Researcher: Forests will bounce back from beetles

From the Associated Press:

ASPEN, Colo.—Western forests are already showing signs of a comeback amid a bark beetle epidemic that has killed millions of lodgepole pines in Colorado and Wyoming, a researcher says.

Greg Aplet, senior forest scientist at The Wilderness Society, told a weekend conference in Aspen that forests that have been attacked by bark beetles will eventually bounce back with more diversity in the ages and species of trees.

But Aplet said it may not happen in the lifetime of anyone alive today, The Aspen Times reported.

An aerial survey by the U.S. Forest Service and the Colorado State Forest Service showed the epidemic has spread across 4 million acres of trees in Colorado and Wyoming, devastating entire forests in Colorado's Summit, Grand and Eagle counties.

The lack of variety in today's forests is a remnant of the mining era, when mountainsides were stripped bare of their vegetation and used for fuel, Aplet said.

Lodgepole pines then proved to be especially resilient and competitive when they spread through the West in the wake of the fires and droughts that wiped out what was left of the greenery.

Studies have shown that 80 percent of lodgepole trees in Colorado were all around the same age before succumbing to the beetles.

But the drought that struck in the previous decade weakened trees of all types and laid the foundation for an intense and severe beetle epidemic, Aplet said.

He said climate change has also contributed to the problem, with warmer temperatures allowing beetles to infest more varieties of trees in higher elevations.

Lodgepoles have withstood epidemics before and won't disappear from the Rockies, Aplet said. He said he is optimistic that spruces and firs will eventually replace the dead lodgepole population.

Why we need wilderness

For the past several months wilderness has been a hot topic in Colorado. Discussion about new wilderness designations and of those involved has reached a fever pitch. Amidst all the discussion, the fundamental idea of wilderness often gets lost in the shuffle.

A recent article in the Sky-Hi Daily News zeroed in on the need for wilderness, and specifically focused on the benefits and values of federally designated wilderness. From the article:

“We simply need that wild country available to us, even if we never do more than drive to its edge and look in. For it can be a means of reassuring ourselves of our sanity as creatures, a part of the geography of hope.” - Wallace Stegner's Wilderness Letter, December 3, 1960

Why Wilderness Matters

“A wilderness, in contrast with those areas where man and his own works dominate the landscape, is hereby recognized as an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain.” (The Wilderness Act).

There are 78,986 acres of congressionally designated “wilderness” on the National Forest Service lands in Grand County, and 92,888 acres of wilderness within Rocky Mountain National Park, offering hikers and backpackers the solitude they might not find on other public land.

In addition to the beauty of being surrounded by wilderness, there are long-term economic benefits.

Last August, The Wilderness Society reported the role wilderness plays in local economies: “Federally designated wilderness areas provide incredibly valuable services — like increasing local income and employment, boosting recreation and tourism and naturally filtering our air and drinking water. Economic studies show that wilderness can boost residential property values by almost 19 percent. Wilderness is also often a motivation for people to move to and stay in places, which leads to economic development.”

Read the full article here: http://www.tinyurl.com/23sm56r

Colorado: Wilderness proposal still in limbo

There has been significant press about proposed wilderness in Colorado. While the issue can be polarizing, it does keep wilderness and wilderness issues on the forefront in many areas, which can be a good thing.

From the Summit Daily News:

U.S. Rep. Jared Polis' newly introduced and pared-down Eagle and Summit County Wilderness Preservation Act has received mixed criticism from Summit County citizens. It's been labeled a controversial bill, with some standing firm against it and others saying it's a commendable effort at mediation and compromise. “The Eagle and Summit County Wilderness Preservation Act seeks to add new designated wilderness areas in the White River National Forest within Summit and Eagle Counties to the National Wilderness Preservation System,” Polis' website said. “Designated areas would hold the highest level of land protection, with public access and usage still available, but certain types of development and activities prohibited.” The goal of the legislation is to preserve Colorado's wild areas by designating some as wilderness under the Wilderness Act of 1964 and designating others as special management or companion use areas. The bill was introduced on Sept. 29, just before Congress voted to adjourn for the fall campaign. It's on hold until the House reconvenes, which could be with an entirely different makeup of Democrats and Republicans. Polis' constituents include Summit County, which is in Colorado's 2nd Congressional District. It's unknown when action will take place, as nothing can be done while the House is in recess.

The basics

Nearly 88,000 acres in Eagle and Summit counties would be designated as wilderness while another 78,000 would be deemed “special management areas” under the Eagle and Summit County Wilderness Preservation Act. Special management areas have greater protection than most public lands but aren't as strict as rules for wilderness. Several high-profile areas were taken out of the original proposal, such as Elliot Ridge in Summit County, which has been a contentious area in discussions. The goal, Polis' website says, is to create consensus, bringing users together to establish ways to protect Colorado's gems while allowing various types of recreation where appropriate and bolster the Colorado economy without unintended conflicts. By bringing different users together, from snowmobilers to hikers, several areas have been removed from the original Hidden Gems proposal. Several environmental groups suggested the congressman carry a bill that created 244,000 wilderness acres — not including additional land in Pitkin and Gunnison counties. Areas not included in wilderness designation include 12,150 acres on Basalt Mountain as well as an extension of wilderness on Elliot Ridge. Areas of Hoosier Ridge didn't get the high level of protection, either.

