recreation, water, grazing, maps, tribal uses, and administrative actions.

What it means for you#

• Some land near you may be managed for long-term conservation and recreation rather than new mineral development.
• New wilderness and conservation areas will limit new roads and most motorized uses in those areas, while allowing some continued uses such as permitted grazing and certain existing recreational events.
• The Thompson Divide area would be withdrawn from new mining and mineral leasing, and leaseholders may get credits for relinquishing eligible leases.
• A pilot program will map and try to capture or destroy methane leaking from coal mines; the program could result in leases to capture methane or funding to cap or destroy emissions.
• The Curecanti National Recreation Area would allow boating, hunting, and fishing under specified rules and would include transferred federal lands managed by the National Park Service.

Expenses#

No publicly available information on overall federal cost estimates or budget authority is included in the bill text. The bill does require studies, plans, inventories, and reports and authorizes programs and land transfers that could require funding, but it does not provide cost figures.

Proponents' View#

The bill states its purposes in the text: to conserve and protect wildlife, watersheds, scenic, roadless, recreational, and ecological values; to protect agricultural, ranching, air quality, and scenic values in the Thompson Divide; to promote capture and beneficial use or destruction of fugitive methane to reduce emissions, promote economic development, improve air quality, and improve public safety; and to create and manage a National Recreation Area for public enjoyment.

Opponents' View#

No publicly available information on specific objections or opposition is included in the bill text or provided metadata.