by Missy Votel

As Hermosa Creek comes back to life with spring run-off, the effort to protect the vital watershed is also bubbling back to life.

On April 25, Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., reintroduced the Hermosa Creek Watershed Act, which would preserve nearly 108,000 acres of federal lands north of Durango. The bill, which was co-sponsored by Sen. Mark Udall, D-Colo., was first introduced last July in the 112th Congress, but never made it out of committee.

But chances for the bill are better this time around, as Rep. Scott Tipton, R-Cortez, has agreed to sponsor the bill in the House. Congress was in recess this week, but Darlene Marcus, local field representative for Tipton, said the bill will likely be introduced next week.

“It has to make its way through the House Natural Resources Committee first, so we don’t have much control over exactly when it will be introduced,” she said.  

Marcus said Tipton did not sponsor the bill the first time around because he wasn’t asked to. However, this time, he was asked by Bennet and Udall, and after carefully vetting and reading the legislation, agreed. It helped that the bill also has widespread community and government support.

“Hermosa Creek has long been treasured by the local community and by countless visitors who have explored all that the region has to offer,” Tipton said in a press release. “Local stakeholders including snowmobilers, anglers, hunters, other outdoor enthusiasts, elected officials, miners and Southwest Colorado residents have voiced their support to preserve the Hermosa Creek watershed and the multiple use recreation opportunities it provides.”

Another deciding factor in supporting the bill was a provision that would remove roughly 400 acres from the West Needles Wilderness Study Area. Technically, the area, which is adjacent to Little Molas Lake, east of Highway 550, should be closed to motorized vehicle use, as per federal WSA regulations. Last winter, citing new federal guidelines, the Bureau of Land Management proposed to make good on the no-motors rule, which would close the popular snowmobile area. However, outfitters, recreationists and the San Juan County government decried the closure on economic and historical usage grounds. By removing the contested parcel from the Wilderness Study Area, it will remain open to motorized uses.
“We thought this provision would be a quick way to resolve issues for San Juan County,” said Marcus.

Jimbo Buickerood, Public Lands Coordinator for the San Juan Citizen Alliance, said his group supports the new Little Molas provision and said Tipton’s support could be a game changer. “With bipartisan support, there’s a much greater likelihood of the bill moving forward,” he said. “And it’s not surprising. It’s got incredible support in the community and among local governments.”

The legislation has more than 123 endorsements from local businesses and interest groups, including the City of Durango, the Southwest Water Conservation District, and La Plata and San Juan counties. It represents five years of work by the Hermosa River Protection Workgroup, a broad-based consortium of conservationists, anglers, outfitters, mountain bikers, miners, wildlife managers and ranchers, among others.
“This bill originated from a local effort that took into account the varied interests of the community,” Bennet said in a press release. “Their collaborative approach set the tone early for a public process that led to a strong bill.”

The Act’s mission is to “maintain the cultural, economic and ecological health of the Hermosa Creek Watershed and the surrounding communities” including water quality, economic and natural resource development, protection for native cutthroat trout, and recreational use. It would split the area into tiered levels of protection:

- The 68,289-acre “Hermosa Creek Special Management Area,” would allow for multiple uses and limited development to the north, and mountain biking and motorized trails to the south and east of the creek;

 -The 37,236-acre “Hermosa Creek Wilderness” would prohibit new roads and motorized uses on the steep and rugged slopes to the west of the creek.

Additionally the Act would protect 13,086 acres in an around Durango, including Perins Peak, Animas City Mountain, Horse Gulch and Lake Nighthorse area, from drilling and mining.

In a 2011 letter to Bennet, Durango city officials supported the provision, saying such key scenic and recreational amenities for residents and visitors “would be negatively impacted by oil and gas exploration.”

Although the future of the bill is unclear, it’s likely it would be part of a larger omnibus lands bill, said Buickerood. “If enough of these stack up, eventually, they package them together and pass them as one bill,” he said. “It has some sister bills, which will help out.”

One of those potential sister bills is Udall’s San Juan Wilderness Act, which also saw action last Thursday with a subcommittee hearing that included endorsements from the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service.

The bill, co-sponsored by Bennet, would protect more than 61,000 acres of public lands in the San Juan Mountains in San Juan, Ouray and San Miguel counties. Like the Hermosa Act, the San Juan bill would divide the area into tiered protections, with half designated as wilderness, with an expansion of the existing Lizard Head and Mount Sneffels wilderness areas as well as the new McKenna Peak Wilderness. The other half – including Sheep Mountain and Naturita Canyon – would be designated as a “Special Management Area.”

It’s been a long road for the San Juan Wilderness Act, which first saw daylight in 2009, when Rep. John Salazar, D-Colo., introduced it in the House. Before the bill could gain traction, Salazar lost his seat to Tipton, who has yet to express support for the bill. Udall re-introduced it in the Senate this February.

“Wilderness is one of our state’s great economic engines, and I am proud to be able to lead the efforts on this bill,” Udall said at last week’s hearing. “Our population is expected to double by 2050, and we need to be proactive so that future generations can experience the beauty, clean water and air, and wildlife that we have today.”

Despite the lack of sponsorship in the House, Buickerood said the San Juan bill also has wide community support and hoped that would be enough to carry it. “That bill has been very well vetted and accepted by all sectors of the community, and has strong support from all the counties.”