The response

Mountain biking isn't allowed in wilderness areas, according to the language of the Wilderness Act. So, when several popular trails were included in the original Hidden Gems proposal, the Summit Fat Tire Society pushed back. According to a statement on the Summit Fat Tire Society website, for two years, they worked with Hidden Gems proponents to find common ground and balance areas where they didn't agree. What came out of the discussion was the idea of “companion designations,” which is a relatively new way to protect land while still allowing certain uses. “We believe companion designations offer the opportunity to protect lands around Wilderness but also create areas where bikes are allowed,” the Summit Fat Tire Society website says. Still, members of the Summit Fat Tire Society are working to fine-tune the boundaries and alignments of various designations “where we don't see eye-to-eye,” their statement says. “Where needed, we will work hard to continue to push for more protection and access to mountain biking. Until then, we're proud of the ultimate agreement to bring companion designation to fruition, which is really the definition of progress for any group,” the statement continues. Tom Jones, owner of Wilderness Sports and a resident of Evergreen who recreates in Summit County, also voiced support for the mountain biking compromises. “I support protecting as much pristine land as possible from motorized use,” he wrote in an e-mail. “Once it has been degraded by motorized access, it will never go back to the way it once was. Pristine land is absolutely a finite, limited resource.” Currie Craven, chair of the Friends of the Eagles Nest Wilderness, commended efforts to include all users in the federal proposal as it evolved from a citizen proposal. “It's a unique approach,” he said. As an advocate of encouraging stewardship of the forest above all else, Craven hopes bringing stakeholders together at the same table may dispel myths that different users “have horns and tails” and are people who enjoy recreation, too. “If people are working together and helping maintain the resources, ... people find out it breaks down barriers between user groups that may be somewhat arbitrary,” he said. Craven pointed to several areas where compromises were made, such as the companion designations for mountain bikers, “over the snow” motorized travel designations in some areas and not adjusting the motorized travel boundary at Elliot Ridge. Areas such as that around Hoosier Ridge have biological reasons for being established as wilderness, Craven added. Rare plant species there aren't found anywhere else on the planet, he said, which would mean it's probably not appropriate for snowmobile traffic. He felt that was honored in the proposal. Yet he personally wishes for more wilderness designations, such as the area above the Eisenhower/Johnson tunnels. “Maybe the definition of a compromise is that no one is happy,” Craven said, but he added that everyone had a say. “We're all Americans and this is all public land,” he said. “We have to consider what the generations in the womb of time will get.”

Consensus — and disagreement

Rick Warren, the president of the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the Sierra Club, said he vocally supported Polis' proposal at a meeting months ago in Breckenridge. Now, he's glad to see give-and-take to form a bill that's palatable for many of the affected parties. “Hidden Gems did a good job,” he said. “When it first came out, there was a lot of push back from mountain bikers and snowmobilers. ... But they worked it out and there were concessions.” Chuck Ginsberg, president of the Summit County Off-Road Riders, said the wilderness proposal doesn't much affect the single-track motorcycle riders. But he still doesn't support it. He and other SCORR members believe better protection for land can come from the U.S. Forest Service's travel management plan, which began several years ago and isn't complete. “More thought has gone into it,” Ginsberg said. “I support a well-thought-out plan. We would have to make sacrifices, with many areas we're used to riding that could be off-limits. But I'm OK making sacrifices for something that's thought out.”

‘The real work begins'

State Sen. Dan Gibbs commends the work done to find common ground in the wilderness proposal, but said “the real work begins once the bill is introduced.” “I applaud Polis and stakeholder groups for coming together to find common ground” among user groups, he said. “It means dramatically different things for different people.” But now, it's up to Polis to present the bill on the House floor and translate conversations had in Summit and Eagle counties to the language of Washington, D.C. “I'll be interested to see how it will unfold,” Gibbs said. The reporting of the Aspen Times' Scott Condon contributed to this story. SDN reporter Janice Kurbjun can be contacted at (970) 668-4630 or at jkurbjun@summitdaily.com.

Mountain climbing group backs Polis, Salazar wilderness bills

The Access Fund, a national climbing advocacy group, recently announced its support for a pair of proposed bills that would designate more than 121,000 acres of federal lands in Colorado as wilderness and another 99,000 acres as special management areas.

The Eagle and Summit County Wilderness Preservation Act, sponsored by U.S. Rep. Jared Polis, D-Boulder, who represents Eagle and Summit counties in Colorado’s 2nd Congressional District, would create more than 88,000 acres of new wilderness.

The San Juans Mountains Wilderness Act, sponsored in the House by Democratic Congressman John Salazar, who represents the 3rd Congressional District, and in the U.S. Senate by Democrats Mark Udall and Michael Bennet, would create more 33,000 acres of new wilderness in Southwest Colorado.


The Access Fund, which lobbies to “keep climbing areas open and conserve the climbing environment,” represents more than 2.3 million rock climbers, ice climbers, mountaineers and bouldering enthusiasts around the country.

“The Access Fund is happy to join with recreation and conservation groups across the state to support these public land conservation initiatives that preserve backcountry climbing and recreation opportunities,” Access Fund Executive Director Brady Robinson said on the group’s website.

“We support all types of climbing experiences, from the remote wilderness peaks to urban crags and bouldering areas. The opportunity to climb in protected wilderness areas is a key value that many climbers cherish. We hope our Colorado membership will contact their federal legislators in support of these proposals.”