Wilderness vs. population growth

From the Denver Post Op-Ed

Wilderness is a general term that includes: National Forests, National Parks, National Monuments, National Grasslands, and finally, designated Wilderness Areas created by the 1964 wilderness act. Our wild areas provide quiet places to experience solitude in nature, tourism benefits for nearby communities, and a variety of recreation opportunities such as boating, hiking, fishing and hunting.

The threats to wilderness:

1. Forest Fire Suppression

The National Interagency Fire Center reported the following on March 25, 2011: Year to date over the most recent 10 years, this year has seen more fires than all other years except for 2009 and 2006, and those 2011 fires consumed more acres of forests than in any year except 2006. These numbers are from just a snapshot in time but support the perception that fire news at least is on the upswing. Why do we now pay more attention to forest fires? I contend that it's largely because more and more people each year choose to live near or within forested areas, which are interconnected, with our national lands. When fire happens, homes are put at risk and firefighters spend their time protecting people and their homes rather than controlling a fire's progress.

2. Oil and Wilderness

Here in the west we have our full share of sensitive places to protect and the Roan Plateau near Rifle Colorado is the latest and perhaps the biggest. The Roan was owned and managed by the Department of energy until 1997, who then turned it over to the Bureau of Land Management with no protections in place. Initially the Department of energy wanted to develop an oil shale industry to extract the oil from the shale layers holding the oil and gas. Today the gas is apparently more valuable and can be extracted cost effectively. Opponents to drilling in any sensitive public land are speaking with a single voice. How can we allow an industry that has apparently taken chances with our environment at every turn, move heavy machinery and equipment into these areas with only their assurances that it will be alright after they leave.

3. Grazing and Wilderness

Cattle grazing on public lands were an undisputed part of the old west until the 1970s when new laws were instituted setting fees for grazing privileges. Grazing fees hit their highest mark in 1980 and have reduced on average since. The fees are supposed to be based on the economic value of the land. So far it has been Environmentalists against Ranchers, when these two disparate groups could work in harmony toward a common goal. That goal could simply be a healthy natural environment where neither group overuses any part of the wilderness. What each person and each group needs to decide is how much they are willing to sacrifice to achieve this goal.

4. Water Diversion

In Colorado there are already a couple dozen tunnels and ditches that transport water from the west slope of the mountains to the east. These diversions from west slope streams and lakes to those on the east now average over 500,000 acre-feet annually. The more water we take from the lakes and streams on the western slope the more risk to the fish populations, not to mention the wetlands habitat and the animals and birds that depend on that habitat. Water temperatures may increase, limiting the species that can survive in those waters and as flows decrease the dangers from drought are magnified, and fishermen and women will find somewhere else to spend their tourism dollars.

There are many more threats such as the pine beetle infestation, development nibbling at the edges of wilderness areas at the rate of 5,000 acres every day, and air and water pollution not directly related to drilling or other industrial use, but population growth fuels many of the pressures on wilderness.

The 2010 census reported the current population of the U.S. at 308 million people and growth is projected to reach the one billion mark by 2100. Right now our population density of 84 people per square mile is one of the lowest in the world, ranking us alongside The Bahamas, a group of watery islands and Brazil, home of the expansive Amazon Jungle.

Major cities are home to 90 percent of the population in both of those countries leaving vast natural areas free of development. It's different here in the United States and specifically Colorado, where 75 percent of our population lives in suburbs or rural areas. The way we are planning and building for growth is the chief threat to wilderness.

Mike Kephart lives in Denver. EDITOR'S NOTE: This is an online-only column and has not been edited.